Sholom’s Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer

The boy whose stories became Fiddler on the Roof . . .}}Sholom Aleichem’s favorite childhood memory may have been}listening as his father read stories aloud on Saturday nights and a roomful of adults burst out laughing. Sholom wanted to make people laugh, too. At school he became the class clown. At}home he imitated even his pious grandmother. But Sholom was}also thoughtful. In Russia in the 1800s, life was especially}difficult for Jews, and Sholom longed to help his father by}finding a legendary hidden treasure. It turned out that Sholom}Aleichem’s destiny was to give his father a different kind of}treasure – one of words and tales that to this day bring laughter to readers around the world.}}This taut, focused biography of the young Sholom Aleichem is}animated with the artist’s quick, brilliant line and richly toned watercolors.