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RISE AND SHINE

Name: RISE AND SHINE
Author: Karen Ostrove
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7499-2

A CHALLAH-DAY TALE

by Karen Ostrove ; illustrated by Kimberley Scott ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2013

Children who visit their grandparents in senior housing may find this especially welcome.

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An old recipe written in Yiddish inspires a visit to the local Jewish senior residence to translate its directions for making challah.

Sammy and Sophie’s dress-up playtime in the attic uncovers, in the pocket of an apron, a crumpled piece of paper with strange lettering. Interested in finding out about this “language from long, long ago,” the children bring it to their Grandma Gert, who lives at Shalom House and successfully explains that it belonged to her own Grandma Bess. It is indeed a family recipe that could easily be made today; the children, Grandma Gert and her fellow residents bake the challah in the communal kitchen. Cartoon illustrations created in pencil, pen and ink and finished with computer-aided design reveal the scheduled group-residence life of a great-grandparent crowd (exercise day includes bending, stretching and kvetching). A simple though cumbersome rhyming text narrates the tale, including the traditional weekly ritual of baking the bread with all the seniors in the galley. The intergenerational setting presents a not-often-seen view of family involvement.

Children who visit their grandparents in senior housing may find this especially welcome. (recipe) (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: March 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-7613-7499-2

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Kar-Ben

Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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HALLOWEEN IS COMING!

by Cal Everett ; illustrated by Lenny Wen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021

High-quality, inclusive illustrations make this one stand out.

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From the changing season to decorations and costumes, children anticipate Halloween.

Little readers will enjoy all of the familiar markers of the season included in this book: falling leaves, jack-o’-lanterns, Halloween costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating. Everett’s rhyming couplets bob along safely, offering nothing that will wow but enough to keep the pages turning. It’s Wen’s illustrations that give the most to readers, full of bustling scenes and lovely details. A double-page spread of the children in town in front of the candy store includes jars with individually drawn treats and other festive delicacies. The townwide celebration features instruments, creative costumes, and a diverse crowd of people. There are three children who appear as the focus of the illustrations, though there are many secondary characters. One bespectacled White child is drawn in a manual wheelchair, another has dark brown skin, the third presents Asian. The child in the wheelchair is shown as a full participant. Readers will enjoy spotting spooks like a vampire, goblin, and werewolf, as they sometimes appear in the background and other times blend in with the crowd. The familiar trappings of Halloween paired with the robust illustrations will have little readers wanting to reread even if the content itself is not startlingly new.

High-quality, inclusive illustrations make this one stand out. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-7282-0586-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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HAPPY EASTER FROM THE CRAYONS

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023

Let these crayons go back into their box.

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The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.

Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)