By
– August 20, 2012
Ruben Plotnick is the coolest kid in class, and David is delighted when “the Plotnick” wants to come over to do homework with him. Delighted, that is, until he begins thinking about his senile grandmother’s erratic behavior and how weird it will seem to Ruben. His worst fears come true because Grandma Rosie at first doesn’t speak and then suddenly demands that Ruben dance with her, calling him by her late husband’s name. What fun he will make of this in school, David thinks, but Ruben proves that he is a mensch by dancing with Grandma and not making fun of it later. “I’m glad I’m getting to know Ruben Plotnick,” thinks David at the conclusion, acknowledging that under his friend’s zany exterior, there is a warm heart. Despite the wholesome values this book imparts, there is nothing Jewish about it, unless you consider names like Ruben Plotnick, David, and Nate, “Jewish content.” Children of the age who will read it most likely won’t get the association. More of this type of culturally neutral book with a Jewish subtext is being published: Mimmy and Sophie All Around the Town by Miriam Cohen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004) is a well-written example while Jane Breskin Zalben’s Baby Babka, the Gorgeous Genius (Clarion, 2004) is coy and inauthentic. Rosenbluth’s story and the accompanying illustrations certainly have child appeal but nothing that connects the values they impart to Judaism. For ages 7 – 9.
Linda R. Silver is a specialist in Jewish children’s literature. She is editor of the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Jewish Valuesfinder, www.ajljewishvalues.org, and author of Best Jewish Books for Children and Teens: A JPS Guide (The Jewish Publication Society, 2010) and The Jewish Values Finder: A Guide to Values in Jewish Children’s Literature (Neal-Schuman, 2008).