The wise men of Chelm and the foolish carp is a retelling of the classic Yiddish folktale.

I was not familiar with this folktale, but I do think this retelling is quite interesting and I loved the illustrations. They are very colorful and eye catching. I think the story is quite humorous especially considering the punishment that is settled on for the carp.

As always, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun story showing a jewsih fable not often seen by non-jews. This foolish carp seems pretty smart to this reviewer. And the names of the wise men: Fool, Numbskull, Ox, etc. The word play is really well done, the story quite clever. The illustrations are a bit old fashioned but they fit perfectly with the story being told.

A fun folktale about a sassy carp who slaps the community leader of Chelm, Gronam Ox, across the face with its tail. Such an insult cannot stand, the fish must be punished, but shall be done? Gronam Ox must ponder long and hard to find an answer, and when he does, it's a doozy! Kids will enjoy the silliness of these "wise" men and the "punishment" they come up with, and the illustrations are colorful and fun.

#TheWiseMenofChelmandtheFoolishCarp #NetGalley

This was just brilliant.
My seven year old son has loved listening and reading this with me.
He has read page after page and was excited.

Based on a Yiddish folk tale, The Wise Men of Chelm and the Foolish Carp is an amusing story of village elders out to rebuke a fish who insults their leader. The carp, who slaps Gronam Ox across the face with his tail, grows fat in custody while the so-called wise men decide his fate. Ultimately, punishment is meted out to the fish who, in my favorite illustration of the whole book, appears smugly to have anticipated his fate all along.

Cleverly written, Isaac Bashevis Singer has created a story about a carp who is able to outwit the Jewish elders.
Gronam Ox of Chelm is presented with a large living carp in honour of his great wisdom. Set just before the sabbath, the story explains to the reader about the significance of the fish and the sabbath, and the old folktales say that the size of the carp's tale is indicative of its brain size. The carp commits a seeminglý foolish carp slaps its tail into the face of the Gronam Ox. The people of Chelm are outraged and the fish is kept imprisoned until a fitting punishment is decided upon.
This is a cleverly written tale where the reader has many questions to answer, was the Carp being foolish? Why was the Carp treated in such a way during and after its punishment? What would the reader have done instead if they were the Carp or the elders?
This book could be easily adapted as a classroom resource or just read to younger readers for pleasure. It teaches children about some Jewish customs as well as providing them with things to think about. The illustrations are beautiful and I'm sure many children will enjoy creating their own versions of them.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for letting me read an eARC of this book.

This is an interesting book about a carp and what happens to him. The illustrations are really done well and the storyline is a little lengthy, but good.

I really enjoyed this story and it is probably my favourite of the stories of Chelm I have read so far!

The stories of Chelm are always great for teaching morals to young children and this one was no different - it also has some stunning and beautiful images too which bring the story to life!

This story is an updated version of a classic Yiddish folktale and I love that this series allows me a brilliant opportunity to introduce my daughter to tales from different cultures.  This book was easy to read, enjoyable for us both and one we will read again and again, it is 4 stars from me for this one - highly recommended and a pleasure to read and enjoy!

This updated version of the classic Yiddish folktale features outstanding illustrations. It’s release also presents a wonderful opportunity to introduce tales from different cultures to young children. The humor will entertain both children and adults. This is one of my favorites.

The stories of Chelm are always great for teaching morals to young children. In this story, part of the fun for the kids is the juxtaposition of the wise fish against the foolish men....after all, they try to drown a fish as punishment!
The kids get riled up by that and it usually starts a conversation. We actually have this particular story in a much longer collection of stories, and therefore would probably not purchase it as a stand-alone for the class.

It's not long with this story that you soon work out the fact the title is a complete reverse of the truth, and what we are seeing is a sarcastic look at bombast and hubris. The "wise men", whose names seem to suggest they're none too bright after all, are affronted when one of them gets slapped about the face by a carp that was ready for the monger's knife. Instead, they decide to dump it in a specially protected tub, feeding it and refreshing its water, until it's grown to twice its size – and then the fish's true penalty is announced… The artworks that flesh this short tale out to make it worth being a standalone volume, when originally this was part of a collection, are OK, but I don't know why we're seeing some images too far in advance of the narrative. I wouldn't have thought the piece would lead to many rereadings, either, for the sarcasm and dryness of it all seem a one-time joke to me. But still, three and a half stars.