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The Witch of Fourth Street and Other Stories
Cathy Dunn knew that if she did not give her penny to the witch, the old lady would turn her into a lizard. Or a goat. Or a spider so small Cathy's mother would step on her. But one day Cathy decided that she would not give up her penny, and that was the day she came down with a fever.
Cathy is just one of the many children who came to New York City with their parents seeking a better life. There is Keplik the Match Man, who builds masterpieces from used matchsticks; Noreen Callahan, who is ashamed to work in her father's smelly fish store; and even a Hanukkah Santa Claus!
Cathy is just one of the many children who came to New York City with their parents seeking a better life. There is Keplik the Match Man, who builds masterpieces from used matchsticks; Noreen Callahan, who is ashamed to work in her father's smelly fish store; and even a Hanukkah Santa Claus!
110 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2020
Beautiful, bittersweet stories about immigrant children living in a tenement in the turn-of-the-century Lower East Side. There's more joy than sadness.
October 24, 2008
Here are eight fine short stories suitable for reading aloud by parents or teachers. All take place in the neighborhood beneath the Second Avenue El(elevated train) in New York City. The stories share many characters; Aaron Kandel, a lesser character in the title story, is the protagonist of "Aaron's Gift." He, Cathy Dunn and Joey Basuto of "Witch," figure in "Andreas and the Magic Bells."
But this permeability of relationship and acquaintance is not the recommending feature of this collection. Rather it is the psychological truth in the behavior of the neighborhood children, both for good and not. For example, the willingness to trick Aaron into surrendering his most treasured possession by an older boy rings true...as does Cathy Dunn's bias against what she doesn't understand about an old woman, and the gift of kindness for Keplik, the burnt match buyer, by his friends.
To me, today's writing for children seem strongly colored by a number of cultural influences and cliches. Among these are dialogue patterns from situation comedies, events of continuing destruction similar to car chase movies, and a sense of playing to the audience as a substitute for character development.
Contrarily, Levoy gives us the truth of these human attributes: idealism, superstition, selflessness, jealousy, love, embarassment, greed, and hope. We get to see them at work and become the wiser for his clear vision of what it means to be vulnerably human.
Genres: Historical fiction, People and relationships, Short stories
Also: 8 1/2 or Better List
But this permeability of relationship and acquaintance is not the recommending feature of this collection. Rather it is the psychological truth in the behavior of the neighborhood children, both for good and not. For example, the willingness to trick Aaron into surrendering his most treasured possession by an older boy rings true...as does Cathy Dunn's bias against what she doesn't understand about an old woman, and the gift of kindness for Keplik, the burnt match buyer, by his friends.
To me, today's writing for children seem strongly colored by a number of cultural influences and cliches. Among these are dialogue patterns from situation comedies, events of continuing destruction similar to car chase movies, and a sense of playing to the audience as a substitute for character development.
Contrarily, Levoy gives us the truth of these human attributes: idealism, superstition, selflessness, jealousy, love, embarassment, greed, and hope. We get to see them at work and become the wiser for his clear vision of what it means to be vulnerably human.
Genres: Historical fiction, People and relationships, Short stories
Also: 8 1/2 or Better List
April 14, 2008
My favorite story in this collection is "Keplik the Match Man."
April 28, 2009
This book was great! It is a bunch of short stories about people that immigrated to the U.S. We are studying immigration in my class, so I read this book. I don't regret it at all.
July 26, 2010
I received this book from my grandma and enjoyed the short stories depicting life of immigrants in NYC during the Great Depression. My kids enjoyed listening to it aloud.
August 18, 2016
I found an old laminated book report of mines for this book. Brings back memories.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews