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OPEN BOOK from page 104

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.

4

5/4
2001

106

A Mountain ()
Blintzet

ARBARA DIAMOND GOLD!

ILLUSTRATED BY

ANIK McGRO

Unless you're the kind of person
who finds Gilligan's Island mentally
challenging, you will be able to fig-
ure out in five seconds flat what will
happen in this book. The parents
agree to take on extra chores to save
money to buy blintzes for Shavuot,
but then each decides to keep his or
her coins rather than placing them
in the special box (after all, the other
parent is putting money in, right?).
Instead, the mother and father will
use the extra funds to buy clothing
or shoes for the children — who, by
the way, suddenly don't seem to be
hanging around as much as usual.
(Gee, could it be that those smart
kids are taking on odd jobs to earn
money?)
This book starts off on the wrong
foot (despite the fact that all the
male family members wear kippot,
and one is cited as being in Hebrew
school, it takes a child to remind the
parents that Shavuot is only two
weeks away) and goes downhill. The
characters invariably talk like Jackie
Mason ("Such an important holi-
day!" the mother says. "When Moses
went to the top of the mountain to
meet God and receive the Laws —
such a meeting!") and the plethora
of exclamation points is enough to
make you certain the author is get-
ting some kinld of huge rebate from
the Exclamation Point Enthusiasts of
the World every time she uses one.
Shavuot, whi4h marks God's giving
of the Torah tb the Jewish people, is
an important holiday and a fun one,
when dairy foods are indeed the sta-
ple (so bring on the ice cream). It
would best be celebrated without
this book.