Sophie’s Monster Goes to Shul by Sandy Asher with illustrations by Alexandra Colombo; Minneapolis: Kar-Ben Publishing, ISBN 9781728-460239; 22 pages;
SAN DIEGO – Do you remember Puff, the Magic Dragon, about whom Peter, Paul & Mary sang? Eventually, “painted wings and giant things” gave “way to other toys.” And so it was too with the monster that used to live in Sophie’s closet; Sophie just outgrows him in this tale written for 4-to-8-year-olds by Sandy Asher and illustrated by Alexandra Colombo.
Inasmuch as Sophie is Jewish and the monster has sprung from Sophie’s imagination, it follows that the monster is Jewish too. When we first hear from him, the monster is moaning, ‘Oy! Oy! Oy!’ and later when he follows Sophie to shul, he is wearing a kippah.
For the monster, the problem is if Sophie no longer believes in him then he needs a new job. So, after following her to shul, the monster enjoys listening to Sophie’s bubbe help Rabbi Rita lead a children’s service, learns how to do an Israeli dance, and laughs at a funny story read by Zayde to Sophie and her friends in the shul’s library.
Sophie’s teacher, whose kippah matches his shirt, asks the class to write about something that was fun. Finally, the monster gets a new job: to be the monster in Sophie’s story!
Besides the tale itself, your young readers may enjoy the illustrations. The monster looks like it could find a home at Sesame Village here in San Diego County. Sophie has a handbag that seems to have teeth and eyes. The license plate on grandpa’s car reads “Zayde-1”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com