Lovely gentle folktale
I purchased this book to share with my preschool storytime group at the library. After reading it through I had doubts that the kids would follow the text which was well over my own personal 30-40 words per picture, preschool rule. Never one to follow even my own rules, I stubbornly went ahead and with all the drama and tricks in my storytellers bag. And very glad I did. This book is lovely! And the kids cheered when Yousef rode into Cairo!
The story, which is based on a diaspora Jewish folktale, is exciting and dramatic. Though the text itself is very gentle to the point of a lullaby. The pictures are beautiful, if a bit cartoonish, for the drama. The book dispite its small flaws is suprisingly satisfying and brings with it a so subtle as to be almost missed moral about keeping your word.
