SEVEN GOOD YEARS

Riches are in the eye of the beholder.

Tuvia, an impoverished porter, encounters a green-garbed stranger with bright pink skin who promises him “seven good years,” to commence whenever he chooses. Tuvia’s wife, Sorka, wants them to begin immediately; magically, a pile of gold appears behind the family hut. The seven years fly by. When the benefactor returns to tell Tuvia that time’s up, he’s surprised the couple still wear tattered garments and reside in their shabby hut; the gold is still piled high. Sorka explains they spent the money only on their children’s education and want the rest donated to those “less fortunate.” The benevolent stranger takes it away. But the next morning, more gold is piled in their yard, and—readers learn—“another seven years began.” This humorous, ambiguous, slightly confusing tale, translated from Hebrew and expressed in a bouncy oral-storyteller’s voice, is based on a story published in the early 1900s by renowned Yiddish author Isaac Leib Peretz and, per the backmatter, “reflects Peretz’s appreciation for the simple piety of Eastern European Jews and his interest in Jewish folktales and values.” It’s a conversation sparker about how being rich really means being satisfied with what you already have. The lively cartoonish illustrations are colorful but seem unsuited to a folktale and give no real sense of time or place. Tuvia’s family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A niche offering that may find appreciative audiences in Jewish-school or synagogue-library collections.