Signs in the Well

by Shoham Smith

Young Akiva was a goat-herd. He was good at his job and content with his life, except for one thing – he had never learnt to read. One fateful day he decided it was time to change this…

This is the inspirational story of Rabbi Akiva’s personal journey from poor goat-herd to a leading scholar. Elegant prose from renowned author Shoham Smith and striking illustrations from award-winning artist Vali Mintzi illuminate this beautiful and universal tale about how it’s never too late to learn.

Genres: Jewish

29 pages, Hardcover

Published July 26, 2019

About the author

Shoham Smith (Hebrew: שהם סמיט) is an Israeli writer for adults and children, translator, and literary critic.

Reviews

[Donna Maguire]

https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/...

This was a really positive story!

The book tells you that it is never too late to learn and if you put your mind to it you can learn a new skill at any age - I couldn’t agree more. The story was well told and the images really suited the story.

I love learning new things every day and hope that it encourages children and adults to do the same. I am lucky that my daughter loves reading with me, exploring and she wants to learn all the time, I will always encourage her and hope it stays that way.

I do love a good positive story and the ending for this is great – 4 stars from me, highly recommended!

[The Endless Unread]

When I started this book I knew it was an adaptation of a true story and also knew this to be religious. I have read many religious books and I am a fan of the gradual incline into the religion behind the story. I did not find this in this book. This story started out lovely accompanied by the stunning illustrations. Then it went downhill from there. It got very dark, very preachy and very quickly. I felt like it was rammed down my throat rather than a gentle loving embrace that religion should be. I would not recommend this book.