The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights: A Hanukkah Story by Charlotte Offsay, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Doubleday Books for Young Readers (imprint of Knopf), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Greer Buy at Bookshop.org A joyous introduction to Hannukah for young children. This delightful story follows a family consisting of a mother, father, son, and daughter celebrating the Festival of Lights together. They visit extended family, cook and eat latkes and sufganiyot, light traditional candles, play dreidel games, and open presents. Each page includes a small caption explaining traditions and words that may not be familiar. At the end of the book, the complete Hanukkah story is told in an age-appropriate way along with information on what the word means and why it’s spelled in various ways. Also included is an overview of how and why Hanukkah is celebrated, discussing the many traditions depicted in the story. The parents and children are illustrated in a variety o...

On Friday Afternoon: A Shabbat Celebration by Michal Babay, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Charlesbridge, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ann Koffsky Buy at Bookshop.org With On Friday Afternoon , author Michal Babay and illustrator Menachem Halbertstadt have given us an upbeat and cheerful portrait of a family getting ready for Shabbat—specifically, Friday night dinner. The main characters are a young girl, Leelee, and her dog Pickles. They giggle and race through the house making messes, cleaning up those messes (because Shabbat is coming) and then making still more chaos. Each encounter leads fluidly into the next: when they discover change under the couch, that leads to making a tzedkah box; finding a trombone while cleaning the bedroom leads them to marching in a musical parade. The structure reminded me of the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series-- in the best of ways. Halbertstadt’s illustrations are exuberant and joyful. Leelee’s slightly rumpled hair gives off oodl...

Just One More Thing... And Then Bedtime written and illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt, translated by Romy Ronen Green Bean Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Naomi Morse Buy at Bookshop.org Toddler Naomi is delaying her bedtime, telling her father there is just one more thing she is thankful for. Some of her examples are far fetched: she’s glad she has two legs and not three, and she’s glad the moon is in the sky, and not down on the ground.There are more conventional thanks too: various colors and sounds, the rest day of Shabbat. Her dad looks harried as he tries to put her to bed. There’s a baby sibling in the picture too, and according to the illustrations, dad is the first to fall asleep. Colored drawings show cartoon-like children and their dad at the end of the day. The color red predominates. Illustrations and text present a lighthearted look at the blessing of gratitude for the world God created. Some families and teachers may find this reminder to be thankful to be...

But Perhaps, Just Maybe... by Tuvia Dikman Oro, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Green Bean Books, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner Buy at Bookshop.org From the moment we meet the main characters of Tuvia Dikman Oro's But Perhaps, Just Maybe , we can tell they have opposite personalities. Thanks to expressive illustrations by Menahem Halberstadt, we can tell Hedgehog has an optimistic disposition and that Duck is a cynic. On their way to a bike shop, they encounter three neighbors–Cat, Billy Goat, and Fox– who disturb Duck and Hedgehog's plans on this sunny afternoon. During each confrontation Duck assumes the worst of their neighbors. Hedgehog, however, suggests giving them the benefit of the doubt. When the friends reach the bike shop, they discover that Hedgehog was right, and all the animals enjoy a pleasant snack in the shade. Halberstadt’s palette combines earth tones and more vibrant ones in a quirky mix which really vibes with Oro’s text, which ...

In the Market of Zakrobat by Ori Elon, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Green Bean Books, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ruth Horowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The plot of In the Market of Zakrobat will likely be familiar to many Jewish readers. It’s based on a the much-told story of Yosef Moker Shabbos, which itself is based on a tale from the Talmud. The author’s name might also be familiar. Ori Elon co-created the popular Israeli TV show/Netflix series Shtisel , and he brings the same winning combination of deep Jewish rootedness and up-to-date storytelling sensibility to this delightful picture book.    Stingy Baltosar lives alone, hoarding his chests of gold coins. His impoverished neighbor Yosef so cherishes Shabbat that he spends his few pennies purchasing the finest foods to welcome the Sabbath. When Baltosar dreams that his coins are running away to Yosef’s hut, he trades them all for a single diamond, which he sews into the lining of his hat. The h...

Soosie: The Horse That Saved Shabbat by Tami Lehman-Wilzig, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Kalaniot Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org This charming book is based on a memory from the grandson of the owners of Angel Bakery in Jerusalem, the largest commercial bakery in Israel. When the baker’s delivery boy gets sick and cannot deliver the Shabbat challah to the residents of Jerusalem, his horse, Soosie, takes over and “clip-clops, clip-clops” her way through the entire delivery route on her own. The delightful, cartoon-like illustrations reflect the diverse nature of Jerusalem in the early 20th century with Jews from all over the world, illustrated by their clothing styles and physical features, coming together for their Shabbat challah. This true story turned folktale is a wonderful look at Israel prior to the founding of the State. “Some Notes from the Author” in the back of the book provide historical background, Information about Shabba...

 The Donkey and the Garden by Devorah Busheri, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Green Bean Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Meg Wiviott Buy at Bookshop.org This picture book biography of Rabbi Akiva is not a whole-life portrait; it does not follow Akiva from childhood to adolescence and adulthood until he becomes one of Judaism’s greatest scholars, sages, and tannaim. Slightly more tightly focused than Jacqueline Jules' Drop by Drop , it begins in his adulthood, when he is a forty year old, illiterate shepherd. Akiva’s wife, Rachel, is truly the heroine of this story, for she is the one who encourages Akiva to learn to read and write. Akiva wants to, he yearns to, but worries he will never fit in with the children and that people will laugh at him. Instead of pushing him, Rachel plants a garden on a donkey’s back and insists Akiva come to the market with her. The first day, people point at the donkey and laugh. The second day, people still point and laugh. But on the third...

A Basket Full of Figs retoldby Ori Alon, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili Buy at Bookshop.org Originally published in Hebrew, A Basket Full of Figs is a retelling of a Midrashic tale, in which Emperor Hadrian visits a quiet little village. He sees an old man, who is nearly one hundred years old, planting a fig tree sapling. Emperor Hadrian is astonished at this as he tells the old man he won’t be alive to eat the fruit from the tree. The old man tells him, “Well if I don’t, then my children will. The tree that I am planting is a gift. For years to come, children will visit this place and find a fig tree full of sweet fruit.” He goes on to explain that when he came in to the world, he found lots of trees, wonderful gifts from earlier generations. But the story doesn’t end there. Three years pass and Emperor Hadrian revisits the village, and the old man. The reader then gets to see what indeed happened with the fig tre...