Shlemiel Crooks provides a jumping off point for lively discussions about the Eastern European Jewish immigrant experience in mid-America in the early twentieth century, the Yiddish language, the settlement of Palestine under the British, the Exodus, the prophet Elijah, and the notion of community.

Please take the time as a family or class to read the book together. Some options:

• Read the book by yourself.
• Read it together. Each family member or student could read a page, a parent or teacher could read the book aloud, or you could assign "parts" to family members or students.
• Decide when you are going to stop the reading for questions or explanations.

After you have read Shlemiel Crooks, consider the discussion topics below and engage in some of the activities. Three topics for you to consider:

Yiddish: Know

This story is written in a Yiddish-inflected English. The author uses both actual Yiddish words and English translations of Yiddish phrases. Yiddish was the "mother tongue" of millions of Ashkenazic Jews who resided in Europe and Russia. It arose (c.1100) from a blend of a number of German dialects in the ghettos of Central Europe, and from there it spread to other parts of the world. Phonetically, Yiddish is closer to Middle High German than is modern German. Its vocabulary is basically German, but it has been enlarged by borrowings from Hebrew, Slavic and Romance languages, and English. It is a colorful and colloquial language, and when translated into English, is often humorous.

Here are some examples of Yiddish in the book:

• Gevalt (a cry for help)
• Gonif (thief, crook)
• Mish-mosh (hodgepodge, mixture of unrelated things)
• Shlemiel (fool, clumsy person)
• Shtuss (foolishness)
• Tummel (noise, racket)

Here are some examples of translations from Yiddish in the book:

• Rattling his teakettle (means a long-winded conversation)
• May a trolley grow in their stomachs (one of the many funny translated Yiddish curses in the book)

Yiddish: Discuss

• Do you know anyone in your family who speaks Yiddish?
• What Yiddish words does your family use? Bubbe, Zaidye, Chanukah gelt?
• Not all Jews spoke Yiddish; other first languages were Ladino and Arabic. Do you have family members who speak these languages?

Yiddish: Do

• Create funny new Yiddish-sounding phrases.
• Make a plan to learn one new Yiddish word a week.
• Find family documents written in Yiddish that you can show and discuss.

Immigration: Know

In 1880, the Jewish population of the United States was about 250,000. Over the next forty years more than two million eastern European Jews, about one-third of the entire Jewish population there, immigrated to the United States. Resettlement agencies encouraged the immigrants to leave the crowded port cities of New York and Baltimore and relocate in the midwest and southern parts of the country. There are many stories of Jewish immigrant life on the Great Plains, in the Deep South, and in the gold and silver mines of the West.

Immigration: Discuss

• Who immigrated to America in your family?
• Where did they live?
• What was their occupation?

Immigration: Do

• Ask family members about stories when they were young or when they had to move to a new location.
• Write a fact-based tale about an incident that happened to your family.
• Start tracing your family tree. A good place to start is on the internet at www.jewishgen.org.

Elijah: Know

Eliyahu Ha-Navi ("Elijah the Prophet" in English) was a biblical prophet who lived in the 9th century B.C.E. in the Kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. His prophetic fervor and fierce defense of G-d in the face of pagan influences earned him the honor of being the 'guardian angel' of the Hebrews and subsequently, the Jewish people. Because he was considered the strongest defender of G-d, he was said to be the forerunner of the Messiah. The book of Malachi, the last of the Hebrew prophets, states that Elijah will reappear just before the coming of the Messianic Age (Malachi 3:1). Jewish legends recall the mystical appearance of Elijah the Prophet in times of trouble, to promise relief and redemption, to lift downcast spirits, and to plant hope in the hearts of the downtrodden.

Elijah: Discuss

• Why did the author include the Prophet Elijah in this story about Pesach wine?
• Share some funny or special stories or tales about opening the door for Eliyahu during the Seder.

Elijah: Do

• Sing the song "Eliyahu HaNavi."
• There are many books of tales and legends of Elijah. Check them out of the library and read them together, and even act them out. Here are two: Journeys with Elijah: Eight Tales of the Prophet by Barbara Diamond Goldin and The Mysterious Visitor: Stories of the Prophet Elijah by Nina Jaffe.

This reading guide to Shlemiel Crooks by Anna Olswanger is based on a publication writen by Carol Press Pristoop and Leora Pushett and issued by The Pearlstone Institute for Living Judaism and the Center for Jewish Education of Baltimore.

Shlemiel Crooks is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist, and PJ Library Book. For more information, contact Anna Olswanger or NewSouth Books.