SHLOYML BOYML AND HIS PURIM ADVENTURE

A klezmer band must find a fiddler in time for an important Purim party in Strom’s children’s book.

Shloyml Boyml plays trombone in the best klezmer band in Bessarabia. When the prominent rabbi of Shtefeneshter invites the trio—which includes Shloyml as well as his friends Yudl on bass and Tuvia on clarinet—to play at his annual Purim gathering, they leap at the opportunity. The only problem? The rabbi specifically requests they compose a brand-new piece on the violin for the party—and none of them play the violin. Shloyml knows that if they can’t produce a piece of fiddle music and a fiddler to play it, there’s no way that the rabbi will invite them to perform again the next year. The band stages a hasty audition to find a violinist in Shloymls’s uncle’s store, but their efforts are foiled by a jealous (and thoroughly mediocre) rival musician. Feeling defeated, Shloyml gives himself over to despair: “He sat down on a step and buried his head in his hands. Suddenly, he heard something faintly in the distance. It was music.” Shloyml follows the music to its source and discovers a brilliant Romani fiddler named Barbu. But can Shloyml really bring a gentile fiddler to the rabbi’s Purim party? (Perhaps, since they’ll all be wearing masks.) The story is told in both English and Yiddish. Strom’s prose has a folktale simplicity: “Shloyml knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find a fiddler. Any fiddler worth his weight in gold was already engaged to play for a Purim party or to accompany the Purim actors as they went from house to house delivering special Purim treats to their neighbors.” The tale concludes with a piece of sheet music attributed to Shloyml’s band, but the book shines brightest in the gorgeous illustrations by Singer-Fuer. The story is short and rather straightforward, perfect for small children, particularly during the Purim season.

A fanciful, beautifully illustrated story about the ingenuity of artists.