Kopecks for Blintzes - Tapa blanda

"In the rollicking picture book retelling of an old folktale, a poor teacher and his wife intend to save up enough coins to buy ingredients to make sweet blintzes for Shavuot and end up causing three new Commandments to be added to the ten received by Moses . . . something which could happen only in Chelm, the legendary town of wise fools. It begins when Yankl and Gitele each agree to drop a coin a day into a trunk with wheels. Yankl is sure Gitele will do it, and she thinks he will. Neither one does. And so, when the time comes to open the trunk, only their original two kopecks are there. As they argue, both end up falling into the trunk, which speeds off downhill from their home, terrifying the inhabitants of Chelm. When no demons, just Yankl and Gitele pop out of the trunk, the rabbi ponders and concludes with perfect Chelm logic that from then on no teacher may live on a hill, no teacher may make blintzes, and no teacher may own a trunk with wheels, so this can never happen again.

Batori's elongated faces and tilted surroundings capture the zaniness of the action in full color. Goldman seamlessly interweaves definitions for blintzes, dybuks (demons), melamed (teacher), and Shavuot itself without missing a humorous story beat. The only question is how the family does end up with the blintzes pictured on their plates at the end. This story of not doing your part, sure someone else in the community will, has been written up in collections with bringing water instead of wine for a celebration. It has also been set with coins at Purim time. The only other picture book telling still in print, is Barbara Goldin's Mountains of Blintzes, where a family in the 1920s Catskills also saves up for a Shavuot treat. There is definitely room for both. Goldin warmly emphasizes the importance of having everyone pitch in; Goldman's telling here is witty, as she relishes sharing the comedy of Chelm conclusions with a slightly older audience.

Recommended for ages 5-9." -- Jewish Book Council

"In this original story set in the mythical village of Chelm, Gitele and Yankl bemoan that they cannot afford the ingredients to make traditional Shavuot blintzes. They decide to save for this treat by depositing one kopeck each per day into a locked wooden chest. Unfortunately, each assumes the other will contribute and they end up short. An argument results in the couple getting stuck inside the trunk and rolling downhill to the synagogue door. Annoyed at the mayhem Gitele and Yankl's foolishness has caused, the rabbi devises a way to prevent this disaster from recurring. Goldman's droll text captures the folkloric style of Chelm tales, while Batori's colorful illustrations depict the story's absurdities. Although Shavuot is not fully explained and there's no recipe for blintzes, an author's note provides information about Chelm and its legends. This will be useful in large Judaica collections, although Sylvia A. Rouss' Sammy Spider's First Shavuot (2008) and Jamie S. Korngold's Sadie and the Big Mountain (2012) offer more complete holiday information, plus blintze recipes." -- Booklist Online