THEMES: Humor, Judaism, Biography, Family CURRICULUM TIE-INS: Judaism, Passover, Holidays, Folktales, Humor, American History, Community Life SYNOPSIS: A modern folktale set in the Jewish community of the author’s great-grandparents in the early twentieth century, SHLEMIEL CROOKS introduces young readers to the history of Passover, as Pharaoh and a town of Jewish immigrants play tug-of-war with wine made from grapes left over from the Exodus from Egypt.