Elijah’s Violin and Other Jewish Fairy Tales

Product Description

With this collection, Howard Schwartz retells 36 Jewish fairy tales that are at once otherworldly and earthy, pious and playful. Drawn from sources as diverse as Morocco and India, Spain and Eastern Europe, Babylon and Egypt, the stories are characterized by their infusion of traditional Jewish characters with the archetypal forms found in all fairy tales, or by their treatment of Jewish religious themes. The book combines the playfulness of fairy tales with the author’s depth of knowledge of the historical origins of the tales. Throughout one can find the quests and riddles of the traditional fairy tale along with the divine intervention that characterizes the Jewish fairy tale.

Review

“Good stories deserve retelling, and Scwartz tells them beautifully.”―Jewish Chronicle

“Schwartz supplies a concise introduction and retells the stories in a plain and simple prose which serves them well. An exotic and varied collection, intriguingly illustrated by Linda Heller.”―The Sunday Times (London)

“A fresh treasury―rediscovered and retold―of wonderful old tales new to English-speaking lovers of the ancient, the enthralling, the marvelous, the delightful, kings, emperors, witches, beggars, demons, princesses, dragons; but also Jews and rabbis and Sabbaths and sacral study….I rejoice in the splendor―imagination’s bliss―of Howard Schartz’s collection.”―Cynthia Ozick

“Superb….Brimming with color and design….A treasure for all generations.”―Peter Schram, The Melton Journal

“Exotic enchantment and timeless truth.”―Jewish Journal

“In this era of ‘realistic’ children’s literature, a new collection of fairy tales is to be celebrated. All [the stories] are timeless in their appeal to that part of us that seeks another world than the one we inhabit daily. Linda Heller’s illustrations are the perfect accompaniment and will have most children (and adults) flipping pages ahead to ‘get the story with the pictures.'”―St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“[These] are stories told by a gifted writer and poet to be read and savored, and to provide inspiration for other storytellers….Schwartz has given a new and powerful expression to the ancient voice of the traditional Jewish storyteller, a voice which deserves to be heard―and indeed needs to be heard―in our generation.”―The Sagarin Review (The St. Louis Jewish Literary Journal)

About the Author

Howard Schartz is Professor of English Literature at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. He is the author of
Lilian’s Cave and
Miriam’s Tambourine.