Amalia HoffmanCritiques

Once a skinny and weak child, Gino Bartali rose to become a Tour de France champion and one of cycling's greatest stars. But all that seemed unimportant when his country came under the grip of a brutal dictator and entered World War II on the side of Nazi Germany. Bartali might have appeared a mere bystander to the harassment and hatred directed toward Italy’s Jewish people, but secretly he accepted a role in a dangerous plan to help them. Putting his own life at risk, Bartali used his speed and endurance on a bike to deliver documents Jewish people needed to escape harm. His inspiring story reveals how one person could make a difference against violence and prejudice during the time of the Holocaust.

TODDLER APPROVED! I received requests of, "Again, again!" after reading this book to my 1 and 2-year-old. Simple yet endearing, Astro Pea is clever, cute, and begs to be read over and over. The chalk drawings are trendy but still timeless in their execution. Creative wordplay delights both children and adults. Toddlers will enjoy interacting with the story and pointing out the pictures and parents won't mind repetitive recitations of this story. I'll be first in line to purchase this book when it's released.

Juvenile Biography of Gino Bartali, games Italian cyclist who won the Giro d'Italia in 1936 and the Tour de France in both 1938 AND again in 1948, after WWII. But it was his heroic actions to help Jewish Italian DURING WWII, unknown to many for so many years, which is the focus of this biography. He used his celebrity and his unique cycling skills to render aid.

Through handprints, finger paints, and child-friendly language, this book retells the ancient story of Creation while encouraging young readers to celebrate their own capacity to imagine and create.

This delightful storybook will really appeal to young artists!

It features mixed media artwork which really adds colour and depth to the pages. The story is simple, making it perfect for younger children and new readers, and contains a lovely message that art doesn’t have to be just one thing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This picture book biography tells the story of Gino Bartali, who became obsessed with bicycles and racing at a young age. Despite being poor and small, his determination and practice lead to his winning the Tour de France, cycling's biggest event. But the world was on the brink of war and things were particularly bad in his home country of Italy. Bartali's special gift of cycling endurance is called in to help the plight of Italy's Jewish population, as he uses his bicycle to smuggle identification documents across Italy, allowing Jews to take on a non-Jewish identity to protect themselves.

So much information is packed within this small picture book and the story is told in a completely compelling way. Although it is subtitled as a Holocaust story, it is about Bartali's life and actions rather than the atrocities of genocide. Therefore, even young readers can engage with this story without being overwhelmed by horrifying events. Backmatter rounds out the story with more biographical details about Bartali and his legacy.

This is a fun children's picture book: A klezmer band is invited to a wedding and a buggy takes off with their instruments. Charming illustrations, brightly colored, and artsy. I appreciated the inclusion of a woman in the klezmer band. Overall, a delightful introduction to Yiddish culture.

All Colors by Amalia Hoffman is a short board book that uses chalk drawings to introduce little ones to colours. Each colour is represented by a unique scribble. One by one, these scribbles are pieced together and form a picture at the end. It was fun to try to guess what each scribble would end up as. I wasn't a huge fan of the art myself, but can see where young learners might enjoy it.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Schiffer Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ohhhhh mannnnnn is this cute. It is a perfect play on words in a pea pod adventure. The pastel illustrations on the black background bring the veggies to life the way the author illustrates with her words. Just a perfect, quick, cute story that might make dinner times more interesting.

A tale of wedding music, featuring the instruments as characters along with the musicians and Eastern European towns. Great, fanciful illustrations. A great deal of Yiddish vocabulary and (silly) humor. - Marla S.

Based upon a short story by Sholem Aleichem - a late nineteenth, early twentieth-century Russian-Jewish author, whose stories about Tevye the Milkman were the inspiration for the film, Fiddler on the Roof - Purim Goodies follows the tale of two maids, Groyseh (big) Adella and Kleineh (small) Adella, who are dispatched by their respective employers to deliver shalach manes - the gifts of food given at Purim. When the two Adellas meet up during the course of their errands, however, they are tempted by the goodies entrusted to them, and end up gobbling them down! Soon the intended recipients and their families, having received half-empty plates, are convinced that they have been insulted, and refuse to speak to one another...

Despite the low star rating, there were things that I liked about Purim Goodies. I appreciated the fact that the author(s) assume that the reader already knows about the story of Purim, and understands the customs that accompany it. This makes it a great selection for Jewish children, who probably don't need another tale explaining the story of Esther to them. I also enjoyed Amalia Hoffman's artwork, which had a quirky, "scratchy" appearance, and a humorous quality that kept me entertained.

But the social critic in me couldn't help but notice that here we have two servants, dressed in the cast-off rags of their employers - Groyseh Adella is wearing the too-large shoes of her employer's son, while Kleineh Adella appears in a worn-out coat that is so ragged, its lining is compared to overcooked noodles, hanging down in tatters. So when Rabbi Meir resolves the crisis, reminding the warring wives that it is absurd to argue over how much strudel, taigelach and hamantaschen they have, when there are truly hungry people in the village, a part of me wanted to step in and remind him that charity begins at home! Provide your employees with decent clothing and a decent wage, before lecturing anyone else on ethics...

Other readers might interpret this part of the story differently, so I still encourage them to take a look at Purim Goodies, if they're in the market for Purim storybooks. As for me, I find myself wondering if this one discordant element can be laid more at Sholem Aleichem's door, than Amalia Hoffman's. I'll have to try her The Klezmer Bunch and see...

A moderately charming children's book about the Klezmer Bunch, four traveling Jewish musicians who played klezmer music for joyous occasions. Here, they are to play for a wedding in a distant town, and must figure a way to transport their instruments. Some charm and whimsy, but I can't really see this being of much interest to any others besides the Jewish child target audience. And even they would probably see it as more of an educational read than a fun one.½

An educational story, but not a very engaging story. I can't really imagine kids being excited about it. The Jewish events I have been to or witnessed and the klezmer music I have heard are always so lively and passionate. But this story did not convey to me that passion.

The illustrations were okay--I liked the creative compositions and imaginary details, but the drawing didn't seem very skilled. The people and some of the anthropomorphic creatures (the animals and instruments) were simply funny looking, and funny as if the artist didn't know how to draw people, not because this was her developed style.

Review of “The Klezmer Bunch” written by Amalia Hoffman

This is a well written children’s picture book with a nice moral for the kids to learn from. The story reminds me of the children’s tale of the goose that people were stuck to as they were all pulled along where the goose and its master went. In this case it is escaping musical instruments that people are chasing. The artwork is also well done.

This is a fun children's picture book: A klezmer band is invited to a wedding and a buggy takes off with their instruments. Charming illustrations, brightly colored, and artsy. I appreciated the inclusion of a woman in the klezmer band. Overall, a delightful introduction to Yiddish culture.

Excellent book! The illustrations are just gorgeous, I love the musical notes scattered everywhere throughout the story. My 7-year-old daughter is in love with the book as well, and now she's willing to listen to some of my klezmer music. :)

This is a charming book about klezmer musicians traveling to play at a wedding ... complete with instruments and a runaway baby carriage. The pictures are wonderful! There is even a glossary at the back to translate the Yiddish words.

This is a lovely book in which the author shows the lighter side of shtetl life. The whimsical, Chagall-esque illustrations effectively draw the reader into the story of a wedding in need of musicians. I especially like the thread of music throughout -- right down to the birds created from musical notations.

An excellent book for sharing the history of Jewish life with young children.½

Amalia Hoffman is a chronicler of Jewish traditions. In her latest book, The Klezmer Bunch, she attempts to convey some of the rich heritage of klezmer music for younger readers through her illustrations and a simple story that serves primarily as a device for introducing concepts. While the artwork faithfully conveys the rich and joyous nature of the music, the story is less successful.
Klezmer - the word comes from two Hebrew words meaning instrument and song - is the music that has been played for centuries at Jewish weddings and celebrations. Klezmorim - the musicians - traditionally relied on instruments that could be transported easily, violins and clarinets, hammered dulcimers (tsimbl) and smaller percussion instruments.
Hoffman tells the story of a band of klezmorim who are recruited to play at a wedding in neighboring village. They decide to use a baby carriage to carry their instruments, but the carriage has a mind of its own and goes wheeling about the countryside with the desperate musicians in hot pursuit. Will they catch up to the wayward carriage in time to prevent a disaster at the wedding? It is a children's book, after all.
If the story isn't terribly engrossing, the illustrations more than make up for it. With bright colors, cheery animals and smiling musicians, the pages almost vibrate with the infectious spirit of klezmer music. The drawings have a Chagall-like feel that evokes the Jewish villages of 19th century eastern Europe. If they want for anything, it is the happy sound of klezmer music itself. It's too bad the publishers did not choose to include a CD with the book.

Writer Amalia Hoffman, also known for paper sculpture and gorgeous book illustrations, continues her success in the field of children's seferim (books) with The Klezmer Bunch. Hoffman wrote and illustrated the charming tale of a group of musical instruments traveling across the European countryside to play at a wedding. As children follow the instruments from their home to the chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy), they learn along the way both the traditions of Jewish music and a handful of Hebrew words.

Every page of The Klezmer Bunch is saturated with detailed illustrations, and the short Hebrew glossary in the back lets parents of all cultural backgrounds can teach their children the new Hebrew words encountered during the journey.

Suitable for ages 4 and up, The Klezmer Bunch is a fun addition to any children's library.

This is a delightful tale told with lyrical language and wonderfully whimsical illustrations. The story of 4 musicians, ready to travel at a moment's notice to villages far and near to provide music for local celebrations, big and small, is filled with laughter and song and countryside romps following a baby carriage with a mind of its own. The cover alone pulled me in and I was thrilled with the yiddish language and lore depicted throughout the book. This one is a winner and a keeper for sure, certain to delight readers in the 3-5 range.

This is a delightful, whimsical book about a group of klezmer musicians, their instruments, and a baby carriage come to life. I read it with my kids, ages 3 and 6. They both enjoyed it a lot (and I did too). The illustrations are bursting with color and humor, the story is entertaining, and the bits of song lyrics scattered throughout were fun, especially since I had to make up my own melodies. My older child was delighted by the silly story, while my younger one just enjoyed laughing at the idea of a runaway baby carriage and the pictures of little birds calling for mommy.

The pictures are really beautifully drawn, with lots of little details that I'm sure we'll be perusing again and again, discovering new tidbits each time. The story itself is simple and appealing, and offers some good opportunities for discussion with my older child, particularly about what a Jewish wedding is like. As soon as we had finished reading the book for the first time, my 6-year-old grabbed it from my hands so that he could turn back to his favorite page (read it once and he already has a favorite page!) and take a longer look at the pictures and study the funny words.

This is a great book for kids, especially if you need a break from all the "usual" kid stories. You don't have to be Jewish or know anything about klezmer to enjoy this book (in fact, the author includes some background information about klezmer music at the beginning and end). Recommended.½

At first, I wasn't entirely sure how LT's Early Reviewer algorithm chose me for this book. I do have a few children's books in my library, and a few books of music, but this still seemed like an odd choice for me. I requested it on a whim, because it looked like a delightful look at at Jewish musical culture. Now that I've read it, I'm so glad I was chosen to review this book!

I expected the story itself to be the emphasis, but instead, it's the illustrations that really shine. The story is actually really rich and not dumbed-down like some children's stories. There is a glossary at the end to clarify the scattered Yiddish terms appearing in the story proper, but they're placed perfectly in context and invite a discussion between parent and child, setting the stage for a transmission of culture through language (whether it is your culture or not!) The illustrations are wonderful and busy, and I can just imagine a child wanting to examine every little detail. I could almost hear the fiddling in the background. A true sign that I love this book? I want it to be seen by more people, and will actually send it to my niece and nephews who are Jewish so they can enjoy it as much as I did.½