The Golem's Latkes

Gr 1—3—Spinning the Jewish legend of the golem into a tale inspired by "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," this book disappoints on several levels. When Rabbi Judah of Prague must meet with the Emperor right before the first night of Hanukkah, he tells his housemaid that she can have the golem's help making latkes for the evening's festivities but warns her not to leave it home alone. Predictably, the Basha goes to visit a friend, leaving the golem to make latkes until they spill out the door and fill the streets of the city. However, one must wonder how batches and batches of latkes are made from a single basket of potatoes. This conundrum is exacerbated by the general flatness of the narrative, in spite of a text perked up by the refrain "Peel. Chop. Mix. Fry. Peel. Chop. Mix. Fry." Richly hued acrylic-on-wood illustrations nicely depict golden latkes piled high, but are marred by the portrayal of the golem as a large gray Gumby-like figure with the letters EMET (Hebrew for "truth") etched on its forehead. By focusing solely on the golem as automaton, young readers unfamiliar with this character's rich and complex history in Jewish mysticism and literature are being shortchanged.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library