Back at the Wheel   

Photos: Elchanan Kotler
Illustrations: Gadi Pollack

Nearly twenty years after master mechanech and veteran composer Rabbi Baruch Chait teamed up with beloved artist Gadi Pollack to create four best-selling books of the Middos Voyage series for children, they’re finally back with the next chapter in the lives of Rebbe Lev Tov and the passengers and crew on the Gaavatanic oceanliner. But while those children are now adults themselves, the duo’s newest message is actually targeted to them, too.

IT’Sbeen over two decades since children were first entranced by The Incredible Voyage to Good Middos: the story of the unsinkable Gaavatanic, its love-to-hate-them passengers, and the earnest Rebbe Lev Tov, determined to bring the gigantic boat of haughtiness and greed to humility and repentance.

Books two, three, and four of the loveable Middos Voyage series quickly followed — The Lost Treasure of Tikun HaMiddos Island and parts one and two of The Terrifying Trap of the Bad Middos Pirates. And then the children of the world waited for book five. And waited.

In the world of frum Jewish children’s literature, these books were groundbreaking. Not only did they feature Gadi Pollack’s trademark illustrations with captivating depth, they also conveyed the child-friendly messages of avodas hamiddos created by veteran composer, writer, mechanech, and yeshivah founder Rabbi Baruch Chait. Readers were enthralled by the Gaavatanic and its crew, and clamored for more.

And now, 20 years later, when those same children have grown and started families of their own, Rabbi Baruch Chait and artist Gadi Pollack are at long last giving us the next chapter in the lives of the passengers of the Gaavatanic: Shadow Pirates — The Wheel Is in Your Hands.