The Knish War on Rivington Street by Joanne Oppenheim

The Knish War on Rivington Street Reviews

• 
  Dov Zeller

  This is a delightful rendering of an historic competition between rival knish makers on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
  
  It's also a lesson in the way market competition can drive down prices, cause ongoing tsuris to small business owners, and provoke street music battles that drive the neighbors crazy.
  
  Or, it could be called the origin story of how Rivington Street became the "Knish Capital of the World."
  
  No matter how you slice it (and how much mustard you apply) it's a savory treat and has a great lesson in the end: there's room in this world for more than one kind of dumpling.
  
  p.s. My grandmother made knishes with sautéed sauerkraut and onions that were out of this world. I tried on several occasions to make them using her recipe and they never came out as good.
• 
  Pam

  A fun story, two competing knish making businesses open up on Rivington Street and the lengths the owners go to in order to outdo and outsell each other get pretty extreme. The inevitable realization that there is room for more than one knish takes place and recipes for both kinds of knishes are included at the end of the book. The story, as is explained by the author, is based on true events.
• 
  Jasmine

  Well thanks guys, now I'm starving and there are no knishes to be found.
• 
  Linda

  When Benny's family came to America, they opened a knishery that used his Bubbe's recipe for wonderful round dumplings. Soon, however, a Mr. Tisch opened his own rival business across the street. Those knishes were square! The battle began! One store lowered the price and so did the other. One hired a band; the other hired an orchestra. Each one was determined to outdo the other, but Benny has a different idea. The story is based on a true story from 1916 and presented in lively illustrations of people and Rivington Street in that long ago neighborhood. There is an author's note and a bonus, a recipe for fried or baked potato knishes.
• 
  Our Weekend Is Booked

  After I took this book out of the library I almost didn't read it to my son because I thought he wouldn't understand how two businesses were competing for customers and the concept would go over his head. He sat quietly (eating an ice pop) while I read the story and stared at the pictures. The story is about a little boy named Benny, whose family opens a shop on Rivington Street selling knishes. They are very successful at it and are distraught when a store across the street also opens up a knish shop and sells their knishes for 1 cent less. And hence a war begins with both stores trying to outdo each other. They slash prices, offer prize incentives for shopping at their store and hire live entertainment to draw customers in. Eventually the Mayor comes to Rivington Street and says he will decide who has the best knish, but he can't because they are different and both are so good. He declares Rivington Street, The Knish Capital of the World and that is how the knish war ended....the last page shows a Knish cart with a long line of customers. My son was like now another knish store opened. He totally understood the book and how a third knish store was competition. This book was loosely based on a real knish war that was written about in the New York Times in 1916. The newspaper didn't report how the war ended, but I liked the ending the author came up with. Also included were two recipes for the knishes written about in the book so you can actually make the foods you are reading about.
  
• 
  Brian

  A delightful story of two family-run knish stores competing in early 20th century New York. The illustrations are lovely. An unexpected bonus was the knish recipe at the end.
  
  I have fond childhood memories of buying knishes from pushcarts in New York, much as described in this story. The pushcarts sold square ones, yellow and filled with potato, in wax paper bags, and you could have them salted or smeared with mustard. The delis usually sold round knishes, filled with potato or kasha. I will have to try the recipe from this book.
• 
  Shari (Shira)

  I categorized this book, "historical fiction." It is actually based on real events that took place in New York in 1916. It made me think of a halacha about fair business competition. My husband said those rules no longer apply. I found the book fun and engaging. I was even inspired to make my own knishes following the recipe provided in the book.
• 
  S

  There were round, baked knishes and then there were square, fried knishes. The bakers of Rivington Street were having a war about who had the best knishes. In the end, everyone was a winner. Knishes for all.
• 
  Tori

  This is a cute book but I struggled a bit with the fact that the signs weren't explained in the written text on most pages - it seemed like the author just expected you to know to read them, which I didn't the first time through.
• 
  Gustavus Cliffe

  Read this two years ago.
  I don't remember the specifics of this book, but the general theme and silliness of the knish war (which I believe was inspired by real life events, iirc?) definitely sticks in my head. Along with the ending of the book.
  Would definitely pick up from the library again.
• 
  Rachel Solomin

  A delightfully illustrated rendering of life in early Twentieth Century New York.
• 
  Juliana Lee

  Based on the true story of the rival knisheries on Rivington Street in NYC. Polish immigrant families battled each other for customers of their baked and fried knishes.
• 
  Hannah

  Excellent!
• 
  H.S.

  What an adorable book for all family to enjoy. We were able to extract several great lessons to discuss with our children and the recipes in the back of the book made for a fun activity.
• 
  Dawn Moynihan

  Sydney Taylor Book Award
  
  TT=The ideas in this book are similar to "The Little Bitty Bakery" by Leslie Muir. At first glance they may seem very different, and they are in some respects. But, they both show that a love for baking can bring unlikely people (or animals) together as friends. They also both have recipes in the back of the books. Mmmm.
  
  TS="The Knish War" is a baking duel between two families who don't think there can be two Knish bakeries in the city. I cannot relate to this from a business sense, but I have actually driven to another city to buy a dress for a party to make sure I was the only one wearing that dress.
  
  TW=Businesses today use commercials to get our attention and try to get us to leave the other business for them. Cell phone companies come to mind. They put one company down and try to undersell their competitor in an effort to take their business. The tools have changed, but not the concept.
  
  Muir, L. (2011). The little bitty bakery. New York, NY: Hyperion Books.
  
  Oppenheim, J. (2017). The knish war on Rivington Street. Chicago, IL: Albert Whitman and Company.