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Review: Heroes with Chutzpah

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Heroes with Chutzpah: 101 True Tales of Jewish Trailblazers, Changemakers, and Rebels by Kerry Olitzky and Deborah Bodin Cohen Ben Yehuda Press, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Amy Blaine Buy at Bookshop.org Collected biographies for young people are hot right now, and Heroes with Chutzpah is a unique and timely addition to options for middle grade and young adult readers. The biographies, covering people who have lived within the last 125 years, are not organized alphabetically or chronologically; instead, they cleverly lead into one another with a short sentence linking one personality to the next. From the book’s first profile of comedian Sarah Silverman to a later look at student activist for gun control Naomi Wadler, this collection contains a great mix of knowns and unknowns and includes Jews of differing practices, ages, races, genders, abilities, and identities. The digital illustrations, manipulations of the subject’s image, provide a clean, bold, colorful, and engaging
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Review: Rebbe Nachman's The Lost Princess

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Rebbe Nachman's The Lost Princess retold and illustrated by Jessica Tamar Deutsch Somewhere (imprint of Ayin Press), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Marcia Rosenthal Buy at Bookshop.org The Lost Princess is an imaginative tale by Rebbe Nachman, retold and illustrated by Jessica Tamar Deutsch. In a moment of fury, a king exiles his only daughter. The following morning, he is consumed with regret, only to discover the princess is nowhere to be found. The viceroy steps up to help the distraught king and embarks on a long journey to find the princess. The viceroy comes upon a castle, where he discovers the princess is captive in the Kingdom of Evil. She can only be freed if he successfully fulfills a year-long test of solitude. He fails. The princess is moved to another castle, and the viceroy resumes his quest. He encounters friendly bear giants and wind-keepers and asks for their help. Ultimately, the viceroy rescues the princess, but how that occurs is not revealed in the s
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Review: The Night Before Passover

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The Night Before Passover (The Night Before series) by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Nathalie Beauvois Grosset & Dunlap (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Author Natasha Wing has parodied The Night Before Christmas with 40+ titles in her "The Night Before" series. The Night Before Passover is her second Jewish entry, following The Night Before Hanukkah (2014). Some Jewish readers may find the juxtaposition of Passover with a famous Christmas poem amusing, while others may find it discomfiting. That said, it's always appreciated to find Jewish titles incorporated into a non-Jewish book series. The text follows the pattern of couplets from Clement Clark Moore's original poem, but unfortunately, the meter is uneven and awkward. Forced into the rhyme scheme, concepts lose their meaning, as in this passage: "We sing psalms, recite blessings, / I sip grape juice from my cup. / I already fi
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Review: Where Is Poppy?

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Where Is Poppy? by Caroline Kusin Pritchard, illustrated by Dana Wulfkotte Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org A young girl attends the first Passover seder after the death of her beloved Poppy. So much is familiar -- "the same chasing cousins, the same squishy seats" -- but her Poppy has clearly passed away. It's hard for the young heroine emotionally, not to have this man leading the seder and influencing her life, with everything from his secret ingredient for pumping up the chicken soup to his pithy life advice when the girl would sit on his lap. Finally, though, as the adults tell her that Poppy is here, the heroine understands that Poppy lives in in their singing, Passover traditions like an orange on the seder plate, and the over-enthusiastic singing of Dayenu. Pritchard has crafted a touching story, with simple, appropriate, and equally touching art from Wulfkotte. I especially like
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Review: Sophie's Monster Goes to Shul

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Sophie's Monster Goes to Shul by Sandy Asher, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner Buy at Bookshop.org One morning, Sophie discovers that the imaginary monster in her closet has collapsed in tears. It turns out that the monster misses the times when Sophie was actually scared of him. Also, he's lonely, since no one else can see him or talk to him. Sophie attempts to find the monster a new job, but fails until she takes him to the synagogue for religious school. There he enjoys listening to stories, singing, and dancing. Finally, Sophie writes about her monster. “You have a new job,” she said. “Now you’re the monster in my story.” From then on, other people can see and hear her monster…by reading Sophie’s story. Alexandra Colombo’s artwork supports the text well. The colorful and almost windswept appearance of the monster captures the strangeness of the creature without f
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Review: Anything Is Possible

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Anything Is Possible by Rochel Sandman, illustrated by Chana Zakashansky-Zverev Hachai Publishing, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Chava Pinchuck   Buy at Hachai.com Bubbe Hinda and Zayde Mendel have fled from their home. It is wartime, and all resources are in short supply. Zayde Mendel is worried that there will not be matzah for Passover, and Bubbe Hinda sets out to make it happen. She goes to the farmer, who has no extra wheat. When she sees his worn-out boots, she offers some leather for wheat. Her next stop is the leather tanner, who has no extra leather, and a leaky roof. Bubbe Hinda offers tin to fix the roof in exchange for the leather. From there, she goes to the scrap dealer. He has no extra tin, but Bubbe Hinda notices his daughter’s shawl has holes, and offers to bring wool to knit a new one. Finally, Bubbe Hinda meets an old woman with a sheep. She asks for some wool, but the old woman says she has no extra for sale. Bubbe Hinda asks if there is anything she could
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Review: Workitu's Passover

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Workitu's Passover by Zahava Workitu Goshen & Maayan Ben Hagai, illustrated by Eden Spivak, translated by Jessica Bonn Green Bean Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Arlene Schenker Buy at Bookshop.org In this charming and lovingly illustrated tale of a Jewish Ethiopian family, a young girl, Workitu, learns about her family’s Passover custom of breaking their dishes to be certain every trace of chametz is destroyed. Workitu cherishes certain pieces of the family pottery and can’t understand why the beautiful, graceful vessels should be shattered each year and then ground into powder. Nevertheless, Workitu follows her mother’s instructions, and along with her little sister Almaz, carries the pottery to her nearby Auntie Balainesh’s where the shattering and grinding is to be done. Auntie Balainesh patiently explains that the old must make room for the new, and Workitu allows Auntie to teach her to mix the powder from the broken vessels with clay, to knead it and creat
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