Chil­dren’s

Max Said YES! The Wood­stock Story

Abi­gail Yas­gur, Joseph Lip­n­er; Bar­bara Mendes, illus.
  • Review
By – January 9, 2012
This August marks the 40th anniver­sary of Wood­stock, the peace and music fes­ti­val that became a uni­ver­sal cul­tur­al mark­er for peace­ful activism. As a cousin of Max Yas­gur, Abi­gail and her hus­band Joseph Lip­n­er have cre­at­ed a vibrant intro­duc­tion to how the event came about due to the pos­i­tive nature of one man. The authors have spun a delight­ful rhyming tale that unites the efforts of music, diver­si­ty, a belief in coex­is­tence and peace into a teach­ing tool for young stu­dents. The text also allows for a dis­cus­sion of the his­tor­i­cal impor­tance of Wood­stock with old­er stu­dents. The illus­tra­tions of Bar­bara Mendes have cap­tured the ener­gy of the art and style of Peter Max and the exu­ber­ance of the 60’s Aquar­i­an Age. The illus­tra­tions would be use­ful in devel­op­ing a class art les­son or open­ing a dis­cus­sion on col­or, shape and use of line in any young class­room. The Juda­ic val­ue of the book can eas­i­ly be found and incor­po­rat­ed into a les­son plan by reflect­ing on the pow­er of Max’s deci­sion. In say­ing yes, our thoughts may turn to a par­tic­u­lar Torah sto­ry (Gen­e­sis 18:1 – 15) and how Abra­ham extend­ed his hand to those unknown to him, who sought respite and shel­ter on their trav­els; teach­ing us the val­ue of true hos­pi­tal­i­ty. Yasgur’s seem­ing­ly small sliv­er of a sto­ry tru­ly marks the start of the entire event of Wood­stock and may be used to demon­strate the con­tin­u­ous con­cept of Juda­ic hos­pi­tal­i­ty and the wel­com­ing of guests from ancient times through to the present day. Most impor­tant­ly, it is how those moments of inclu­sion bring forth the oppor­tu­ni­ty for growth and under­stand­ing. Adults and chil­dren alike will delight in this book. Par­ents and grand­par­ents will cer­tain­ly enjoy shar­ing the his­to­ry of a moment in their lives with the younger mem­bers of their families.
Chris­tine Maas­dam holds a Mas­ters in Human­i­ties, cer­ti­fi­ca­tions in Muse­um Stud­ies and Cul­tur­al Prop­er­ty Pro­tec­tion. She is cur­rent­ly com­plet­ing her M.L.I.S. Her inter­ests are phi­los­o­phy and the impact of art and tech­nol­o­gy on culture.

Discussion Questions