In the Land of Happy Tears: Yiddish Tales for Modern Times: Collected and Edited by David Stromberg

You don´t need to be Jewish to love Levy´s rye bread, nor do you need to read Yiddish to appreciate these wise tales. This engaging collection offers access to modern works--translated for the first time into English--for anyone who appreciates a well-told story rich with timeless wisdom. A year-round book for families. Includes a comprehensive introduction on Yiddish culture. Largely overlooked or forgotten, these hidden treasures from the early and middle twentieth century by some of the most respected Yiddish writers of their time--including Jacob Kreplak, Moyshe Nadir, and Rachel Shabad--remain surprisingly resonant for a contemporary audience. Folktales can be scary, as wrongdoers often get their comeuppance in unsuspected or even macabre ways, but the reinvigoration of values sometimes perceived as quaint makes for a stimulating read. In this collection you´ll meet a king who loves honey so much that instead of ruling over his people, he licks honey all day. You´ll ponder the conundrum of the moon, who longs for a playmate--but where to find a child who isn´t fast asleep at night? You´ll enter a forest in which the king of mushrooms and the queen of ants coexist autonomously but face the same threat: the little hands and trampling feet of children at play. And you´ll learn how flavoring food with the salt from tears can pose a challenging dilemma. Collected and arranged with the lightest of touches by David Stromberg, this gathering of little-known Yiddish tales enchants with an always-new old-world magic. In the Land of Happy Tears is utterly and actively refreshing, for the wide-eyed child in every grownup and children wising up everywhere. --poet, translator, and MacArthur Prize winner Peter Cole