About:
Some four hundred years ago, according to Jewish legend, a revered Jewish teacher and scholar, Rabbi Loew, shaped a giant man out of clay--a golem--and brought him to life. The golem's task was to vanquish those who persecuted the Jews of Prague, and he performed it almost too well.
Retold from traditional sources and accompanied by masterly cut paper illustrations, Golem is a dramatic tale of supernatural forces invoked to save an oppressed people. It offers a thought-provoking look at the consequences of unleashing power beyond human control.
My review:
Golem-an artificial human being in Hebrew folklore endowed with life.
This is a folk lore story about a Rabbi who see evil and accusations among his people that is causing chaos. In order to stop this hatred, he creates a golem and is able to bring him to life. Supposedly only a high Rabbi can do this. Interesting to me that this smacks of being God-like.
The golem grown big and in height and fights for the Jewish people against their attackers. I found this to be almost opposite of what he was trying to do which was keep destruction down and yet here he creates something that does just that. What a confusing thing in my mind.
In the end, the golem wants to live and yet his "life" is not precious and it is taken away from him. In essences, he has no choice in the matter.
As I was reading this, I had two profound thoughts. The first being that author, Mary Shelley, probably knew of this story. Frankenstein's monster is certainly a golem-esq creature and her story is very similar to the "Golem" legend.
My second thought was this is an awfully scary story for a child too young for it. The intensity of the book was almost too much for me. Added the amazing pictures cut from paper, this book, however, does work for me in the Halloween category of which, I am sure that it was not meant to be.
This is a Caldecott winner book and i can see that from the art work but from a story line, not so much. I can only give this one 3 pumpkins.
Disclosure: I purchased this book for my own collections. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle
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