Fetch The Jar Of Fools: Eight Hanukkah Stories From Chelm Prepared By Eric A. Kimmel Distributed As Publication

Gerstein's impish illustrations and bright colors pair fantastically with Eric A, Kimmel's tales.   Both traditional, original, and varietal, these eight tales bring a sense of joy and humility,   Perhaps my favorite is the variant of stone soup, in which a trickster sells a "magical spoon" that makes latkes appear out of thin air.
. but why not add some flour and potatoes, too  And spices  I especially loved the wisdom tale, in which the town of Chelm spends their entire treasury on wisdom, which smells curiously like rotting fish.
. . but now they're wise enough to know that wisdom most certainly does not smell like rotting fish,   

It's fun, laugh out loud funny,   But throughout all of these tales, the community seems to grow even closer together, knowing that money isn't the most important thing, and creating meals every night.
  This is great for teaching your little one about other cultures, and perfect for bedtime stories! Prolific picturebook author and folklorist Eric A.
Kimmel teams up with Caldecott Medalwinning illustrator Mordicai Gerstein in this collection of eight Hanukkah tales from the legendary village of Chelm, said in Eastern European Jewish folklore to be a settlement of wise fools.
Some stories are taken from Yiddish folklore about Chelm, some taken from other folk traditions and transplanted to Chelm, and some are original.
Here we have:

The Jar of Fools, which explains how Chelm came to be a town of fools, back in the days when God was creating different kind of souls, and sending his angels out to disperse them around the world.
This is a retelling of a traditional Yiddish tale,

How They Play Dreidel in Chelm, which relates how the people of Chelm eventually erased the letters traditionally found on a Hanukkah dreidel.
This story is original.

Sweeter Than Honey, Purer than Oil, in which Esther Goose sends her son to the market to buy chicken fat, in order to cook latkes, and he returns with a bucket of water.
This is an adaptation of a folktale from another, unnamed tradition,

The Knight of the Golden Slippers, in which Motke the Fool is given some golden slippers as a reward for being the wisest man in Chelm.
This too is taken from another, unnamed folk tradition,

Silent Samson, the Maccabee, in which the eponymous Samson saves the village of Chelm from an army of invading Cossacks, by having a debate involving only gestures.
This is a retelling of a traditional Yiddish story,

The Magic Spoon, in which a stranger comes to Chelm, and shows the villagers how to make latkes "from nothing," using his magic spoon.
This is adapted from another, unnamed folk tradition,

The Soul of a Menorah, in which a lost hayfork becomes a treasure menorah, through the unusual reasoning of the men of Chelm.
This is an original story,

Wisdom for Sale, in which the people of Chelm attempt to purchase wisdom from the University of Krakow, only to learn their lesson after being repeatedly cheated by two students in that city.
This is an original story,

I found The Jar of Fools: Eight Hanukkah Stories from Chelm to be an immensely engaging read, and chuckled aloud on more than one occasion, while perusing it.
Many folk traditions make reference to a town or city peopled by fools in England, there is the legend of 'The Wise Men of Gotham,' in Finland they speak of the Holmolaiset, the residents of Holmola and Chelm sometimes written as 'Helm' is the Eastern European Jewish example of the pattern.
The stories included here were entertaining, highlighting the "wise fool" type quite well, and the artwork was colorful and engaging, I appreciated the inclusion of an afterword, explaining the origin of each story, although I would have liked it better, with the stories taken from other traditions, if those traditions had been named.
The Magic Spoon is a clear adaptation of the French folktale of sitelinkStone Soup with a somewhat different ending, but I wasn't sure about the others.
Leaving that aside, this is one I would recommend to young folklore or folkstyle story lovers, and to anyone looking for children's tales set at Hanukkah.
Eight humorous Hanukkah stories make up this book, with a funny illustration for each tale, Legend has it that the people

of Chlem are either fools or they are so very wise that no one uunderstands them so that they just appear to be foolish.
The eight stories are:
The Jar of Fools
How They Play Dreidel in Chlem
Sweeter than Honey, Purer than Oil
The Knight of the Golden Slippers
Silent Samson, the Maccabee
The Magic Spoon
The Soul of a Menorah
Wisdom for Sale.


This book fits a prompt for thebookclubreading challenge April minichallenge prompt "a foolish character, ' Short and funny with elements of Hanunkkah mixed in, The antics of the people of Chelm, thought perhaps incorrectly to be a town of fools, I always love the Fools of Chelm, no matter who writes the stories, I loved this book! I want to find more books about Chelm,.stars, rounded up because Chelm, I recognized most of these stories and still loved them, but there were a couple of interesting new ones too! A great Chanukah book.
Family favorite. A very nice collection of Hanukkah stories set in the legendary village of Chelm, the traditional Jewish community of fools, The stories are a mix of traditional and original, and the writing is engaging and conversational, with the dialogue portions being especially lively.


However, I dont care for the illustrations, which are a little overly busy and more in the style of a harlequinade than Chelm.
Its not that they are awful, just slightly headacheinducing, with an over abundance of checked and striped patterns and nonsensical headwear, They dont pair well with the stories, interrupting the flow of the narrative with mannered, cavorting figures, each sporting manic creepy smiles.
The stories need no such adornment to be enjoyed, Eric A. Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, NY in, He attended PS, Andries Hudde Junior High School, and Midwood High School, Brooklyn College was across the street from his high school, so he didnt want to go there, He headed west, to Easton, Pennsylvania where he graduated from Lafayette College inwith a bachelors degree in English literature, Eric worked as an elementary school teacher at P, S.in Manhattan while working on his masters degree at New York University, From there he went to the US, Virgin Islands where he worked as a teacher and librarian, He spent a lot of time lying on St, Thomas beautiful beaches. Returning to reality, he finished his Ph, D. degree in Education at the University of Illinois in, He taught Eric A, Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, NY in, He attended PS, Andries Hudde Junior High School, and Midwood High School, Brooklyn College was across the street from his high school, so he didnt want to go there, He headed west, to Easton, Pennsylvania where he graduated from Lafayette College inwith a bachelors degree in English literature, Eric worked as an elementary school teacher at P, S.in Manhattan while working on his masters degree at New York University, From there he went to the US, Virgin Islands where he worked as a teacher and librarian, He spent a lot of time lying on St, Thomas beautiful beaches. Returning to reality, he finished his Ph, D. degree in Education at the University of Illinois in, He taught courses in language arts, childrens literature, and storytelling at Indiana University at South Bend in South Bend, Indiana fromto, and fromtoat Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
Eric retired from college teaching into become a full time writer, He still holds the rank of Professor Emeritus of Education at Portland State, Eric has wanted to be an author since he first discovered back in kindergarten that people called authors make books, His first book came out in, Since then he has published over fifty titles, many of which have won numerous state awards, appeared on school and library recommended lists, and won prestigious awards such as the Caldecott Honor Medal Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins and the Sydney Taylor Picture Book Award The Chanukkah Guest and Gershons Monster.
Eric travels throughout the United States and the world visiting schools, talking about his books, and telling stories, His first love is sharing stories from different countries and cultures, During the last several years he and his wife Doris have visited China, Norway, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, Canada, and Panama.
He is always looking out for ideas for new books, Eric and Doris live in Portland, Oregon, Eric has a dog named Tasha, a cat named Inky, and a tank full of tropical fish, He has several hobbies. He loves bluegrass music. He keeps his banjo next to his desk so he can practice whenever he takes a break from writing, sitelink.