Outside in World | Browse Books
Use our Book Finder to search for books by Title (or part of the title), Author, ISBN, Age Range, Keyword, or Continent/Country. Then simply click the magnifying glass to start your search.
If a title starts with 'The', leave this out as this is added to the end of the title in brackets. funny pictures funny images funny photos really funny pictures
‘We need the literature of other countries to expand our
horizons and stimulate our ideas. Without it, we are not only
diminished, we are starved’
(The Times, Magnus Linklater 29/06/05)
Please email us to sign up to our Newsletter
When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw
by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Age Range: 9-11
Shlemiel gets bored of Chelm and sets out to see Warsaw for a change. Things go really well until Shlemiel stops for a rest… and someone makes sure his course is altered, with chaos ensuing! Enjoy these stories, many of which are based on Yiddish traditional tales, and all of which have deeper meanings that give wonderful advice for everyday life.
Isaac Bashevis Singer has written down many of these tales after hearing them from his mother and grandmother, whereas others are made up by Singer himself. He writes of a magical world, in which fairies, demons, enchanted grass-hoppers along with ordinary people create a wonderful place. Many of the stories are very funny, especially the Shlemiel ones, where the loveable lay-about gets himself into some impossible situations! Nearly all of the stories have some sort of moral or message; particularly good examples are shrewd Todie managing to exploit Lyzer the Miser’s greed, and the lovely, sensitively handled message that the dead are never truly gone in Singer’s own story Menaseh’s Dream.
The short stories are wonderful to read individually and are a good length for young readers, although these stories could be read aloud to younger children, or read by older children and be very much enjoyed.
Abby Phillips (2010)