The 'wise' men of Chelm and the Moon

I loved this funny little story which reminded me of Bulgarian Gabrovo tales.
The inhabitants of Chelm, a small town in Eastern Europe, were well-known for their supposed 'wisdom' (or rather total lack of it). They loved moonlit nights when a walk on Chelm's muddy streets would not be as periculous as on the darkest nights when the moon disappeared and 'the sages' of Chelm wandered into other people's houses by mistake. They decide to buy a Moon of their own and all contribute to make a sizeable collection. They search and search for somebody who would sell them a moon. Finally, a sly innkeeper seels them a barrel of water! Viewed outside under a moonlit sky, the barrel seemed to have what the Chelm scouts were looking for. Of course, once the barrel is opened and the Chelmites see they have been tricked, they decide the innkeeper must have stolen it when they weren't looking. I loved the final words of the story: 'The Moon looks down on them and smiles- just as it does on us all'.

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Beautiful quirky illustrations in exquisite colour schemes add to the kind humour of the story.
I can see myself reading this book to my little one many, many times.
Looking forward to more titles in the Chelmite series.


Thank you to NetGalley and Pen&Sword /Green Bean Books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Title: The sages of Chelm and the Moon
Author: Shlomo Abas
Published by: Pen&Sword Green Bean Books
Date: 31/03/2019