This warm family story deftly combines the adventurous spirit of a father-son outing with the quiet, inner joy of the Sabbath.Yussel loves gefilte fish, those delicious balls of fish that Mama serves every Friday evening at the Sabbath meal. And now Yussel is old enough to accompany Papa to Vasser Lake before dawn to catch gefilte fish. The morning is warm and the fish are biting, but none of the fish that Yussel pulls in are round like a ball - as he is sure a gefilte fish must be. "Don't worry," says Papa. "Your mama can work miracles."
Work she does, and so does Yussel. But in a satisfying ending that captures Yussel's flash of revelation from his enlarged participation in this family occasion, it is really the Sabbath that works its miracles.
Charlotte Herman's story springs from the sort of universal traditions that draw people close and create in children both memory and understanding. Katya Krenina's paintings are filled with gentle warmth and shining light.