Review: Three Jumps to Sorry: A Yom Kippur Story
Three Jumps to Sorry: A Yom Kippur Story by Amy Novit, illustrated by Ana Zurita Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Karin Fisher-Golton Buy at Bookshop.org In Three Jumps to Sorry , author Amy Novit introduces Hannah, the protagonist, as someone who “was pretty delightful. Except when she wasn’t.” Sound familiar? After Hannah makes a big mistake, breaking her mother’s favorite Rosh Hashanah decoration, the story provides something we all could use—tangible steps to apologize. I know I’m not alone in seeing that our culture has a lot of confusion around apologies. Many of us have felt our stomachs knot as we watch young children making empty apologies. Hannah tries one herself. But her mother has another idea. She makes three numbered squares that Hannah can jump on for a physical manifestation of the steps in a real apology. Not only does this clarify that a real apology is not just about the words “I’m sorry,” but jumping fo