Feivel’s Flying Horses: A Universal Message for All Ages

Feivel's Flying Horses Feivel’s Flying Horses presents itself as exciting and whimsical. With bright, colorful images and ornate script, the cover alone is likely to evoke memories of your child’s most recent merry-go-round ride.

And if that memory isn’t magical enough, the story’s idea that horses can sometimes fly raises the “magic bar” even higher.

As one PJ Mom discovered, the magic of Feivel’s Flying Horses doesn’t stop with a carousel ride on flying horses. In fact, that’s just the beginning.

Naomi Shulman, a member of the PJ Library Book Selection Committee, explains some of the additional benefits of this book and why it was selected for PJ Library's Falafel age group (ages 6 to 7).

She writes:

It’s the particular pleasure of the carousel that drew Stella, my six-year-old, to the PJ book she got in the mail this month: Feivel’s Flying Horses, based on true stories of immigrant artisans who made the gorgeously ornate carousel animals in the early 20th century. The plastic carousel animals at our county fair are nothing compared to the horses Feivel carves at Coney Island, though—and it was the description of those horses and of Coney Island in general, that resonated for my daughter.

In this story, Feivel, who carved arks and Torah scrolls in the old country, puts his skills to more whimsical use in Brooklyn. It takes him three years to complete a carousel—and, more importantly, to save enough money to bring his wife and four children overseas to join him. Feivel carves into his horses details that remind him of each family member—sometimes even carving their names beneath the saddles.

Stella was riveted by the illustrations, which evoke carnival bustle. Just as she does when she climbs onto a carousel, Stella identified her favorite horse for me—the one that Feivel named Sasha—for one of his daughters.

Of course the book isn’t just about carnival rides and beautiful horses. Tucked in amongst the sweet illustrations and descriptions is an intrinsically Jewish, yet also universal, message: We are willing to do almost anything for our family—even travel halfway around the world and suffer years of separation if that’s what it takes to provide safety and security for the ones we love.

My grandparents did this, nearly a century ago, and whenever I read an immigration story to my girls, I always stop to remind them: “You know who else took a big boat to America? You know who else lived in New York City, in a tenement?” Thanks to conversations like this, they do know.

And they know this, too: If such measures were required of us, today, to provide our families with their basic needs, we would do whatever it takes. We barely need to acknowledge it, the love within a family is so strong, so thoroughly understood, but you know what? It’s an all-ages message.

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