Happy Endings Are All Alike

One of the best ways to realize how much human societies are alike is to read the folklore generated by the many different cultures when they had no contact with each other. There are some fundamental differences due to varying climates, but the similarities dominate the differences. There are poor people made rich by doing good deeds, magical vessels, magic animals and evil witches who enchant people, primarily children. This book is a collection of stories told by Jewish people throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. At the end of each story, the geographical point of origin and the time context is given, which gives some perspective, especially on the names of the characters and the local geography. The illustrations are colorful, certain to catch the eye of the interested child. An excellent selection of folk tales, I strongly recommend that this book be read to children. And when doing so, explain the source of the folk tales. Their plots and messages show us that at some fundamental level, all human cultures are very much alike.

I'm 17 now, but every once and a while, I go back to this book and read it again. I've been reading it since I was little, and I love it. The stories in it are so well written, perfectly geared for children, but then okay if I want to look back and reflect on the more serious side of them. I highly recommend this book: I dont think its cheesy or silly. Its like the Aesop's fables for jews, and I think it will last a long long time.

Like all of Howard Schwartz's books that I know, this is a collection of fairy tales with a Jewish or biblical theme. The stories in this collection are fun to read, geared for kids 9-12, but appropriate for younger ones too. One of the things I liked about these stories was that when reading them to a younger child, I enjoyed them too. So many books for kids are crashing bores for an adult reader. This one definitely isn't!