This was a fun, cleverly written book. Obviously, with a baby dragon in the middle of things, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Still, there is a lot here about life on the Lower East Side for middle grade kids to absorb. Written with frequent small "cliff-hangers" at the ends of chapters, the plot moves quickly, following Shoshi and her brother as they travel to America and adjust to life in New York. Although many aspects of the story are not believable, the book felt like it was meant to have a folk/fairy-tale quality and plausibility was not generally an issue for me. The one point that bothered me was that Shoshi happened to have learned enough English through a teacher in Poland to be able to communicate well as soon as she arrived. I think I would have preferred to see a more realistic take on the language barrier, as that was such a hurdle for immigrants. Otherwise, with an eye toward reading this to middle-grade students, I enjoyed the story. ( )

This children's novel tells the story of a family of Russian Jews, the Kapustins, emigrating to the United States in the early 20th century. Of course, as one can see from the cover, they do not immigrate by themselves-- their dragon, Snigger, discovered days before they move, accompanies them. Having a dragon in one's care can, of course, be both a curse and a blessing.

The novel, like many children's books about immigration, is concerned with the construction of a national, American identity which rewrites the identities of the immigrants and also is enhanced by additions from the immigrants. America's effect on the immigrants is seen most literally in the names of the characters; they start out the novel called the Kapustins, but a misunderstanding on Ellis Island results in them accidentally being renamed the Kaputniks. (This moment is curiously underplayed and casual. Of course, part of the joke there is that the characters do not quite realize what has happened, but the narrator does not seem all that interested, either.) The newly-named Kaputniks must reshape themselves to fit into America; Mrs. Kaputnik's only culinary ability is matzo balls, so she serves those at her restaraunt, but she also incorporates games such as billiards and that one where you throw balls at milk cans to make ends meet. A wide variety of characters instruct the Kaputniks on how to act as Americans.

On the other hand, the Kaputniks also have their effect on America. They introduce the people of New York's Lower East Side to delicious matzo balls, but more importantly they help reform America. They are disappointed when they get there, because their restaurant becomes the victim of a protection racket, showing that America is not the land of opportunity they all thought it was. But across the course of the novel, the Kaputniks work to undermine and defeat the gangter (one Nick the Stick) so that America can be the place it was always meant to be. Perhaps the most blatant example of this is that they stop him from fixing a baseball game; what could be more American than making sure baseball runs smoothly? Morally and culturally, America benefits from the presence of the immigrant, and the disappointments that they encounter on arrival are soon weeded out. It's a pretty typical gambit for a novel about American immigrants, especially one for children, but it works well.

If there's any flaw the book has, it's that it's somewhat underwritten. Description of what the characters are thinking (or doing during a conversation) is often slight, making it hard to judge how anyone actually feels about what is going on. Tension is sometimes lacking as a result, such as during the climactic baseball game, which is just a series of impersonal events. There is also not a lot of work done to distinguish the two child protagonists: Shoshi is older and a girl, whereas Moshe is younger and a boy, but they are fairly interchangeable, and whenever I went away from the book for a day or so (I was reading during exam week, so it took longer than 188 pages should have), I had to reorient myself on which child was which because they always blended into each other. The supporting characters, especially Salty the sailor and Aloysius P. Thornswaddle the circus owner, are much more recognizeable, though that is due to their status as stereotypes more than anything else. But they're enjoyable stereotypes.

The problem with the supporting characters is that they tend to remove the agency of the protagonists. Near the end of the book, Snigger is stolen, but who stole Snigger is pretty complicated, and it ends up putting the Kaputniks more at the mercy of forces than in control of them. Which may be more realistic, but is somewhat uninteresting to read. These kids own a dragon, dangit! I want to see them mean to win! It also bothers me how the good characters triumph in the end... it's exactly the same thing Nick the Stick was doing, but when he did it, it was evil.

One thing you can't fault this book for, however, is being fun. This is more down to Snigger than anything else-- his hijinks rarely caused me to laugh out loud, but they did generally amuse. I enjoyed the many segments where the children had to stop Snigger from doing something to ruin everything, especially in the early part of the novel when they needed to stop anyone else on their passenger ship from knowing he was aboard. I also really liked the depiction of their street and their slow acclamation to it; there's a nice sense of bustling here, but the novel also hits up one of my favorite tropes, that of the rural resident's first frightening entrance into an urban environment with unknown rules. Of course, things turn out pretty all right for the Kaputnik's, but the fun is balanced with enough menace for a book this slight. It's small in both size and ambition, but it achieves most of what it wants to do reasonably well.

This was a wonderful tale of two children and their fantastical friend, Snigger the dragon. Every bit of Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium was filled with history, adventure and fun. Following their journey to the 'New World' you see how Shoshi and Moshe handle a new place and the search for their missing father along with trying to hide a very large dragon. It was a delightful and quick read that I even learned a few new things from.

Shabbat_Challos"Most of my readers don't know this, but for a short time after graduating high school I was a nanny for a great Jewish family in Texas. Being born and raised in a Christian home this was quite the learning experience for me. The two children I cared for were quite young, around two and five, and each night we had to recite prayers in traditional Hebrew. I was also able to witness quite a few 'Shabbats' that occur every week for a day of rest. It was a wonderful experience for me as someone who had never had these experiences before.

I bring this part of my life up because much of the book revolves around the religious beliefs of the characters, which happen to be Jewish. Rona Arato did a fabulous job of blending just the right amount of information with story to provide an entertaining and educational reading experience.

Overall, I think this was definitely a treat to read. Quick, fun, with a lot of adventure and even a little bit of history behind the true events happening during the time of the book. Readers of Middle Grade fiction and kids alike will love the tale of Moshe and Shoshi and their exciting friend Snigger the dragon. ( )

I have mixed feelings about this book.

It’s about ten-year-old Shoshi, her eight-year-old brother, Moshe, and their pet dragon Snigger as they escape the Cossacks of Russia to the streets of New York City in 1898. Kids and a dragon in a story are usually a great combination. Kids love to read about dragons.

My six-year old had hard time getting into the story. I had to make us stick with reading the book for the first several chapters. Eventually, he started enjoying the story more. Once we finished, he asked me started again from the beginning. That was a big endorsement from him.

I enjoyed the book much less than he did. All of the adults come across as mean, uncaring, criminal or suspected of being criminal. Even Mrs. Kaputnik, the mother of Moshe and Soshi, comes across as mostly mean and uncaring in the book.

I had a big problem with the name of the dragon. It’s too easy to drop the “s” from snigger. I think I will pronounce it with a hard “I” on the second time through.

In the end, if my kids like the book it gets a positive review, even if I don’t like it as much. ( )

Although I think it might take a special kid to be interested in a story about old-timey immigrants, Mrs. Kaputnik does feature a fire-breathing dragon and a surprisingly cute story! My main criticism is that a lot of the characterization and dialogue was very stereotypical. ("You foolish boy!" a 'bad guy' says to one of the protagonists. "That egg is of no use to you.")