Just Stay Put: A Chelm Story

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, Japan Foundation Fellow 1991-92, and the author of
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home and As Though Life Mattered:
Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This traditional story, retold and illustrated by Gary Clement, emerges
from the folklore of Eastern Europe and the life of Jewish villages. It
catches the spirit of such communities, where hardship was faced down by
the closeness of village life and a wry sense of humor. The villagers,
“like people in villages everywhere ... were hard-working and honest.
They were peasants and peddlers. They were fishmongers and farmers. They
were barbers and babysitters. They were this and they were that.”

The tale is simple and silly, delightfully silly like its “hero.”
The word seems a bit grandiose for Mendel, the extremely silly
daydreamer who sets off to see the bright lights of Warsaw. After taking
a nap, he loses his sense of direction and returns to his village,
convinced he’s in Warsaw and puzzled by the resemblance of the people
and surroundings to those back home.

The illustrations are indebted to Chagall, with flying people
everywhere. But Clement’s art is a zanier version of the spirit of
Chagall, even funnier and more outrageous.

Just Stay Put is a winner for small children (who will love both text
and illustrations), art lovers, and anyone who appreciates the human
comedy. Highly recommended.