A dense, atmospheric, and enthusiastic religious fantasy.
A religious children’sfable that dramatizes the sweep of Jewish history.
Lazris’ novel centers on an enigmatic immortal named Yadel who travels to various places and time periods in a magical spinning dreidel. He visits Jewish families, offering toys and treats to children and telling talismanic stories from Jewish history that illuminate the intricacies of their culture. Yadel concentrates specifically on Hanukkah—which he claims to have invented—and in order to explain its significance, he tells a story from the year 65, involving two friends: a Roman named Clausius and a Jewish man named Simon. Clausius is a seeker, following his curiosity into all kinds of philosophies and religions, from atheism to Christianity and various cults of the Empire; by contrast, Simon is a devout adherent of his faith, which gives Lazris a perfect opportunity to deliver exposition about Judaism. Yadel’s narrative later moves to other points in Jewish history—to Lodz, Poland, in the 16th century, for example, and to the plight of Sephardic Jews in Spain. This narrative device effectively allows Lazris to comment at length on various events; in the Hanukkah story, for instance, he asks, “Why were the Jews suffering?...[B]ecause they were not following the laws and were becoming too Roman.” Yadel’s core, recurring message is made crystal clear for readers: “Hanukkah is a holiday warning us about the vile allure of zealots, of those who claim to be holier than thou, and who use God as an excuse to punish those they deem to be less pious than them.” The fact that his message is a pedagogical one gives the book a patronizing flavor at times. At the same time, though, Lazris manages to fill the proceedings with a good deal of narrative energy as the story proceeds.
A dense, atmospheric, and enthusiastic religious fantasy.Pub Date: July 31, 2021
ISBN: 979-8547450068
Page Count: 337
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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