Affirming for children in Jewish families and useful for non-Jewish families that want to casually instill respect for...
A close-knit Jewish family’s preparations for Shabbat are set to a hip-hop beat in this attractive board book.
Each lively four-line verse is sung by a smiling boy sporting a backwards baseball cap. His gray-haired Bubbe, wearing a sunny yellow apron, dances along waving a spoon. Of course, once seated at the Shabbat table, the young protagonist’s head is respectfully covered by a white kippah. His rhymes trip off the tongue with ease. The first and last verses bookend the story, ending, respectively, “She’s got the beat” and “I’ve got the beat.” The digitally enhanced illustrations rendered in pen and ink with watercolor show a rather idealized world. Bubbe’s tree-shaded white clapboard house is tidy and welcoming. As the fifth stanza says, “Cousins by the dozens, / Knockin’ on the door. / Bubbe’s got it covered, / Always room for more.” Readers unfamiliar with Jewish traditions of Shabbat may not understand the details of the story, and words such as challah, kiddush, kugel, and even bubbe are not defined (though young goyim are likely to recognize her as a grandma regardless). Still, the spirit of family togetherness is indisputable.
Affirming for children in Jewish families and useful for non-Jewish families that want to casually instill respect for another religious culture. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5124-4763-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt.
A love song from parents to their child.
This title will seem quite similar to the many others about parents’ deep love for their children. The text is wholly composed of first-person declarations of parental love, and it’s juxtaposed with illustrations of the child with one or both parents. It’s not always clear who the “I” speaking is, and there are a few pages that instead use “we.” Most sentences begin with “I love you more” phrasing to communicate that nothing could undermine parental love: “I love you more than all the sleepless nights…and all the early, tired mornings.” The accompanying pictures depict the child as a baby with weary parents. Later spreads show the child growing up, and the phrasing shifts away from the challenges of parenting to its joys and to attempts to quantify love: “I love you more than all the blades of grass at the park…and all the soccer that we played.” Throughout, Bell’s illustrations use pastel tones and soft visual texture to depict cozy, wholesome scenes that are largely redundant of the straightforward, warm text. They feature a brown-haired family with a mother, father, and child, who all appear to be white (though the father has skin that’s a shade darker than the others’).
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0652-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, colorful start for a Christian spiritual journey.
A cheery child gives thanks to God.
“When I see a rainbow / High up in the sky / I say a little prayer of thanks, / And here’s the reason why: // Because God loves me!” This board book’s focus is the comforting notion that God loves all his children, and no matter what, he will always look out for them. The text follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, breaking after every stanza to repeat the phrase “Because God loves me!” The small, light-skinned child has spiky brown hair and wears a dress; both the child and a chubby accompanying dog are appealingly illustrated with a bright, simple color palette and scratchy lines that appear to have been made with colored pencil. God is the only name given for the deity, implying a primarily Christian audience. The book’s message is clear, and its construction is sturdy, suiting this well to parents who are beginning to have conversations with their little readers regarding their beliefs.
A sweet, colorful start for a Christian spiritual journey. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58925-237-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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