Golem (Wisniewski book)

Book by David Wisniewski

Golem

Author| David Wisniewski
Illustrator| David Wisniewski
Genre| Children's picture book
Publisher| Clarion Books

Publication date

| 1996
Publication place| United States
ISBN| 978-0-395-72618-1
OCLC| 247228570

Dewey Decimal

| 398.21/089924 E 20
LC Class| BM531 .W57 1996

Golem is a 1996 picture book written and illustrated by David Wisniewski. With illustrations made of cut-paper collages, it is Wisniewski's retelling of the Jewish folktale of the Golem with a one-page background at the end.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

In the year 1580 in Prague, the Jews are being persecuted over the Blood Lie. Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the town rabbi, decides to construct a Golem in an effort to protect his people. With the help of his student Yakov Sassoon and son-in-law Itzak Kohen, Rabbi Loew constructs a lifeless golem and brings it to life. Naming the Golem "Joseph", Rabbi Loew instructs him to bring those spreading misinformation over the Blood Lie to justice each night.

For days, the Golem carries out his tasks successfully, but Rabbi Loew becomes concerned when the Golem steadily grows distracted by everyday happenings. Once the Golem stops the persecution, an enraged mob of the Jews' enemies stage a raid upon the ghetto. When summoned to action, the Golem, steadily growing taller, fights off the attackers, but causes extreme damage and violence in the process. The emperor of Prague summons Rabbi Loew and agrees to safeguard the Jews if Rabbi Loew destroys the Golem; Rabbi Loew agrees on the condition that the Golem returns if necessary. Afterwards, Rabbi Loew uses his power to revert the unwilling Golem to his previous lifeless state as a heap of clay. The ending is ambiguous, ending with the words: "But many say he could awaken. Perhaps, when the desperate need for justice is united with holy purpose, Golem will come to life once more."

## Awards

[edit]

The book won the Caldecott Medal in 1997.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Children's Book Review: Golem." Publishers Weekly. October. 1 May 2017.
2. ^ "1997 Caldecott Medal and Honor Books". Association for Library Service to Children. Retrieved 2015-12-31.

## External links

[edit]

* "Golems Are Big in Children's Literature" in Tablet Magazine
* Review by Kirkus
* Gamer, Shandel (1999). "'Will I Remember This?': David Wisniewski's Golem". Alice's Academy. 3 (1). Retrieved 20 March 2018.

* Children's literature portal

Awards

Preceded by

Officer Buckle and Gloria

|  Caldecott Medal recipient
1997 | Succeeded by

Rapunzel

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Caldecott Medal–winning works

1938–1950|

* Animals of the Bible (1938)
* Mei Li (1939)
* Abraham Lincoln (1940)
* They Were Strong and Good (1941)
* Make Way for Ducklings (1942)
* The Little House (1943)
* Many Moons (1944)
* Prayer for a Child (1945)
* The Rooster Crows (1946)
* The Little Island (1947)
* White Snow, Bright Snow (1948)
* The Big Snow (1949)
* Song of the Swallows (1950)

1951–1975|

* The Egg Tree (1951)
* Finders Keepers (1952)
* The Biggest Bear (1953)
* Madeline's Rescue (1954)
* Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper (1955)
* Frog Went A-Courtin' (1956)
* A Tree Is Nice (1957)
* Time of Wonder (1958)
* Chanticleer and the Fox (1959)
* Nine Days to Christmas (1960)
* Baboushka and the Three Kings (1961)
* Once a Mouse (1962)
* The Snowy Day (1963)
* Where the Wild Things Are (1964)
* May I Bring a Friend? (1965)
* Always Room for One More (1966)
* Sam, Bangs & Moonshine (1967)
* Drummer Hoff (1968)
* The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1969)
* Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970)
* A Story, a Story (1971)
* One Fine Day (1972)
* The Funny Little Woman (1973)
* Duffy and the Devil (1974)
* Arrow to the Sun (1975)

1976–2000|

* Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976)
* Ashanti to Zulu (1977)
* Noah's Ark (1978)
* The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (1979)
* Ox-Cart Man (1980)
* Fables (1981)
* Jumanji (1982)
* Shadow (1983)
* The Glorious Flight (1984)
* Saint George and the Dragon (1985)
* The Polar Express (1986)
* Hey, Al (1987)
* Owl Moon (1988)
* Song and Dance Man (1989)
* Lon Po Po (1990)
* Black and White (1991)
* Tuesday (1992)
* Mirette on the High Wire (1993)
* Grandfather's Journey (1994)
* Smoky Night (1995)
* Officer Buckle and Gloria (1996)
* Golem (1997)
* Rapunzel (1998)
* Snowflake Bentley (1999)
* Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (2000)

2001–present|

* So You Want to Be President? (2001)
* The Three Pigs (2002)
* My Friend Rabbit (2003)
* The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2004)
* Kitten's First Full Moon (2005)
* The Hello, Goodbye Window (2006)
* Flotsam (2007)
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2008)
* The House in the Night (2009)
* The Lion & the Mouse (2010)
* A Sick Day for Amos McGee (2011)
* A Ball for Daisy (2012)
* This Is Not My Hat (2013)
* Locomotive (2014)
* The Adventures of Beekle (2015)
* Finding Winnie (2016)
* Radiant Child (2017)
* Wolf in the Snow (2018)
* Hello Lighthouse (2019)
* The Undefeated (2020)
* We Are Water Protectors (2021)
* Watercress (2022)
* Hot Dog (2023)
* Big (2024)
* Chooch Helped (2025)

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