ABUKACHA’S SHOES

Abukacha’s Shoes

Groundwood Books, 2015

Abukacha finally throws away his worn out shoes and gets himself a new pair. But the old shoes, somehow, keep finding their way back to him.

When author and illustrator Tamar Tessler was a little girl, her aunt would tell her the story of Abukacha and his shoes — a story that had been told to her by her own Polish aunt, Fella. The plot was always different, but the problem remained the same — Abukacha had the biggest shoes in the world, and he couldn’t get rid of them no matter what he did. Inspired by her husband, who refused to throw away a worn-out pair of shoes, Tamar wrote her own version of the story, and created art that incorporates her cherished family photos.