Naftali the Storyteller and His Horse, Sus and Other Stories

by Isaac Bashevis Singer, S.B. Singer

A collection of short stories which explores the humor and life of the people of Poland.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Poland, Short Stories, Judaism

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1976

About the author

Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Polish American author of Jewish descent, noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978.
His memoir, "A Day Of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw", won the U.S. National Book Award in Children's Literature in 1970, while his collection "A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories" won the U.S. National Book Award in Fiction in 1974.

Reviews

[David]

Average Rating: 3.4
Eight short stories. Children will enjoy them. Probably a higher rating, from their perspective. Has the usual moral ingredients of what Isaac Bashevis Singer writes, although lacking depth, them being stories written for children. A decent read. Not boring even for adults, although not as amazing as his other short stories that are adult-oriented.

[Aleksandar Obradović]

Iznenađujuće dobro.

[Rena]

"What's life after all? The future isn't here yet and you cannot foresee what it will bring. The present is only a moment and the past is one long story. Those who don't tell stories and don't hear stories live only for that moment, and that isn't enough."

[Johanna Amthor]

Nicht nur im fernen Morgenland gab es diese wunderbaren Geschichtenerzähler, sondern auch in Polen und in vielen anderen Gebieten, vor allem im östlichen Judentum.
Da ist zum Beispiel die Geschichte von Naftali, der schon als kleiner Junge alle Berichte der Erwachsenen so intensiv aufnimmt, als würde er sie selbst erleben. Mit einem Pferdekarren voller Bücher zieht er später durch die Landschaften, erzählt seine Geschichten und verkauft seine Bücher.
Insgesamt sind es 8 Erzählungen, die Singer in sein Buch aufgenommen hat; Schwänke voll Humor und Weisheit. Nur am Schluss steht eine Erzählung, in der Singer vermutlich seine eigene Geschichte erzählt. Wie er als kleiner Warschauer Rabbinersohn schon davon träumt, einmal ein großer Schriftsteller zu werden.
Wir wissen natürlich, was aus dem phantasievollen kleinen Jungen tatsächlich geworden ist, ein berühmter Geschichtenerzähler und sogar ein Nobelpreisträger.

[Heidi]

I think you must need to come from the same cultural and religious background as the author to fully understand and appreciate these stories. Many are too long to use as an oral storytelling for children. The best one in the collection is "The Fools of Chelm and the Stupid Carp."

[adelaide]

such a lovely collection of stories!

[Vasha7]

A really delightful book of stories. There are several funny ones about the fools of Chelm (my favorite was "Dalfunka, Where the Rich Live Forever"); there are some about the author's own childhood in Warsaw, including "The Lantuch" which is a story his aunt told him about a household spirit; there's a moral fable, "The Cat Who Thought She Was a Dog and the Dog Who Thought He Was a Cat". The first and last stories concern the writer's vocation itself: the first is about Naftali, who hears lots of stories that deserve to be told and knows that everyone needs to hear stories; in the last, the author at age 11 starts to figure out ways to shape his wild imagination into "literature".

[Samb Hicks]

Singer? Ad meah v'esrim shanah!
At the risk of bringing misfortune upon the man or his family; not so bad. I always enjoy singer and this volume containing 8 of his more than 40 stories for children, is no exception. I couldn't imagine a child would enjoy these, or at least fathom them, until 6-8 years of age, but once they do - they should be fans for life. All have some degree of a moral to the tale. Singer is a master storyteller, and his old world charm just adds an element to these tales that makes them all the more imaginative and alluring, to minds at any age.

[Rebekah]

My second favorite of his books.

[Niklas Angmyr]

En härlig bok jag läst för min son. Vi har båda uppskattat den för de dramaturgiskt enkla men väl berättade historierna.

[Judy]

I liked the title story. Some stories were better than others. Some stories have morals.