It is a viably arguable point that some of the most endearing stories ever told to us began with "once upon a time" well, such is the case with Richard's Too Many latkes, a wonderfully-illustrated storybook about the deeper meaning of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. The story starts out on the first evening of Chanukah at the Small's household. They live in a small -somewhat lived-in- house in a big city. Dad Small works for the Tip Top Pencil Company, while Mom cares for their two children, Tamara and Ronen. Dad is the supervisor of the company's quality control department, making sure that all of the pencil's erasers are on tight. Unfortunately, things are tight, and well, Dad finds himself standing on a street corner, broke, and unable to afford a decent Chanukah celebration for his family.
A stranger approaches him and offers him a unique present, which will demonstrate the true magic of Chanukah. The item in question is a single potato, which the strange old man hands over to Dad, and then wanders off. Not knowing what else to do, Dad takes the potato home and the magic begins.
Dad heads for home and presents his wife with the potato which she makes into five latkes for the first night of Chanukah; everybody has one latke leaving the fifth in the pan overnight. Well, as can be expected, this latke came from no ordinary potato and during the night the latke magically begins to replicate itself at an astonishing rate, dramatically increasing the number of latkes in the pan exponentially. In fact, there are so many of those delicious magical potato pancakes that they soon flood the house. Mom and Dad try to make their way to the kitchen stove to stop the latkes from reproducing but soon a mountain of Latkes forms under the beds of the still sleeping children, lifting their beds up and out the window.
The children are quickly lifted out of reach even as dad and the neighbors attempt to rescue them. Soon, the mountain of latkes is taller than the house, and emergency rescue crews are called in, but the mountain quickly grows beyond the ability of even the fire department's hook and ladder to reach. A police helicopter is called in to rescue the kids but the mountain itself dodges all of the chopper's attempts to save them. It is at this point that the old man who gave Dad the potato in the first place shows up and suggests a novel method of rescuing the children.
"Let's eat!" He says. So, gathering all the neighbors, rescue crews, and bystanders together, everyone begins to dig into the enormous mountain of latkes, slowly diminishing the mountain and eventually gently lowering the kids to the ground where they awake, safe and sound.
This modern day fable is a delightful tale that is best read by the light of the Menorah, and just like the traditional holiday dish itself, you simply can't get enough of it. Too Many Latkes is told with gentle humor and an eye towards entertainment.
Condor's cartoonish art is amusing and charming making this a wonderful holiday-themed bedtime story for youngsters (especially if read along by their parents and/or grandparents).
- Robert Sodaro, Comic Books Examiner
