Readers may close the cover thinking that a picture book—like a Torah scroll—can be essential. (Picture book. 5-9)
This book will be read more than once, and that seems only appropriate, as Jews are never finished reading the Torah.
In a traditional synagogue, the congregation spends an entire year reading the Hebrew Bible out loud, immediately flipping back to the first chapter to start again. So it makes a sort of sense that David’s family has spent many generations creating the same Torah scroll out of disparate parts. One part has been hidden during World War II and needs repair. Other sections of the parchment are damaged in a fire and in Hurricane Katrina. David’s grandfather was a scribe—a sofer—and David learns from him, splicing pieces of the damaged scrolls together as an adult to make a new one. “This is a very unusual scroll,” David tells the congregation. “I wrote part of it. Other sofers, in other places and at other times, wrote other parts.” Even less-than-traditional Jews may be moved as the scroll is passed from one family member to another. David teaches his grandchildren to write Hebrew letters and reads the first lines of the scroll to his granddaughter: “In the beginning….” Even the most trivial sentences in the book start to seem oddly beautiful. A passage about scrap drives becomes profound: Nothing is ever lost or wasted; nothing—and no one—is ever unimportant.
Readers may close the cover thinking that a picture book—like a Torah scroll—can be essential. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4677-0426-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area.
A pair of cardinals is separated and then reunited when their tree home is moved to New York City to serve as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
The male cardinal, Red, and his female partner, Lulu, enjoy their home in a huge evergreen tree located in the front yard of a small house in a pleasant neighborhood. When the tree is cut down and hauled away on a truck, Lulu is still inside the tree. Red follows the truck into the city but loses sight of it and gets lost. The birds are reunited when Red finds the tree transformed with colored lights and serving as the Christmas tree in a complex of city buildings. When the tree is removed after Christmas, the birds find a new home in a nearby park. Each following Christmas, the pair visit the new tree erected in the same location. Attractive illustrations effectively handle some difficult challenges of dimension and perspective and create a glowing, magical atmosphere for the snowy Christmas trees. The original owners of the tree are a multiracial family with two children; the father is African-American and the mother is white. The family is in the background in the early pages, reappearing again skating on the rink at Rockefeller Center with their tree in the background.
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7733-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Thoughtful and joyful.
A child of Vietnamese descent fantasizes about the perfect outfit for Tết.
One night, Mai dreams about being a big “STAAAAAAR” and fielding questions on the red carpet. Mai’s literal dream dress is a sparkly silver ballroom gown with a sweetheart cut. After waking up, the child is eager to tell Ba all about it, but first it’s time to get ready. It’s the first day of Tết, or Lunar New Year, and the family plans to celebrate at Mai’s grandmother’s house. Though Mai loves visiting Bà Nội, the child balks at donning the áo dài, a Vietnamese outfit consisting of a tunic worn over trousers. “Stars wear dresses and gowns,” Mai tells Ba. But Ba shows Mai the family photo album, explaining that Bà Nội had her own sewing school in Vietnam and that her students lovingly dubbed her the “Queen of Áo Dài.” To keep their traditions alive when the family emigrated, Bà Nội continued to make áo dài for her loved ones, and the children learned to sew them as an expression of love. Finally, with a newfound appreciation for the garment, Mai greets Bà Nội with a hug, clad in a customized áo dài made by Ba. Told entirely through naturally expressed and well-paced dialogue and accompanied by vividly textured illustrations, this is a loving tale of a family finding a creative way to reshape a beloved tradition.
Thoughtful and joyful. (glossary, “let’s design our own áo dài” activity) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665917346
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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