Is It Rosh Hashanah Yet?

May 15, 2018
A bucolic autumn in a country setting heralds the Jewish New Year.A young family with two children (brother and sister, judging by attire) gets ready to celebrate the holiday. The simple, rhyming text and the refrain, "Rosh Hashanah is on its way," will encourage young listeners to participate in read-alouds. The family gathers apples in an orchard, and then Mom buys pomegranates as the child narrator notes it is "a fruit I've never tried!" (One holiday custom is to eat a new seasonal fruit.) The text then says: "And we hope to do a mitzvah for each of the seeds inside...." This line is on a double-page spread showing the siblings watching Mom's hands break the fruit apart to show the many seeds inside, but the word "mitzvah" ("commandment" in the religious sense or "good deed" in more secular usage) is not explained. The kids make cards and hear the shofar blown at a religious class (attended by children of various skin tones and a white boy in a wheelchair). After synagogue, the diverse congregants greet one another with "Shanah Tovah." Then friends and relatives of different ages and races arrive for the festive meal (the protagonists' family is white). The pleasant, soft-edged, matte illustrations depict an idealized rural world. The lack of background information suggests an audience familiar with the traditions shown.An attractive celebration, though not an introductory one. (Picture book. 3-6)

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September 17, 2018
In this latest installment of their series highlighting Jewish holidays, Barash and Psacharopulo chronicle a family’s preparation for the Jewish New Year. The family picks apples “for Daddy’s applesauce,” nibbles on pomegranates (“We hope to do a mitzvah for each of the seeds inside”), and makes cards for loved ones. The children and their classmates listen to the shofar, greetings of “Shanah Tovah” are in the air, and there’s a festive meal (cue the brisket) with a big crowd to usher in the holiday at sundown. The story begins and ends in the outdoors, and all vignettes (save the last) conclude with the refrain “Rosh Hashanah is on its way.” Barash brings a light, cheery touch to the celebration. Ages 3–5.

January 1, 2019
Serviceable rhyming text accurately and cheerfully describes signs that the Jewish New Year is approaching, in terms of both season (late summer/early fall) and traditions (eating apples and honey, blowing the shofar, gathering for meals). Simple, bright illustrations with plenty of apt autumn colors show a diverse Jewish community enjoying the holiday.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)