Miriam and Her Dancing Shoes

The first woman rabbi ordained by the Reconstructionist movement, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has used her career as an award-winning author to change how children and adults think about women in Jewish tradition. Sandy and Dennis Sasso became the joint leaders of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck in Indianapolis in 1977, where Sandy served until her retirement in 2013. A prolific writer, Sasso has written a number of Jewish children’s books, winning Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Book of the Year Award for But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land in 1995 and A Prayer for the Earth in 1996. She has also written resources for parents and a book on midrash. Sasso continues to work with her cohort of fellow first women rabbis from the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox movements, speaking about their experiences. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.Joani Rothenberg is a fine artist whose work includes illustrations, Judaica art, murals and landscape paintings. She has been appointed Artist-in-Residence for numerous academic, faith-based and arts institutions. During these placements, she creates murals, conducts workshops, or develops art instruction curricula. She is also a board-certified art therapist, and has created programs and teaching modules to articulate the benefits of art therapy. Joani’s work — which has been presented in several prestigious exhibitions — has also been featured in numerous national publications. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.

"A religious picture book that takes place during the biblical book of Exodus and highlights the importance of a female character, Miriam. Sasso's story is a loose adaptation, playing with the timing of events to emphasize a deeper truth. The story contrasts the positivity of Miriam, who celebrates the newfound freedom of the Jewish people, against the complaints of the others who are more concerned about the difficulties of the journey ahead. The uplifting message is about finding reasons to celebrate the successes of life, even when times are tough. This unique focus sets it apart from less creative adaptations. The illustrations use deep and rich colors, giving the feeling of older paintings. The vibrancy of the pictures is unique and alluring. The high contrast might even expand this interest to slightly younger audiences. Shying away from realism allows readers to imagine what these historical figures may have looked like. VERDICT A nice addition to libraries where religious stories are of high interest."—School Library Journal"Sasso and Rothenberg’s creative interpretation of the Exodus story focuses on Miriam, Moses’ spirited sister.Preparing to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, Moses tells them to bring only what is necessary. To his annoyance, Miriam puts on her bejeweled dancing shoes and brings her timbrel, an instrument similar to a tambourine. Adding a refreshing layer of humor to the familiar story, the Israelites immediately start complaining: “The journey will be long!” “We’re lost.” “This mud is smelly!” But each time the people seem ready to give up, Miriam begins to dance. Those who are lost follow her shining shoes and the jingle of her music. As they dance, they lift their feet out of the slippery mud. Everyone stops complaining and joins in, singing and dancing their way to freedom. When Moses wonders why he never heard this beautiful song in Egypt, Miriam tells him it is the sound of hope. Illustrations imply that the song is the Mi Chamocha (“Who Is Like You?”) prayer. Saturated jewel tones echoing the colors of Miriam’s sandals cover the pages; the text itself is one of the few uses of white. Fluid, abstract backgrounds impart emotion, movement, and musicality. Extensive backmatter includes an author’s note, a song (sheet music, lyrics, and a link to listen), a tambourine-making craft, a scene for dramatic play, a summary of the Exodus story, and more information about Miriam’s story and symbols.A joyfully imaginative take on a key biblical tale."—Kirkus Reviews"This is a retelling of the bib­li­cal tale in which Miri­am, Moses’s sis­ter, helps the Chil­dren of Israel escape slav­ery in Egypt and con­tin­ue their jour­ney to The Promised Land.Moses can­not under­stand why Miri­am brings beau­ti­ful danc­ing shoes along with her on the trek through the desert. After the famous split­ting of the sea, though, his fol­low­ers do not know which way to go; con­fu­sion reigns and peo­ple are bewil­dered. They can­not see Moses and his raised staff at the front of the long line of Jews.Then Miri­am, wear­ing her col­or­ful danc­ing shoes, gives the peo­ple hope and direc­tion. They are able to fol­low her and her shoes as they dance their way along the sea’s now dry floor, con­tin­u­ing their jour­ney in peace and safety.In a short after­word, the author asks chil­dren to iden­ti­fy with the strug­gling peo­ple who are afraid and unsure of what to do. She encour­ages them to con­nect with Miri­am and Moses and to forge their own ways for­ward through their lives. Deep, bold, rich­ly col­ored illus­tra­tions draw read­ers into the sto­ry and pro­vide an atmos­phere of hope and joy. Sev­er­al activ­i­ties geared to chil­dren are includ­ed, enhanc­ing the theme. A musi­cal com­po­si­tion by David Sas­so presents notes and lyrics to a song evok­ing Miriam’s dance. Two art projects — one a re-cre­ation of the part­ing of the sea using tis­sue paper, paint, and fab­ric, and the oth­er a make-your-own tam­bourine — help those who learn best by hands-on activ­i­ty to absorb the mes­sage of the book. A recap of the Exo­dus sto­ry, includ­ing a focus on Miri­am and tra­di­tions sur­round­ing her, give this love­ly pic­ture book an added dimension."—Jewish Book Council"Joy, hope, and humor propel a charming, fast moving vignette of Miriam’s role in the dramatic climax to the Exodus from Egypt. This Passover holiday picture book is challenging for its targeted age group with its strong vocabulary, but, more obviously, its sophisticated swirling artwork. The Jewish people must move fast to be saved! The tempo of the words delivers a sense of haste as well as the fear of people fleeing into the unknown. Miriam calms that fear, making their flight successful.The dialog stands out because in a threatening situation the words are not heavy, but recognizable, relatable sibling rivalry between Moses and his older sister. Every sensible person flees with dough that will feed them as matzah. Miriam brings a timbrel and dancing shoes made of the same reeds that made her basket that saved Moses as a baby and brought him to the pharaoh’s palace. Now as an adult and leader he sees his sister as a silly lightweight in her preparations. But the frightened people can hear the music of Miriam. It inspires them to hope and joy; it allows them to keep plodding on in a scary scene where Moses is far ahead, out of sight and out of touch. He is stern and heavy; she is joyous and eager for the future. Her short but strong, effective role makes her a feminist hero that expands this book beyond the holiday genre. The art’s deep jewel tones create a swirling background imitating waves; the words sometimes follow this undulating pattern, flying around with the spraying water. The art supports the words as figures are either shadowy or defined against this strong background depending on the text. Despite its importance in Jewish lore, the tale arrives here as a brother/ sister competition that all readers will grasp and giggle at.The volume offers a new song with lyrics and music by David Sasso, two craft activities, and a strong endnote about sources from the Bible and ancient rabbis which impart the origins of the delicious volume here whose focus makes it stand out. Recommended for synagogue, school, and public libraries."—Association of Jewish Libraries