Going to Squintum's Book

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, began two days ago - Shanah Tovah to all who celebrated, and may you enjoy a wonderful 5772! - reminding me to take down my copy of Gershon's Monster, Eric A. Kimmel and Jon J. Muth's lovely picture-book retelling of a traditional Hasidic tale related to this important time of the Hebrew calendar. The story of Gershon, a man who, rather than repenting of his various small transgressions, and making amends for them, sweeps them into the basement, collects them, and dumps them into the sea every Rosh Hashanah, it presents the important idea that we are never really free from the consequences of what we do, and how we treat others. In Gershon's case, his growing legacy of unrepented misdeeds eventually becomes a monster, and although he has not hitherto cared very much about his behavior, he does care about his children, who are the ones threatened by that monster...

This story offers an interesting perspective on the Jewish custom of tashlich, in which the previous year's sins are symbolically cast off into a body of water, on the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah (see April Halprin Wayland's New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story for another picture-book about tashlich), in that it implies that the casting off, in and of itself, is not enough. True understanding, of the nature of the transgression, and repentance for it, are also obviously necessary. By the same token, the narrative seems to imply that the ritual (which is not named in the story) cannot be used as an excuse for misdeeds throughout the year (no "Oh, who cares if I break my word? I'll atone for it later" kind of thinking). A thoughtful story, one that can be used to encourage real ethical discussion with children, when it comes to the question of how we deal with our own mistakes and misdeeds, Gershon's Monster is also a beautiful book, with gorgeous watercolor illustrations from Muth, who is best known for his picture-books about Stillwater, a panda-bear Zen instructor.

All in all, this is an immensely evocative, thought-provoking book, one with an engrossing story, and delightful illustrations (not to mention an author's note about source material, which is always welcome!), and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for such stories for children, or for anyone in need of Rosh Hashanah selections.