The Golem’s Latkes is anoth­er win­ner for award-win­ning author Eric A. Kim­mel. In a style appro­pri­ate for young chil­dren, he com­bines the sto­ry of the Golem of Prague, alleged­ly craft­ed by Rab­bi Judah Loew, the Mahar­al of the fif­teenth cen­tu­ry, with the clas­sic sto­ry, The Sorcerer’s Appren­tice. Rab­bi Loew goes to vis­it the Emper­or, leav­ing his new house­maid to pre­pare both the house and the Hanukkah latkes for his guests. He returns to find that she has empow­ered the Golem to make the latkes instead. She has not returned home to instruct the Golem with the words ​“Golem, enough,” caus­ing an over­abun­dance of latkes to ensue, which are threat­en­ing to over­take the entire town. A note from the author explain­ing the his­tor­i­cal facts and some of the Jew­ish con­tent appears at the begin­ning of the book. This makes the sto­ry non-parochial and uni­ver­sal­ly appeal­ing for all read­ers. Even so, there is much Jew­ish con­tent. The lay­out is designed beau­ti­ful­ly. Illus­tra­tions are cre­at­ed in acrylic on wood pan­els and add sig­nif­i­cant­ly to the effec­tive­ness of the sto­ry. The font also adds to the dra­ma on each page, some­times appear­ing in black and some­times in white text. This book is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed for ages 5 – 9, as a read-to for younger chil­dren and as a read-alone for old­er readers. 

Read­ing Guide 

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