Maisel, Grace Ragues and Samantha Shubert. A Year of Jewish Stories: 52 Tales for Children and Their Families. ill. Tammy L. Keiser. New York: UAHC Press, 2004,

232 p., 29.95, ISBN 0-8074-0895-6.

This book is organized by using the holidays of the Jewish year, beginning with Rosh HaShanah and ending with Tu B’Av, for 52 weeks of the year. The authors retell stories from the Bible, Talmud, midrash, and folklore, tapping into such well-known sources as Ausubel, Bialik, Buber, Ginzburg, Noy, and Schram.

Just as A Year of Jewish Stories contains a mixed bag of holiday stories, this reviewer found both positive and negative aspects in the book. There are certainly some positive features: a simple, engaging style of writing; appropriate story length—10 to 15 minutes for each story; a comprehensive Topic Index, including sub-topics of “Virtues”, a decent bibliography; brief descriptive notes.

However, I found some negative features in this book. It’s founded on the premise of the Christian calendar of 52 weeks. Since this doesn’t mesh comfortably with the Jewish calendar, one would have to tweak the order or number of stories to make them work within the framework of our calendar, especially when Adar II comes along.

To make matters worse, the stories don’t necessarily synchronize with the holidays as listed in the contents. For example, it was confusing to see a story like “Miriam Babysits” in the Purim section.

Finally, I found the design boring—text, text, illustration, text—or some small variation thereof.

Apart from the above criticism, this book contains some charming stories—well told and heartfelt. The watercolor illustrations are workmanlike and complement each story nicely. This book can be a useful addition to any home, school, or synagogue library.

For all ages.