A sweet and compassionate introduction to an important Jewish custom.
A little girl watches a poor man take a bruised apple from the market’s discard pile and finds a way to help him.
Sara’s keen observation from her apartment window makes her wonder if the man is hungry all the time and if he might need a friend. In school, she keeps thinking about him, and at snack time, she saves her cookie to leave by the discard fruit bin the next day. At the oneg Shabbat after services on Friday, Sara recognizes the man eating challah and drinking grape juice. She then creates and leaves a Hanukkah goody bag complete with a homemade menorah, latkes, and cookies. When the rabbi tells her that his name is Morris and that he lives alone and helps each Friday with setting up for the reception, Sara then decides to invite him for a Shabbat and Hanukkah dinner. The importance of tzedakah, or giving to those less fortunate, is the overlying theme in this gentle story about generosity and caring for others, something to be mindful of each Shabbat and on Hanukkah. Full-bleed paintings show exaggerated and elongated cartoon-style figures living in an ethnically diverse urban neighborhood. Many scenes are viewed from below, offering a child’s perspective, and light and shadows from a sunny window are also some of the many artistic details that give this narrative depth.
A sweet and compassionate introduction to an important Jewish custom. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68115-500-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An empowering and important tale of bravery.
A Black Muslim boy must summon the courage to ask for a place at school to pray.
It’s Muhammad’s seventh birthday, and Daddy has a special gift for him: a prayer rug that’s royal blue with gold stitching and that smells of incense. Muhammad is now old enough to independently offer the five Muslim daily prayers, or salat. He packs the rug before school the next day and plans to find a private place for salat. But asking his teacher for help feels harder than anticipated—especially after seeing mean passersby jeer at his father, who prays in the open while working as an ice cream truck driver. To claim a space, Muhammad will need to be brave, just like his joyful, hardworking Daddy. Once again, Thompkins-Bigelow (Mommy’s Khimar, 2018) has written a beautiful, positive, and welcome portrayal of Black Muslim families. Her melodic writing captures Muhammad’s feelings as he works to find his voice and advocate for his needs. Aly’s playful, energetic illustrations offer a nod to Islamic art traditions and work in tandem with the text to give readers a glimpse into Muhammad’s hopes, fears, and growth. An author’s note explains what salat is, the times and names of the prayers, how it is performed, and other relevant terms used within the text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An empowering and important tale of bravery. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781984848093
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
The title says it all: When Baxter hears about Shabbat, when “the candles gleam and glow and dance while our sweetest voices lift in song,” from an old man at the bus stop, of course he wants to be part of it—but how? The young man he meets the next week tells him he can’t: “You’re not kosher!” In pursuit of kosher, Baxter eats kosher dills, pigs out on challah and teaches himself to moo. Finally a kindly rabbi leads him to the truth: “But,” she asks, “why would you want to get eaten?” She goes on, however, to explain that “[i]t is a mitzvah to welcome a stranger,” so Baxter gets to enjoy Shabbat after all. Goldin’s photo-collage illustrations present a suitably goofy-but-sincere cartoon pig dressed in a plaid button-down Oxford shirt and locate him in an urban neighborhood that features an imposing synagogue and a kosher deli. While Snyder's glossary glides a little irresponsibly over the precise meaning of "kosher," this will nevertheless find plenty of use in Jewish homes, particularly among families in which one parent is not Jewish. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58246-315-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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