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 audio 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 audiobook for families. Includes a comprehensive introduction on Yiddish culture.

These eighteen stories for a changing world, never before translated into English, by writers from Eastern European countries including Russia and Poland, focus on excellent storytelling, strong characters, and creative ideas. The stories express solid principles and open-minded attitudes, and a sense of both familiarity and adventure in the face of difficult times.

As the old Eastern European Yiddish-speaking world began to clash with modernity, Yiddish authors created new stories to capture the imaginations of children growing up in times of social and historical upheaval. These stories have largely been overlooked or forgotten, until now. These hidden treasures from the early- and mid-20th-century rich Yiddish literary tradition each provide a satisfying read, while the entire collection runs the gamut of storytelling modes used to bridge new and old worlds. Authors include some of the most respected Yiddish writers of their time, who were known in their homelands and then in America, such as Moyshe Nadir, Jacob Reisfeder, Sonya Kantor, and many others. The ethos binding the stories focuses on messages that continue to ring true today while reinvigorating the idea of values largely usurped from contemporary society.

Audiobook Table of Contents:
What Is Yiddish, Anyway by David Stromberg, read by George Guidall
(excerpt from In the Land of Happy Tears read in Yiddish by Shane Baker)
In the Land of Happy Tears by Moyshe Nadir, read by Peter Berkrot
An Autumn Tale by Leon Elbe, read by Barbara Rosenblat
Broken In by Jacob Kreplack, read by Mark Feuerstein
The Moon and the Little Boy by Leon Elbe, read by Tara Sands
The Little Boy with the Samovar by Jacob Reisfeder, read by Peter Berkrot
The King Who Licked Honey by Moyshe Nadir, read by George Guidall
The Kingdom of Ants and Mushrooms by Sonya Kantor, read by Barbara Rosenblat
The Wise Hat by Moyshe Nadir, read by Tony Roberts
The Diamond Prince by Jacob Reisfeder, read by Mark Feuerstein
The Bird Catcher by Jacob Kreplack, read by Tony Roberts
The Paper Kite by Leon Elbe, read by Mark Feuerstein
Two Sisters by Jacob Reisfeder, read by Tara Sands
A Fight by Jacob Kreplack, read by Peter Berkrot
The Broken Mirror by Moyshe Nadir, read by George Guidall
A Squirrel's Diary by Sonya Kantor, read by Barbara Rosenblat
Gur Aryeh by Rahcel Shabad, read by George Guidall
A Treasure in the Snow by Jacob Reisfeder, read by Tony Roberts
The Enchanted Castle by Rachel Shabad, read by Tara Sands
Glossary of Untranslatables, read by George Guidall
Acknowledgments & About the Authors, read by David Stromberg
About the Author: DAVID STROMBERG is a writer, translator, and literary scholar. His publications include four collections of single-panel cartoons, including BADDIES, which the Los Angeles Times called fantastic. He has published translations in the New Yorker, Partial Answers, and Asymptote, fiction in Ambit, Chicago Literati, and the East Bay Review, and a scholarly monograph titled Narrative Faith: Dostoevsky, Camus, and Singer. He is a postdoctoral fellow in American literary studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.