Synopsis
To the Rabbi Yoshe Preminger, Sir, My Bubbeh believes you are the wisest man in the whole world, but I cannot agree with her. You have read a thousand books, but you do not seem to understand that immigrants came to America to escape from mean, wicked people who hurt them and their families. That is why the Pilgrims came and that is why the Jewish people came later. The Pilgrims were thankful and I think that we should be too. Signed by
Rivka Rabin
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About the Author
Elsa Okon Rael has written several children's books based on her own childhood experiences growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. What Zeesie Saw on Delancy Street, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, was an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a Hungry Mind Children's Book of Distinction. Its sequel, When Zaydeh Danced on Eldridge Street, won the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award. Like the young heroine in Rivka's First Thanksgiving, Ms. Rael first learned about the holiday of Thanksgiving in public school -- and she, too, had to convince her immigrant parents to celebrate Thanksgiving at home.
From School Library Journal
Gr 1-3-After learning about Thanksgiving at school, Rivka tries to persuade her Jewish immigrant family to observe this quintessential American holiday. But their resistance to participating in a "Gentile" celebration leads the nine-year-old to confront the family's rabbi with a letter pointing out the similarities between the Pilgrims and the Jews in escaping religious persecution. While the theme of an immigrant child trying to bridge the gap between her new life in America and the traditions of her family is one that endures, this book fails to convey the cultural importance of Thanksgiving, not to mention the vibrant life of Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side in the 1910s. Based on a story passed down through the author's family, the text is wordy and presupposes too much knowledge about Jewish immigrants. The pencil-and-acrylic illustrations are cloyingly sweet and merely average in quality. On some pages, Rivka appears to be a much younger child, which contradicts her precocious challenge to the esteemed rabbi. An additional title at best.
Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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