Gershon’s Monster: A Story for the Jewish New Year,  retold by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Jon J. Muth.

Scholastic, 2000

ISBN-13: 978-0439108393

Available: Hardcover, paperback

Gershon’s Monster is based on a story from the Hasidic tradition of Judaism, retold by Eric Kimmel, also the author of Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. Gershon is a man who never regrets or apologizes for his mistakes. Every week he sweeps them into his basement where he won’t have to see them, and once a year, on Rosh Hashonah, the Jewish New Year, he gathers them into a sack, carries them down to the ocean, and empties them in.

Gershon and his wife desperately want a child, and Gershon visits a great rabbi for advice. The rabbi’s prayers are successful, but he warns Gershon that his selfishness will eventually cost the lives of his children, as the sea will claim them as payment for washing away his errors.  Gershon ignores the rabbi’s warning, but one day as his children are playing near the water, a monster rises from the sea, created from years and years of Gershon’s misdeeds. To save his children, Gershon must act selflessly, and acknowledge and repent his errors.

What could have been a simple, well-done retelling of a Hasidic folktale on the wisdom of making amends (the author’s note says he is a stand-in for the mystic Ba’al Shem Tov, a great rabbi who lived in the 1700s). takes on extraordinary power with the illustrations of Jon J. Muth. While the art for most of the story is light and delicate, darker browns and golds illuminate Gershon’s visit with the prophetic rabbi,  with grays and blacks dominating the scenes where Gershon’s selfishness is most obvious. The page where Gershon leaves the rabbi is framed in gray, with the sad expression of the rabbi in the foreground, but a bright green visible from the doorway, as Gershon  once again blithely leaves without dealing with the selfish behavior in his wake. The darkest illustrations are the most dramatic, though. Gershon’s individual mistakes are small, dark shapes that look almost gleeful as they ride alongside him or on top of his sack, set apart from the muted and blurred images by their sharp edges.  The monster created by Gershon’s years of errors that he has deposited into the sea is indistinct, blending in with the dark clouds and threatening waves while simultaneously emerging as a gigantic black horror, and turning to that page, even though I knew something terrible would happen, left me momentarily breathless. It really was a “wow” moment.  While illustrations such as this could be considered too dark and disturbing for some younger children, most children, Jewish or not, will enjoy the story, and it’s a great jumping off point for a discussion of the importance of making amends, and on the ability to change for the better. With Rosh Hashonah just around the corner, I recommend following it up with a snack of apples and honey.

Gershon’s Monster is a winner of the Sydney Taylor Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries. Highly recommended, especially for libraries in communities with a strong Jewish population.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski