An attractive, different take on a holiday tale.
As in the story of the little red hen, Little Red Rosie, a Jewish white girl, is baking bread, but she is baking festive challah.
In the folk tale, the hen gets no help and must do everything herself. In this lively picture book, Rosie’s stuffed animals come to life, and Toucan, Parrot, and Hornbill (and a yellow bird that observes) help make the loaves, both the usual braided type and the round challah, symbolic of the cycle of life and God’s crown and made specifically for the high holidays. No adults help, but Kimmel writes in his afterword that Rosie “practices being the capable one—the parent—with her bird friends.” Rosie’s repetitive questions, as in “Who will help me knead the dough?” and the frequent, eager “I will” responses of the main avian characters will help young readers join in. Watercolor paintings set in a modern kitchen detail the mess and emphasize the story’s fun. The three birds are pictured sitting on the (covered) rising dough “like it was an egg in a nest.” The shaping of the dough into challah is quite amusing. Luckily, the loaves are ready for the neighborhood holiday dinner, a multiethnic affair. Readers wishing for educational extras will need to look elsewhere for a description of the holiday and the festive foods pictured (pomegranate, apple, and honey), a Hebrew transliteration of the English prayer, and a challah recipe.
An attractive, different take on a holiday tale. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68115-518-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
In the end too much is left unanswered, making this book pleasant but only passable
A mouse searches for and finally finds her missing Seder plate.
Pippa is an industrious house-cleaning mouse. And no wonder—Passover is starting this very evening. Dusting and sweeping finished, she turns her attention to setting the table as a pot of chicken stew bubbles away on the stovetop. But there is one very important object that is missing: the “special Seder plate.” Frantically, the mouse searches through boxes and cupboards and finally ventures into the yard. First she encounters a very large cat and asks if it has seen the plate. “No,” answers the cat and points her to a snake, who sends her to an owl, who directs her to Golda Fish, prettily swimming in the water. Success! Kirkfield’s little tale is written in rhyming couplets with much repetition of “QUIVER! QUAVER! SHIVER! SHAKE!” for emphasis with each interaction with a predator, so readers will be mightily puzzled when the formerly frightful critters join Pippa at the holiday table. Weber’s gouache, crayon, and collage illustrations are sweetly pretty. The final illustration features a Seder plate with transliterated Hebrew and an English translation of the components. Readers familiar with the holiday may find this mildly enjoyable, but others will likely want and need more information.
In the end too much is left unanswered, making this book pleasant but only passable . (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4162-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A satisfactory, Christian-themed guide to coping with worries.
What do you do when anxieties seep in?
A child with short brown hair, light skin, and thick glasses is plagued by Worry, an amorphous gray blob with large eyes. As the child considers various activities, Worry supplies some answers to its favorite question—“What if?” Like what if you fall while rollerblading? Or what if you get soaked in the rain on the way to the school bus? When this happens, pretty bad feelings arise. An unseen narrator tells readers that talking to God can make things better. As the child decides to “think about God’s promises,” a protective bubble forms around them. The child rollerblades, trusting God to take care of things, and finds courage and security in the good things planned even when some things go wrong. In the end, God is more powerful than Worry. Opening with a Bible verse, this book is an affirmation of a Christian perspective that belief in God will see a person through uncertain times. Caregivers and educators should note that the book focuses more on typical worries than clinical anxiety. The boilerplate illustrations add some interest to the pages, doing a bit of the heavy lifting left from the general and bare second-person narration. Racially diverse children populate the background. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A satisfactory, Christian-themed guide to coping with worries. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781546012542
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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