The Schlemiel Kids Save the Moon by Audrey Barbakoff, illustrations by Rotem Teplow; Oakland, California: The Collective Book Studio; © 2024, ISBN 9781685-556037; 30 pages, $17.95.
SAN DIEGO – Stories of the “wise people of Chelm” abound in Jewish literature. Chelmites always jump to the wrong conclusions and their attempts to solve perceived problems often compete in silliness.
Author Barbakoff posits that the children of the Chelmites were actually much smarter than the adults, able to see through their foolishness.
So, in this imaginatively illustrated tale in which the people of Chelm are pictured as a multiracial group, the adults see the moon’s reflection in the lake and jump to the conclusion that the moon has fallen into the deep water.
The adults devise ridiculous solutions to fish the moon out of the water as pre-teens Sara and Sam shake their heads in disbelief. They try to tell the adults that what they see is just a reflection, but the adults simply dismiss the children’s explanation, as some adults—even those who live outside of Chelm—often do, to their discredit.
So, the kids come up with a plan to lead the townspeople to the lake during daylight hours when there won’t be any reflection.
They ask the town’s rabbi to walk them to the lake because their parents won’t let them go alone. The rabbi willingly complies and the townspeople follow.
Finding a lake without a moon, the rabbi gives a Chelmite explanation for how the miracle happened.
Children will grin while hearing or reading this story because in this one the kids are so much smarter than the grown-ups.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via sdheritage@cox.net