At the gates of the Buddhist temple, Mai sees a cage full of sparrows for sale. Without the money to buy and release them, she offers to feed them. Thu, another little girl, helps and takes heed of Mai’s whispered “Fly, free, fly free, / in the sky so blue. / When you do a good deed, / it will come back to you.” Thu later gives her beautiful red slippers to another little girl with a cut foot. The “wheel of kindness” continues to turn, with various characters doing something good for someone else until a father, grateful that his son has recovered from illness, approaches the temple to pray, sees and purchases the cage and, to Mai’s joy, sets the sparrows free. Buddhist tradition and belief in reincarnation reflects the idea that one’s actions, good or bad, affect one’s rebirth. The smoothly written circular narrative with its reverent message is authenticated by Neilan’s muted watercolors, which are rendered on light tan board and softly depict a Vietnamese countryside peopled by folk wearing conical hats and traditional dress. (Picture book/religion. 4-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-550-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
Tear off a chunk of challah instead.
Who knew? It turns out that mischievous green creatures are responsible for challah, that tasty staple of Jewish festivals.
Three green goblins enjoy disrupting the lives of the schoolchildren of Knottingham by messing up their hair. The goblins, named “Knotty, Knotsalot, and Notnow,” live up to their names on a daily basis and think that their actions are quite funny. Not so the children and their parents, who must unmuss the messy mops. Finally, the children, who have such bakery-related last names as Honeydrizzle, Tablespoon, and Goldencrust, concoct a recipe of squishy dough to foil the little green monsters, covering their hair with unbaked dough that traps the goblins. They are so eager to escape they promise "to never again tangle children's hair." And from that day to this, the families of Knottingham bake a “braided sweet bread called challah.” The author’s note pays tribute to the wonderful smell of challah as a sign that Shabbat is close. Unfortunately, there is no recipe nor explanation of why challah is actually such an integral part of the Friday night Shabbat festive meal, depicted in one of the concluding images. Readers unfamiliar with the bread will find this original tale puzzling, and those who imagine baking and eating that hairy dough will find it unappealing. And children will be mystified that anyone would consider this an effective way to keep hair from becoming knotted. The cartoonish illustrations are awash in greens and feature a mostly white cast of children (one child appears to be Asian and another black).
Tear off a chunk of challah instead. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68115-526-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
A simple Sukkot story that focuses on the concept of helping those in need.
Many families from Micah’s synagogue are picking pumpkins for a soup kitchen.
Micah asks his mother, “What’s a soup kitchen?” She explains, and his dad adds the definition of tikkun olam, the Jewish concept of doing good deeds, or “repairing the world.” As a reward for their good work, each child will receive a pumpkin. Micah wants to find a large one for Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival. After picking pumpkins all day, he finally gets ready to choose, but when he finds a gigantic one, he remembers the soup kitchen. Farmer Jared gently tells him that the big pumpkins are not good for cooking but can be used to make “a wonderful decoration.” The boy finds “a perfect little pumpkin” and dreams of his Sukkot meal but realizes that his family has enough food and other people need the perfect pumpkin more than he does. He adds it to the donations and accidentally steps on a rotten pumpkin. As the farmer explains that this pumpkin will serve as compost, Micah discovers the best pumpkin of all—the seeds to grow his own—“for next year.” Micah and his family are white, but there are Asian and black synagogue members. There are few details about the celebration, but the colorful paintings are humorous and show the sukkah with its harvest decorations.
A simple Sukkot story that focuses on the concept of helping those in need. (afterword, activities) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5124-0865-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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