The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Lucky Penny by Aimee Lucido, illustrated by Jon Davis Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishing), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Leah Cypess Buy at Bookshop.org When Penny (the girl) picks up a face-down penny (the coin), her best friend warns her that she’s in for a run of bad luck. Penny doesn’t believe it. She’s done a lot to ensure that she has a lucky day—a day that will hopefully end with her being chosen to blow the shofar at her school’s Rosh Hashanah picnic. But a cascade of disasters seems to prove that Penny’s luck really has gone bad. Can she turn it around? Penny’s earnest efforts and inevitable mishaps are authentic and fun to read about. The charming illustrations complement the story perfectly, making this a delighful—and definitely Jewish—chapter book. This fun, fast-moving story incorporates a number of Rosh Hashanah traditions, from shofar to honey cake to Tashlich, with a light but meaningful touch.  Ed. note: This early chapter book w...

Avital the Pirate by Pamela Moritz, illustrated by Damien Jones Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishers), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Julie Ditton Buy at Bookshop.org When Avital's great uncle, the Pirate Brownbeard, visits shortly before Rosh Hashanah, she joins him for an adventure. At first she has fun sharing culture with the pirates. She blow the shofar for them and they teach her some pirate songs. The author Pamela Moritz mentions kid-friendly titles of a couple of pirate standards that are sure to make older readers laugh. But when she finds out that the pirates plan to steal treasure from other people, Avital lectures her uncle that stealing is wrong. And when they run across a ship with an elderly crew, she stresses that it is a mitzvah to respect old people. She teaches the crew ways to enjoy themselves without hurting people. The cute colorful illustrations by Damien Jones show a ship full of smiling pirates having fun. The brigh, bold a...

A Turkish Rosh Hashanah by Etan Basseri, illustrated by Zeynep Özatala Kalaniot Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rinat Hadad Siegel Buy at Bookshop.org A Turkish Rosh Hashanah gives us a glimpse into the traditions and flavors of Rosh Hashanah as it was celebrated by one branch of Sephardic communities. The community mentioned in this story was expelled from Spain in 1492 and found refuge in Constantinople, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, hence the abundance of Ladino words throughout the story. The narrative of a Rosh Hashanah experience unfolds in the markets and sights of Constantinople, now known as Istanbul. This rich historical backdrop anchors the story and allows the reader to connect with the cultural and historical roots of this community. We meet our characters at the beginning of the story as they plan their shopping spree to get all the ingredients they need to make the dishes in time for Rosh Hashanah seder, as described in the story, the "yehi re...

Tzimmes for Tzipporah by Megan Hoyt, illustrated by Christine Battuz Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland   Buy at Bookshop.org It's the first year that Tzipporah is old enough to help with the early fall harvest on her family's farm. Three days before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, she rides on the tractor driven by her father, and they turn the soil. Tzipporah learns that the tractor has uncovered various root vegetables. Two days before Rosh Hashanah, our little main character helps gather the rutabagas, yams, turnips, potatoes, and carrots. She and her friends scrub off all the dirt. The day before Rosh Hashanah, Tzipporah and her folks ready the tzimmes, using an old family recipe. And on Rosh Hashanah they enjoy the tzimmes with friends and family after synagogue. A recipe and an author's note round out this sweet farm-to-table Rosh Hashanah story. The illustrations, which are bri...

Two New Years by Richard Ho, illustrated by Lynn Scurfield Chronicle Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ann D. Koffsky Buy at Bookshop.org In Two New Years , a family that is both Chinese and Jewish celebrates Rosh Hashanah in the Fall and the Lunar Year in the Spring. Both holidays are shown as parallel in their meanings and symbolism, and each spread displays Jewish customs alongside the Chinese ones. The rich backmatter gives a full and complete description of each of the practices from both traditions. I was particularly struck by how effectively Ho finds universal meaning and values across the two holidays. For example, the text shares how, “We prepare foods that symbolize togetherness and the heartfelt sharing of good wishes.” The illustrations accompanying the words show the traditional Jewish Rosh Hashanah foods on one side, like apples and honey, and a Chinese traditional sectioned platter, with nuts and fruits on the other. Beautiful! The illustrations are exuberan...

Pinky Bloom and the Case of the Silent Shofar by Judy Press, illustrated by Erica-Jane Waters Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Mozer Buy at Bookshop.org Pinky Bloom and the Case of the Silent Shofar is the second Pinky Bloom book I have reviewed for this blog, and it's just as much fun as the first. It's about a Jewish Brooklynite girl named Pinky (short for Penina) who solves crimes with the help of her little brother Ari. This series continues to be a good example of this genre, with Pinky taking on pet sitting duties, mysterious goings on at the pet shop, and her dad's inexplicably silent shofar. It would definitely be enjoyed by 6-8 year olds who enjoy mystery series such as A to Z Mysteries, Cam Jansen mysteries, or Ballpark Mysteries. This book has positive and authentic Jewish religious or cultural content and is appropriate for the intended grade level in style, vocabulary, format, and illustratio...

Miriam and the Sasquatch by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Tamara Anegon Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org It’s early fall, and Rosh Hashanah is coming. Miriam gazes at an apple orchard, imagining a delicious honey-and-apple holiday feast. She enters the orchard, not to pick apples but to practice blowing her shofar where the sound won’t bother anyone. As she practices, she hears munching and crunching, gets bopped on the head by an apple, and discovers a sasquatch sitting in the tree, eating apples that she needs for Rosh Hashanah. She tells Sasquatch to stop, but Sassy keeps eating. She blows the shofar. Sassy howls back and keeps eating. She throws an apple. Sasquatch throws it back… and the apple hits a beehive, causing bees to swarm toward Miriam and Sasquatch. Miriam and Sassy run toward the pond for safety, but Miriam slips and falls. Sasquatch picks her up, and carries her to th...

The Rosh Hashanah Recipe (Ruby Celebrates! series) by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov Albert Whitman & Company, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org Ruby, her cousins, and even the dog are off to the apple orchard, baskets in hand! Apple picking turns into a contest, the kids versus the adults. When the kids win, they realize that together they've collected so many apples they don't know what to do with them all. Ruby comes up with a creative idea, to have a cooking show called "Cooking with the Cousins!" Together, they make apple lasagna, apple pizza and apple pancakes, and still have enough to give a basket of apples to a neighbor. After Rosh Hashanah services at synagogue, the family has a sweet New Year back at Bubbe's house. Only the dog still looks longingly at just one more apple! The story features a diverse extended family: most members are white, but biracial Cousin Avital's Dad is Black, a...

Measuring a Year: A Rosh Hashanah Story by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Zara Gonz á lez Hoang Abrams Appleseed (imprint of Abrams Books), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer   Buy at Bookshop.org The concept of measuring a year by what you’ve achieved, rather than the time spent, is not a new one (think “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent, for starters). But writer Linda Elovitz Marshall and illustrator Zara González Hoang bring it down to a child-appropriate level, with, for example, illustrations of a parent measuring a child on a growth chart and a kid learning to ride a bike. While the subtitle and endpapers reference Rosh Hashanah, the holiday of Rosh Hashanah itself doesn’t make a reappearance until the end of the book. There are, however, other references to Jewish holidays and Jewish family life throughout the illustrations. I appreciated the subtle yet timeless references to the pandemic: a child getting a shot is described as “supe...