``Then God smiled./And the light broke./And the darkness rolled up on one side./And the light stood shining on the other./And God said: That's good!'' This poem first appeared in God's Trombones in 1927; it's a wonderfully sonorous retelling, gracefully reflecting the story's nobility while renewing it with vivid imagery and an easy informality that never detracts from its dignity. Golembe (Why the Sky Is Far Away, 1992) provides the perfect visual complement: vibrant paintings in broad, freely rendered areas of rich, dark color, splendidly imaginative and decorative. Elephants are as magenta as flamingoes in Golembe's Eden, while Adam and Eve are handsome black silhouettes. An outstanding rendering, not to be missed. (Poetry/Picture book. 4+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-316-46744-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1993
Categories: CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION
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Children welcome readers into different mosques to learn about varying activities and services that take place in them.
Though many different mosques and children are depicted, the voices call readers’ attention to the similarities among Muslim communities around the world. Yuksel highlights the community eating together; women, men, and children sharing the space and praying together; grandfathers thumbing their tasbihs; grandmothers reading the Quran; aunties giving hugs; children playing. The effect is to demonstrate that a mosque is more than just a building but rather a space where children and adults come together to pray, give, learn, and play. Joyful characters describe what happens in simple, poetic language: “In my mosque, the muezzin’s call to prayer echoes in the air. I stand shoulder to shoulder with my friends, linked like one long chain.” Aly’s bright illustrations pair well with Yuksel’s words, ending with a beautiful spread of children staring at readers, waving and extending their hands: “You are welcome in my mosque.” The variety of mosques included suggests that each has its own unique architecture, but repeating geometric patterns and shapes underscore that there are similarities too. The author’s note guides readers to her website for more information on the mosques depicted; they are not labeled, which is frustrating since the backmatter also includes a tantalizing list of famous mosques on every continent except Antarctica.
Both a celebration of and an introduction to the mosque. (glossary, sources) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-297870-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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Hannah is desperate to be Jewish.
Grandma Mimi, her mother’s mother, is Jewish, so according to Jewish law she must be too, right? Even if her White father, who was raised Catholic, and her nonreligious mother don’t seem to think so. When Hannah attends her best friend Shira’s bat mitzvah, she finally finds the place where she feels she belongs, and she decides to have her very own bat mitzvah. Unfortunately, her parents—especially her mother—vehemently disagree. So, Hannah schemes with Grandma Mimi and Aunt Yael, a rabbi and her mother’s estranged sister, to prepare for her own bat mitzvah. Hannah secretly learns Hebrew and studies her Torah portion in six months, and her rapid mastery of the language feels unrealistic. Her experience is an authentic portrayal of struggling to find oneself through religion even when parents may not be supportive. However, Hannah’s parents’ constant negativity about Judaism—her father frequently “jokes” in ways that read like microaggressions, and the context for her mother’s hostile comments is not revealed until the end—will be deeply uncomfortable for some readers, though the novel does end with a positive message of love and acceptance. The mix of prose, poetry, and recipes is original, but the execution leads to a disjointed and choppy read. Readers questioning their sense of belonging could find this to be exactly what they need.
A disjointed yet sincere story about family, Judaism, and finding oneself. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-38691-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Versify/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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