As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
32 pp.
| Whitman
| July, 2018
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8075-3396-3$16.99
(3)
PS
Illustrated by
Alessandra Psacharopulo.
Serviceable rhyming text accurately and cheerfully describes signs that the Jewish New Year is approaching, in terms of both season (late summer/early fall) and traditions (eating apples and honey, blowing the shofar, gathering for meals). Simple, bright illustrations with plenty of apt autumn colors show a diverse Jewish community enjoying the holiday.
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Mehrdokht Amini.
Brooklyn neighbors Moses (Moe) Feldman and Mohammad (Mo) Hassan meet while grocery shopping. One is Jewish and the other Muslim, but they look like twins and become great friends. Both text and illustrations mirror their similar experiences, emphasizing cultural and religious commonalities. Amini's multimedia collages combine photorealism, wild color combinations, and expressively stylized faces. Notes discuss Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan and include recipes for holiday treats.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Jim Starr.
Jewish giant Samson bakes an enormous challah for Rosh Hashanah and in the process creates some U.S. landmarks (e.g., his mixing bowl is the freshly dug Grand Canyon). "Big Sam" also repairs some natural environments he damaged while baking (after all, the Jewish New Year is about "mending the world") before celebrating with figures from American folklore. Lush paintings illustrate this entertaining if overtly instructive holiday tall tale.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Mónica Gutierrez.
Little Red Rosie is baking challah for Rosh Hashanah, and Toucan, Parrot, and Hornbill enthusiastically offer to help with every step (unlike the characters in the story's presumed inspiration, "The Little Red Hen"). The text, in which Rosie patiently encourages the birds, is tedious and saccharine, but the bright illustrations add humor by showing Rosie's well-meaning helpers making a huge mess.
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Maria Surducan.
On Erev Rosh Hashanah, an African American soldier leaves a tarnished horn with an antiques-store-owning white Jewish family for safekeeping; as the once-struggling family does good deeds, they prosper and the horn glows brighter. Despite its modern-feeling setting, this fable maintains the tone of a classic Elijah tale. Glowing, gold-tinged illustrations fit the story well. An appended note discusses Kimmel's inspiration.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Bob McMahon.
Katy can't wait for her annual mother-daughter Rosh Hashanah ritual of apple-picking and applesauce-making, but the new year brings a new baby cousin, whose early arrival alters the plans. Katy satisfyingly gets her applesauce (and readers get the recipe), though this is more a new-baby story than a Rosh Hashanah story. The overly cartoonish characters can best be described as apple-cheeked.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Judy Stead.
A series of accidents prevents Dina and her family, who've just moved, from celebrating Rosh Hashanah with their former neighbors. Luckily, a new family invites them to dinner after services, making them feel welcome. The be-nice-to-your-neighbor message, reinforced by friendly illustrations, is noble but unsubtle; kids may enjoy reciting the book's exasperated refrain (also the title). An explanation of the holiday is included.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Francesca Assirelli.
Talia is confounded by her grandmother's request for some "rude vegetables" (carrots, turnips, potatoes, etc.) for the Rosh Hashanah stew. While digging up an "ornery onion" and "garish garlic," she thinks about her own behavior; all ends with holiday sweetness. The joke goes on a little long, but the end is rewarding. Autumnal colors and rounded shapes evoke comfortable family scenes.
32 pp.
| Kar-Ben
| September, 2011
|
LibraryISBN 978-0-7613-5640-0$15.95
(4)
K-3
Photographs by
Eliyahu Alpern.
A group of students visit an Israeli bee farm and learn about how honey is made, just in time for Rosh Hashanah. Sharp color photographs against autumn-hued backdrops show the children enjoying the day. The text, though bland, delivers copious facts about bees and honey, which may be interesting to Jewish children preparing for the holiday. "Fun Facts" are appended.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Alex Steele-Morgan.
Narrator Annie and her family observe Tashlich (performed during Rosh Hashanah) by spending time in nature. They throw bread into moving water to carry away the mistakes of the past year, exchanging stories of good and bad things and discussing their wishes for the new year. The idealized dialogue is unconvincing but heartfelt. Illustrations reflect the fall season.
32 pp.
| Holiday
| September, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8234-2020-9$16.95
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Jill Weber.
Where does the rabbi disappear to during the days before Rosh Hashanah? His congregants think he visits heaven to intercede for them with God. When a skeptic comes to town, he follows the rabbi and learns of his true (earthly) good deeds. Kimmel's lively adaptation of the I. L. Peretz tale is well matched by Weber's spirited, child-friendly mixed-media illustrations.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Doug Chayka.
Rafael and his orchestra conductor father live as conversos (Jews who practice their faith in secret) in sixteenth-century Barcelona. The text describes how Rafael manages to blow the shofar for Rosh Hashanah right under the city leaders' noses. The story is intriguing, but the telling is a little stiff. Well-composed gold-hued paintings illustrate the tale. An author's note gives more information.
32 pp.
| Dial
| June, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8037-3279-7$16.99
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Stéphane Jorisch.
Izzy loves Tashlich, a Rosh Hashanah ceremony during which people apologize to those they've wronged then throw bread into the water to symbolize cleansing. Izzy has four apologies to make and is pleased when others apologize to him. The story's educational aspects are handled with a light touch, a style reinforced by the loosely drawn pen-and-ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations.
32 pp.
| Kar-Ben
| August, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8225-8648-7$17.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Shahar Kober.
In 1892, Ari is chosen to drive the first train from Jaffa to Jersusalem at Rosh Hashanah. In his excitement and pride, he ignores two friends, which he later regrets. Ari returns to Jaffa as soon as possible to do teshuvah, the annual New Year's effort to do better. Cheerful illustrations accompany the pleasant but didactic text. With an author's note. Glos.
32 pp.
| National
| July, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4263-0076-9$15.95
|
LibraryISBN 978-1-4263-0077-6$23.90
(3)
K-3
Holidays around the World series.
Heiligman's writing evokes respect for religious traditions while making them accessible to children. Her use of the inclusive "we" will encourage readers to embrace their own traditions or imagine themselves in less familiar ones. Festive photographs from around the world reinforce the unifying effect of the holidays. Additional facts, a recipe, a map, and a one-page essay about the holidays are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos. Review covers these Holidays around the World titles: Celebrate Christmas and Celebrate Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.
32 pp.
| Tundra
| August, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-88776-758-6$18.95
(4)
K-3
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, young Reuven follows his village's rabbi to see whether the learned man, as rumored, ascends to heaven to meet with God. Instead, Reuven discovers how the community's spiritual leader serves earthbound souls in need. Rather garish watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations accompany this text-heavy adaptation of a story by turn-of-the-twentieth-century writer I. L. Peretz.
32 pp.
| Eerdmans
| September, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8028-5309-7$16.00
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Bill Farnsworth.
This sobering story is about Eli, a young Jewish boy who learns how his great-grandmother's family, and thousands of others, were shot and killed by Nazis in Lithuanian forests during World War II. Farnsworth's somber oil paintings accompanying the text are notable for their depth of tone and realistic detail, though some of the scenes depicting people are static.
32 pp.
| Holiday
| September, 2006
|
TradeISBN 0-8234-1897-9$16.95
(4)
K-3
Gerstein enhances the traditional biblical story with Jewish legends, elevating the ram that saves Isaac to the hero of the tale. Illustrations hint at depictions of the divine, while those of "the evil one" are shown as scary cartoons. Though this book offers little to readers unfamiliar with the story, it is an innovative retelling.
24 pp.
| Kar-Ben
| July, 2006
|
LibraryISBN 1-58013-158-1$12.95
(3)
PS
Photographs by
Tod Cohen.
Clear color photos of preschoolers celebrating Rosh Hashanah are accompanied by simple, large-type descriptions of holiday essentials and related New Year fun. One caveat--any preschooler would find it almost impossible to blow the very long shofar pictured. This book is one of a series of photo-essays about Jewish holidays.
32 pp.
| Dutton
| July, 2003
|
TradeISBN 0-525-46862-5$$15.99
(2)
K-3
Illustrated by
Matthew Trueman.
Silverman adapts a tale by Sholom Aleichem, best known for his Tevye the Milkman stories. A young boy explains the custom of making Kapores--waving a chicken over one's head to get rid of one's sins--and recalls the year the chickens went on strike. Trueman's comically angry chickens aptly reflect the humor of the tale. The rich, dark colors of his mixed-media paintings evoke the Old World setting.
Reviewer: Lauren Adams
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2003
22 reviews
Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.
This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.