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Summary
Summary
Jerome's bubbie is a matchmaker'the greatest in the whole neighborhood. She even found a match for the Firesteins? son, and that was a miracle! She's found a match for everyone. Everyone except for Mr. Sussman'and herself, that is. But Mr. Sussman is impossible! ?Too picky!? Jerome cautions Bubbie after each appointment. But Bubbie is determined to make this match, no matter what lengths she must go to. And in a satisfying and sweet conclusion, this comedy of errors proves Bubbie's motto: No pot is so crooked that there isn't a lid to fit it!
Author Notes
Patricia Polacco was born in Lansing, Michigan on July 11, 1944. She attended Oakland Tech High School in Oakland, California before heading off to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, then Laney Community College in Oakland. She then set off for Monash University, Mulgrave, Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia where she received a Ph.D in Art History, Emphasis on Iconography.
After college, she restored ancient pieces of art for museums. She didn't start writing children's books until she was 41 years old. She began writing down the stories that were in her head, and was then encouraged to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. There she learned how to put together a dummy and get a story into the form of a children's picture book. Her mother paid for a trip to New York, where the two visited 16 publishers in one week. She submitted everything she had to more than one house. By the time she returned home the following week, she had sold just about everything.
Polacco has won the 1988 Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Keeping Quilt, and the 1989 International Reading Association Award for Rechenka's Eggs. She was inducted into the Author's Hall of Fame by the Santa Clara Reading Council in 1990, and received the Commonwealth Club of California's Recognition of Excellence that same year for Babushka's Doll, and again in 1992 for Chicken Sunday. She also won the Golden Kite Award for Illustration from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for Chicken Sunday in 1992, as well as the Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility Children's Literature and Social Responsibility Award. In 1993, she won the Jane Adams Peace Assoc. and Women's Intl. League for Peace and Freedom Honor award for Mrs. Katz and Tush for its effective contribution to peace and social justice. She has won Parent's Choice Honors for Some Birthday in 1991, the video Dream Keeper in 1997 and Thank You Mr. Falker in 1998. In 1996, she won the Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children's Literature. Her titles The Art of Miss. Chew and The Blessing Cup made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Jerome's stylish grandmother is a successful matchmaker with dozens of happy clients, the exception being Mr. Sussman. Jerome thinks that the man is too picky, but Bubbie is convinced that she can find him the perfect woman. "No pot is so crooked that there isn't a lid to fit it," she says. In fact, she decides that she's his match and makes drastic changes to prove it, to no avail. Finally, after giving up on trying to please Mr. Sussman, Bubbie ends up with exactly what she wanted all along. While the lengths to which she goes to win Mr. Sussman's affection are humorous, the story's theme may have little appeal to the elementary crowd. The narrative strikes the right note at the end with the message of staying true to oneself, but readers may lose interest getting there. Polacco's characteristic pencil and watercolor illustrations seem less polished than in her many other finely detailed and crafted offerings. Sprinkled throughout are Yiddish words and references to Jewish traditions.-Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Polacco's (The Keeping Quilt) exuberant style blasts through this predictable yet rewarding tale of a successful Jewish shadkhen (matchmaker) who has one client for whom she cannot find a match (readers will quickly guess why). Narrated by her red-haired and bespectacled adolescent grandson, the story chronicles "Bubbie's" attempts to turn herself into the seemingly impossible-to-please Mr. Sussman's dream wife: as he updates his requirements every week, she makes her home kosher, redecorates, becomes a workout queen, masters ballroom dancing and so on. The author brings in homey, Fiddler on the Roof syntax ("This person I'll find for you"), along with words like "oy" and "farklempt," illustrating the story in her signature style of comfortable caricatures and broad strokes. A good-natured spirit percolates throughout, and readers, like the supportive grandson, will root for persistent Bubbie. Ages 6-8. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Bubbie is a matchmaker with a great record of success. Her motto is, "No pot is so crooked that there isn't a lid to fit it," but Mr. Sussman is a most difficult case. Her grandson Jerome, who witnesses and participates in the whole endeavor, speaks directly to the reader, explaining Jewish traditions along the way even as he itemizes Mr. Sussman's endless, picky demands, which include someone who is observant and kosher, loves blue, is a wonderful baker, is health-conscious and physically fit and is a dynamite dancer. The love-struck Bubbie goes over the top to make herself fit each requirement, but Mr. Sussman finds it all too much. When Bubbie refuses to accept one more demand and stops trying so hard, Mr. Sussman discovers that his perfect match has been in front of him all the time. Taking the form of such cumulative folktales as "Too Much Noise," Polacco's story brims with heart, warmth and joy. Her signature illustrations, rendered in brightly colored pencil and marker, add hilarity to the proceedings. Another winner from a master. (Picture book. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In a good-humored tale with a thoroughly telegraphed ending, young Jerome watches his bubbie, Mrs. Zukin, a talented shadkhen (matchmaker), take on her greatest challenge. When old Mr. Sussman asks for a mate who keeps kosher, Jerome is sent off to borrow an extra set of dishes. When Sussman declares a fondness for the color blue, it's time for a shopping trip to the garment district. Then it's a baker he wants, then someone who likes to exercise no, better, to dance. By this time Jerome's bubbie has not only lost her wide smile, she's positively farklempt (as Polacco spells it), and angrily sends Sussman away. On his next visit, however, he finally gets the hint and sees Mrs. Zukin with new eyes. As Jerome puts it, their wedding was the event of the neighborhood. Polacco depicts characters and contemporary urban setting in bright, exuberantly brushed watercolors, rounding off the tale with a chaste smooch and smiles all around. Young readers will enjoy this, but the message is really addressed to their grandparents at least the single ones.--Peters, John Copyright 2008 Booklist
