This is a silly folktale with a good lesson. The city of Chelm is full of people that are the same; fools. They did many things to prove what the angels had done wrong. They did not wear shoes in the snow to keep them dry. These people also "drowned" a fish in the lake since it slapped the rabbi in the face. The people of Chelm were not the brightest, especially when they built a synagogue without a roof since they wanted their prayers to go directly to heaven. At the end of the story, all of these people were spread out to different areas so that there could be a mixture of intelligent souls as well as some of their kind. Children can learn that many times it is better to be with people that may think a little different than you since they can help you with somethings that you may not understand. ( )

The Angel's Mistake: Stories of Chelm is a funny folktale of how the town of Chelm became a town comprised solely of fools. The imagery of the story is brilliantly reflected in the illustrations. For example, when we are told how two angels, one carrying intelligent souls and the other, not so intelligent souls, we see the angels flying carrying the bags of souls through the sky. The angel carrying the foolish souls tears his bag on a rock, spilling all of the souls into Chelm. I loved that this was the explanation for why there are less intelligent people in the world. I also enjoyed that the town of Chelm thought they were the smartest town in the world, even though that was not the case. In my personal opinion, I feel that sometimes those who are only surrounded by like-minded people are not challenged enough, and may become too self-assured from hearing their opinions repeated back to them. In the end, after destroying their own town, the people of Chelm leave and live among the intelligent, just as it was originally intended. I really enjoyed this book. It was humorous, silly, and fun. I feel that young readers would enjoy this book too and I recommend it. ( )

good story ( )

Jewish tale of the imaginary land of Chelm. ( )