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Mr. Belinsky's Bagels.
Ellen Schwartz. Illustrated by Stefan Czernecki. Subject Headings:
Kindergarten - grade 2 / Ages 5 - 7
*** /4
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excerpt:
Mr. Belinsky made bagels. Bagels were all he made. He didn't make pies, he didn't make cakes, he didn't make doughnuts or muffins or gingerbread. He just made bagels - poppy seed, onion, and pumpernickel bagels - and he sold them in his shop, called BELINSKY'S BAGELS.Mr. Belinsky's son, Victor, said: "Pa, why do you make only bagels? Why don't you make cinnamon rolls or butter rolls or jelly rolls?"
Mr. Belinsky answered, "Should a doctor fix leaky pipes? No! Should an opera singer take care of sick dogs? No! Should Belinsky make fancy cakes? No! I make bagels. Bagels is what I make. And that's that."
Mr. Belinsky's Bagels is a charming story of a baker who, after
attempting to please others, learns to be true to himself. Content
with his bagel shop and his few loyal customers, Mr. Belinsky is
alarmed when a fancy new bakery opens across the street. When he
sees it filled with satisfied customers, his own small shop seems
empty indeed, and he is persuaded by his son Victor to begin baking
delectable pastries and cookies instead of bagels. An immediate
success, he extends his product line and rakes in the money, but, in
the process, he disappoints his bagel-loving customers. He
eventually realizes, through the eyes of young Ralph, his former
bagel helper, just what he has given up. He then cheerfully throws
out all his new machinery and returns to making bagels, just bagels,
by hand.
In typical folktale style, the story is exaggerated to drive home the message. There are no happy mediums here; it's all bagels or all sweets. Mr. Belinsky is so full of giddy success that he actually forgets his bagel recipe, but his hands, which felt "as though they were missing something" even when counting all the money, remember and begin mixing the ingredients. The classic dichotomy of head and heart exemplified.
The flat, folk-art illustrations with their strong colours are well-suited to the tale, and the simple design adds to the predictable nature of the story. Each left page has text with a small colour embellishment from the right side full-page illustration. All the illustrations have the same dough-coloured bagel background, which is also found on the endpapers and cover jacket. The illustrator provides a contrast of the happy aproned baker offering bagels to his favourite customers in the beginning with the later suited and successful baker, whose eyes are downcast and discontent. This contrast gently reinforces the story's lesson that popularity and success do not equal happiness.
A good read-aloud, this story with its simple pictures is perfect for sharing at story-time.
Recommended.
Alison Mews is the Coordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services at the Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © 1998 the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - JUNE 5, 1998.
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ISSN 1201-9364