A lovely evocation of Shabbat traditions.
Shabbat is always a welcome day of rest.
Farmer Simon and his ox, Shoshi, plow his land in the hills near Jerusalem for six days every week. Shabbat is a day to put work aside and take time for quiet pleasures with his grandchildren; it’s also a day of rest for Shoshi, who is rewarded with fresh hay and cool water. When Simon decides that he is too old to continue working his farm, he sells his ox to Yohanan, a recent arrival who does not understand his Jewish neighbors’ traditions. Shoshi works tirelessly with Yohanan for six days but each Shabbat refuses to move. Yohanan wonders if the ox is stubborn, lazy, or ill. But when he sees his children playing with Shoshi and notices Simon with his prayer shawl, he realizes that clever Shoshi knows that Shabbat means no work. So Yohanan embraces the tradition and makes Shabbat his day of rest, too. In an author’s note, Yacowitz states that the book is based on Rabbi Yohanan ben Torta, “a beloved teacher who lived in Israel almost two thousand years ago, when the Romans ruled the Holy Land” and who, according to lore, converted to Judaism after buying a cow from a Jewish farmer. The author employs simple, accessible language that roots the story in time and place, with believable, sympathetic characters. Hawkes’ detailed acrylic depictions of Shoshi’s and the brown-skinned humans’ facial and body expressions are humorous and thoroughly delightful. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely evocation of Shabbat traditions. (author’s note) (Religious picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1654-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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