THE MIRACULOUS MILK COW by Herman...

THE MIRACULOUS MILK COW by Herman I. Kantor with Eric Larson, illustrated by Jan Golden (Fithian Press: $9.95; 190 pp., paperback original). The warm tone of folk tales characterizes these fictional accounts of the author’s great-great-grandfather, a rabbi in Orsha, Belarus. Kantor’s tales depict day-to-day life in the shtetls of the Russian Pale--scandals, gossip, marital problems, questions of religious observance--as the people of Orsha enjoy life in a country where they are barely tolerated. Parents might want to read these stories aloud, although Kantor limits his readership by neglecting to translate many of the Yiddish expressions.