The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Promise by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams, illustrated by Cinzia Battistel Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Meg Wiviott Buy at Bookshop.org Jacob and Hassan live in a small village in Morocco. The boys go to different schools, practice different faiths, and are best friends. They play together in the cool, lush garden of Jacob’s family, designed to resemble gardens of ancestral Spain. Their families share meals, conversations, and drink mint tea together in the lovely garden. Hassan’s father says, “A garden is a prayer.” And Jacob’s father says, “A garden is also a promise.” The boys agree and tend the garden together. All is well until news arrives: “Frightening things, terrible hateful things, were being done to Jews in Europe.” Fearing the spread of danger, Jacob’s family must flee Morocco. Before Jacob departs, he asks Hassan to tend the garden. Hassan promises he will. Years later, a grey-haired Jacob re...

The Button Box by Bridget Hodder & Fawzia Gilani-Williams Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org When Granny Buena shows her grandchildren (Jewish Ava and her Muslim cousin Nadeem) the family button box, they have no idea that the buttons within it are magic. After they touch a special button, they travel in time and space to 8th century Morocco, where they meet their ancestors and help a Muslim prince get to safety in Spain. As Ava and Nadeem learn about daily life in medieval Morocco, including the trade in herbal remedies and spices and the meals, the reader learns about them too. Helpful back matter includes a glossary and an authors’ note explaining who Sephardic Jews are, explaining which parts of the book are true and which merely based on fact, and encouraging children to speak up against antisemitism and Islamophobia. This reviewer found the book’s focus on commonalities in the Mu...