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
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for.
Spinelli lists many things for which people are thankful.
The pictures tell a pleasing counterpoint to this deceptively simple rhyme. It begins “The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes. / The local reporter, for interesting news.” The pictures show a little girl playing waitress to her brother, who playacts the reporter. The news gets interesting when the girl trips over the (omnipresent) cat. As the poem continues, the Caucasian children and their parents embody all the different roles and occupations it mentions. The poet is thankful for rhyme and the artist, for light and color, although the girl dancer is not particularly pleased with her brother’s painterly rendition of her visual art. The cozy hotel for the traveler is a tent for the siblings in the backyard, and the grateful chef is their father in the kitchen. Even the pastor (the only character mentioned who is not a family member) is grateful, as he is presented with a posy from the girl, for “God’s loving word.” The line is squiggly and energetic, with pastel color and figures that float over white space or have whole rooms or gardens to roam in. Both children, grateful for morning stories, appear in a double-page spread surrounded by books and stuffed toys as their mother reads to them—an image that begs to be a poster.
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-310-00088-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Visually appealing but doesn’t capture the spirit of namaste.
What does it mean to say namaste?
This picture book attempts to explain this traditional, formal greeting used in South and Southeast Asia to welcome people and bid them farewell—in particular, as a way to show respect to elders. A child with dark hair, dark eyes, deep-brown skin, and a bindi on their forehead goes to a market with their caregiver and buys a potted plant to give their lonely, lighter-skinned neighbor. Vibrant, textured illustrations depict a blossoming friendship between the little one and the neighbor, while a series of statements describe what namaste means to the child. However, the disjointed text makes the concept difficult for young readers to grasp. Some statements describe namaste in its most literal sense (“Namaste is ‘I bow to you.’ " “Namaste is joining your palms together”), while others are more nebulous (“A yoga pose. A practice.” “Namaste calms your heart when things aren’t going right”). The lack of backmatter deprives readers of the cultural context and significance of this greeting as well as knowledge of the countries and cultures where it is used. Moreover, the book doesn’t convey the deep respect that this greeting communicates. The absence of culturally specific details and the framing of namaste as a concept that could apply to almost any situation ultimately obscure its meaning and use. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Visually appealing but doesn’t capture the spirit of namaste. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1783-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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