The combination of concise, easy-to-understand text and copious photography presents an accessible understanding of Passover...
All about that flat, unleavened holiday food—from dough to desert.
Starting with a brief description of the spring festival of Passover, which celebrates and commemorates the exodus of Jewish slaves from Egypt, Ofanansky goes on to describe, step by careful step, the preparation of matzah. Timing is all-important, as everything from preparing the dough to baking must be completed in less than 18 minutes. It is at the Passover Seder where the reading of the Haggadah, the story of the exodus, takes place. A Seder plate containing foods relevant to the tale and the time of the year sits on the table, and three boards of matzah in their own special cover are placed nearby. Children are always included in this family celebration, and in that spirit there are also instructions for baking matzah at home and creating a matzah cover, Seder plate, and cup for the prophet Elijah, who is invited into the house during the evening. Children familiar with the holiday will enjoy the close-up photographic details. Those new to the festival will learn much, especially benefitting from a well-captioned photograph of the Seder plate. The interactive text is engaging for all.
The combination of concise, easy-to-understand text and copious photography presents an accessible understanding of Passover and matzah . (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68115-524-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers who pursue the context will discover that the girl who became an Israeli prime minister had a social conscience.
A group of school friends provides Golda Meir with her first leadership test.
Golda is the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants living in Milwaukee when she becomes active in the American Young Sisters Society. As their president, Golda tasks them to raise money to buy new textbooks for classmates. The neighborhood is very poor, and pennies are precious to the shoppers who patronize her parents’ store, so it’s no easy feat. The young girl is highly motivated and struggles to write a speech for a fundraiser, finally deciding to “speak from my heart.” The event is a success, and Golda immediately decides to found a new group and “be [its] president!” In her first book for children, Krasner presents a pleasantly fictionalized story about a future world leader. Garrity-Riley’s digitally manipulated gouache-and-collage illustrations are a nice accompaniment featuring wallpaper backgrounds and fashionable period clothing. However the overall effect, with so many washed-out browns and blues, is drab. Pale circles of cheek blush on the characters bring to mind pages from a shopping catalog. Stopping short of Meir’s Zionist passion and move to Palestine, the book forces readers to consult the biographical note to understand why Goldie is important beyond the story.
Readers who pursue the context will discover that the girl who became an Israeli prime minister had a social conscience. (photographs, places to visit, bibliography) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4677-1200-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
There’s plenty of wisdom here for older children and adults of many faiths.
Landmann illustrates the decalogue of Angelo Roncalli, probably best known as Pope John XXIII and now St. John—a simple set of 10 precepts to live by.
Each day, he would be polite, he would not criticize, he would spend 10 minutes in silence listening to God. “Just for today, I will make a plan: perhaps I will not follow it perfectly, but still I will make it. And I will guard against two evils: haste and indecision.” He concludes knowing that it is hard to think of doing those things for a lifetime, but for 12 hours? Surely one can do that. The original Italian is not quite so stiff, although it is as formal; the advice in any language is strong but gentle, as the man himself was. Landmann has made a near-magical series of images illustrating this prayer: of a boy, of a city of turrets and domes, of a classroom in which each child has an animal companion like a guardian angel (or one of Philip Pullman’s daemons), of rooftops and forest and ocean. Her surreal approach is ideal for the ethereal subject. The palette is blue and gold, and the line is delicate. The credo is a bit too wordy for very young children, but they might be taken by the images, and the repetition of “just for today” has a comforting, rhythmic weight.
There’s plenty of wisdom here for older children and adults of many faiths. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5461-2
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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