Lemelman, Martin

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Lemelman, Martin

PERSONAL:

Married; wife's name Monica; children: four sons.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Allentown, PA. Office—Communication Design House, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530. Agent—Rob McQuilkin, Rights Management, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin, 80 5th Ave., New York, NY 10011. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Freelance illustrator, 1976—; Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA, professor of communication design.

WRITINGS:

ILLUSTRATOR:

Rooftop Secrets and Other Stories of Anti-Semitism, commentaries by Albert Vorspan, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1986.

Bible Stories for Little Children, Volumes 3 and 4, revised edition, text by Betty R. Hollender, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1986-1989.

First Fast, text by Barbara Cohen, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1987.

(And author) Chanukah Is—, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1988.

My Jewish Home, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1988.

The Jewish Holiday Book, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1989.

The Tattooed Torah, text by Marvell Ginsburg, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (New York, NY), 1994.

The Wise Shoemaker of Studena, text by Syd Lieberman, Jewish Publication Society (Philadelphia, PA), 1994.

Bart's Amazing Charts, text by Dianne Ochiltree, math activities by Marilyn Burns, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Just Add Fun!, text by Joanne Rocklin, math activities by Marilyn Burns, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Circus Opposites: With Disappearing Animals, Innovative Kids (Stamford, CT), 2000.

Chilly Charlie, text by Dana Meachen Rau, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(And author, with Gusta Lemelman) Mendel's Daughter, Free Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Martin Lemelman has enjoyed a long career as an illustrator of books for young readers, and his clients have included McGraw-Hill, Children's Television Workshop, Scholastic, Parents' Magazine Press, Crayola, and the Jewish Publication Society. Lemelman is a storyteller whose art conveys lessons on life, such as in The Wise Shoemaker of Studena. The shoemaker of the title, Yossi, is invited to a grand wedding by Samuel, father of the bride. When Yossi arrives attired in worn and soiled clothing, he is turned away by Samuel, who sees him as a beggar. Yossi returns, however, this time clothed in fine apparel, but it is then that he teaches Samuel a lesson about judging people by their appearance when he deliberately smears his food upon his coat and shirt. Booklist contributor Ellen Mandel called this "an uproarious yet meaningful tale."

Mendel's Daughter began as a journal of Gusta Lemelman, the author's mother, which he began recording in 1989. It was her wish that she leave her thoughts behind, but the intention was never to publish it. In an interview posted on the Mendel's Daughter Web site, Lemelman writes: "My mother never knew I would create a written record of her survival. What she wanted, more importantly, was that I pass on her story to my children. When I began Mendel's Daughter that was also my motivation. My goal was not to have her story published, but to create a clear and logical record of her journey that my children would want to read. I think she would be flabbergasted if she knew that her story would be read by strangers. ‘Feh, who would want to hear about such things,’ I can hear her say."

Lemelman returned to his videotapes in 2003, inspired by a dream in which his mother urged him to make her memories known. Gusta Lemelman and her husband had barely avoided the Holocaust. They immigrated to the United States and raised their children in Brooklyn where they owned a candy store. Gusta rarely spoke to her children about the Holocaust, but she did reveal the beating she received from a Nazi soldier in her home country of Poland (now Ukraine) and recalled hiding in the forest with her siblings. Lemelman writes of his grandfather, Menachem Mendel, his mother's life before the war, and what it means to be Jewish. In addition to his illustrations, he incorporates photographs and other artifacts which add to the visual impact of the volume and uses his mother's dialect in recreating her words. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: "Lemelman's subdued art gives the story its heart."

Carl Hays reviewed the book in Booklist, commenting that it will undoubtedly be compared to Art Spiegelman's Maus, but adding that "many may find Lemelman's more realist work more approachable, immediate, and, ultimately, unforgettable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1994, Ellen Mandel, review of The Wise Shoemaker of Studena, p. 436; April 15, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of Chilly Charlie, p. 1569; September 15, 2006, Carl Hays, review of Mendel's Daughter, p. 36.

Publishers Weekly, August 7, 2006, review of Mendel's Daughter, p. 39.