Food is an intergenerational bond, and this sensitive portrayal gets it just right.
Loving memories help a young girl mourn the death of her grandmother.
Mina and her grandmother have always shared a special time on Sunday mornings. Together they prepare French toast using a recipe that consists of “a pinch of this. Not quite right. A shake of that. Mmm, just right.” With the delicious food on her plate, Mina climbs a tree to eat, and Grandma sits at a table nearby. Then, one Sunday, everything is different as family and friends gather. There’s boiled eggs to eat and a candle burning on the windowsill. Unstated in the text, the white Jewish family is sitting shiva—observing a seven-day period of mourning. Mina does not want to join them; she climbs up her tree. More food comes and more memories are shared as Mina inches down the tree and watches through the window. Overhearing the relatives talk about Grandma’s cooking moves Mina to action. It seems that Grandma’s one culinary skill was in preparing French toast, and only Mina knows how to make it. Softly textured illustrations help to convey the tender mood of the story. For many families, the death of a grandparent is observed with both religious and secular customs, and all should find a note of reassurance and comfort here.
Food is an intergenerational bond, and this sensitive portrayal gets it just right. (note to families) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68115-529-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat holiday tale marred by spotty logic.
An unusual Hanukkah miracle.
On the first night of Hanukkah, Ruthie’s parents give her a pair of holiday-themed “pajamakkahs.” Dad says that she can wear them to the family’s “Hanukkah Pajamakkah Party” on the eighth night. Ruthie wants to wear them “all eight nights.” Mom agrees but tells her to keep them “spotless.” Despite Ruthie’s precautions, she accrues myriad stains as she helps cook latkes, lights the menorah, does arts and crafts, and crashes into a pile of jelly doughnuts. But there are no spots here, says Ruthie—just “streaks,” “splotches,” “sparkles,” and “squishes.” On the final night of Hanukkah, the whole family and even the dog sport pajamakkahs of their own. Mom’s aghast at Ruthie’s pj’s. Dad says it’s a miracle they lasted eight nights, but he sees spots. “Dotted, not spotted,” Ruthie counters. Other, racially diverse, pajama-clad family members arrive. Ruthie twirls the dreidel and, inexplicably, causes a whirlwind, upending latkes, art supplies, and more. Are those spots on Ruthie’s pajamakkahs at last? Finally, Ruthie says, “a Hanukkah miracle!” This thinly plotted, only mildly amusing story is rife with logical holes. Even the youngest readers won’t believe Ruthie’s parents didn’t insist the badly soiled pj’s should get tossed in the washer sooner. It isn’t clear what’s so miraculous about Ruthie’s dirty jammies, and the child’s literalness wears thin. The cheerful, digitally created illustrations feature familiar Hanukkah symbols but are otherwise undistinguished. Ruthie and her immediate family are pale-skinned.
An upbeat holiday tale marred by spotty logic. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781728284576
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for.
Spinelli lists many things for which people are thankful.
The pictures tell a pleasing counterpoint to this deceptively simple rhyme. It begins “The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes. / The local reporter, for interesting news.” The pictures show a little girl playing waitress to her brother, who playacts the reporter. The news gets interesting when the girl trips over the (omnipresent) cat. As the poem continues, the Caucasian children and their parents embody all the different roles and occupations it mentions. The poet is thankful for rhyme and the artist, for light and color, although the girl dancer is not particularly pleased with her brother’s painterly rendition of her visual art. The cozy hotel for the traveler is a tent for the siblings in the backyard, and the grateful chef is their father in the kitchen. Even the pastor (the only character mentioned who is not a family member) is grateful, as he is presented with a posy from the girl, for “God’s loving word.” The line is squiggly and energetic, with pastel color and figures that float over white space or have whole rooms or gardens to roam in. Both children, grateful for morning stories, appear in a double-page spread surrounded by books and stuffed toys as their mother reads to them—an image that begs to be a poster.
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-310-00088-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
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