Big Quiet House: A Yiddish Folktale from Eastern Europe

With a tiny, cluttered house, giggling children, and a snoring wife, one man can’t get a good night’s sleep. If only, he thinks, I had a big quiet house! He throws off his covers and decides to visit the wise old woman at the edge of the village. Surely she can help him solve his problem and she does, but not without giving him some very unusual advice. This ancient Yiddish folktale proves that quite often, nonsense makes the best sense of all. Susan Greenstein’s bold illustrationswhite pencil on black surface with watercolor - carry the reader through the warm interiors and peaceful nights of the shtetls of Eastern Europe. This story highlights the importance of perspective. Everyone has problems, however attitude can dramatically affect perception. It is the man who changes, and the world he perceives is transformed.