#123 of 1001 · December 1, 2020

If you’d like an epic clash between good and evil, may I suggest Joseph and Koza or the Sacrifice to the Vistula? In this religious tale originally written in Yiddish by Isaac Bashevis Singer (here translated by Singer and Elizabeth Shub), a village chieftain’s daughter is selected by a local witch as an offering to be drowned in the river. Hope arrives in the form of a young goldsmith from Jerusalem, who not only defends the young woman but also decries the tradition of human sacrifice. The confrontation between the pious craftsman (secure in his devotion to Judaism) and the devious witch (aided by goblins, devils, and none other than the fearsome Baba Yaga herself) comes to represent the tension between an ascendant faith in a single deity and a polytheistic tradition stretching back to a primeval epoch. Singer’s lyrical writing is enhanced by Symeon Shimin’s stark, expressive draft-style drawings in blacks, grays, and browns. #isaacbashevissinger #yiddish #babayaga #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks