The Magician's Visit

"Yiddish author I. L. Peretz’s Passover story of generosity and faith, The Magician, has been adapted into several picture books over the years. Barbara Diamond Goldin, who has previously adapted the story, has a new version, The Magician’s Visit, illustrated this time by Eva Sánchez Gómez. The book more than justifies updating a classic, offering a different visual interpretation that combines the tangible realities of Jewish life in the shtetls of Eastern Europe with deeply imagined symbolism expressing timeless Jewish values... Goldin’s words and Sánchez Gómez’s pictures make this classic story’s central paradox of faith in a moment of despair tangible for children. The Magician’s Visit is highly recommended and includes questions and answers for discussion, as well as a glossary."
~Jewish Book Council

"The classic I.L. Peretz story of a penniless street magician who assists a poor couple in celebrating a truly miraculous Passover has been revised by Barbara Diamond Goldin from her 1993 edition. The language of this version has been brought up to date…  and the story text has been tightened. Instead of the dark, oil-based illustrations by Robert Andrew Parker in the 1993 edition, we have lighter, brighter illustrations by Eva Sánchez Gómez, using colored pencils on a white background. This is an excellent update of her earlier work, with all the charm and miracles of the first version." ~Sydney Taylor Shmooze

"Barbara Diamond Goldin’s traditional retelling of the Yiddish fable takes place in a small village. The magician is a wandering one who pulls ribbons from his mouth and turkeys from his boots. The protagonists, Jonah and Rebecca, are a poor but generous couple who give their last pennies to the Passover fund. Eva Sanchez Gomez’s soft palette and colored-pencil illustrations add a warm glow to scenes such as the couple watching in amazement as they receive a complete Passover seder, from candles to food and even cushioned chairs, the result of their kindness and “a gift from heaven brought by the prophet Elijah himself.” ~Hadassah Magazine

"In this masterful retelling of Peretz’s Yiddish tale, Goldin takes readers back to an old world shtetl. In the days before Passover, a stranger dressed in rags mesmerizes the villagers with his spellbinding magic. When he turns up at the door of a couple who have become too poor to make their own Seder, the magician produces a wondrous and full table. May they partake in this Seder? the couple asks. And who is the stranger, who has disappeared when they return. Gomez’s colorful illustrations capture the era and the magic of the story."
~Penny Schwartz, Jewish Telegraph Agency

"As with all Green Bean picture books, this is a work of art. Eva Sanchez Gomez bring a spiritual glow to her illustrations, allowing a suggestion of miraculous light to shine through the pencil strokes." ~The Jewish Chronicle