Because it Was DIfferent

Here it is the start of the Caldecott  project.  Like when I read the Newbery's (or most of them-it's still a work in progress) the Caldecott winners will be read in no particular order.  First up was David Wisniewski's Golem.  Quick side not David Wisniewski was both the other and illustrator and since the Caldecott is an award given for the illustrations I will be sure to give a strong shout out to the illustrator, if one is not mentioned you can assume that the author was also the illustrator. 

Personally, I loved this book.  It is the story of a mythical clay figure brought to life by a Jewish rabbi to protect the persecuted Jews of Prague.  The illutrations are a layered mixed media which makes them look really unique. The story is full of Jewish culture, and when reading it I really felt as if I had a Jewish heritage and that this story was also my story.

Well that's all great but what did the kids think.  Well Leah was napping and, as she's only 2, I did not read this book to her (she doesn't quite have the attention span to handle this many words per page).  Now I am a firm believer that kids can handle more than we think they can, but I think Eva was a little young to really grasp a lot of this text. Listen to her feedback, "It was good because it was different, but it was also hard because it was different-so I guess it was so-so."   For Eva, this book was entirely out of context she had no prior knowledge of Jewish customs or Poland so this book was really different.  That being said she could still relate to the story and loved the fact that the pictures were different.

Trying something different...that's kids stuff.