Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. In 2021, the celebration will take place September 6-8. Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important holidays in the Jewish religion celebrating hope and renewal. Apples are often chosen as a food of choice for celebrations. When Max and Emily’s grandma comes to visit from Israel to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Max just wants to get to the fun part of making the caramel apples. But Grandma has other plans first. While Max and Emily gather apples at the orchard, Grandma is able to work on other lessons about their faith and culture as well as memories from her own childhood. Finally, Max and Emily choose their own memorable traditions to celebrate with their family. The illustrations invoke the fun of fall including beautifully colored trees and the fun of an apple orchard. Max’s expressive reactions during his time with his grandma and sister change from frustration to joy and kids will be able to pick that up.
Sincerely Stacie Blog, March 2, 2021 - Stacie Gorkow
Family, Jewish traditions, and joyfully celebrating the holiday of Rosh Hashanah center this familiar-seeming tale. Max and his sister Emily are spending the day with Savta, their grandmother visiting from Israel. With the promise of making caramel apples to welcome in a sweet new year, hasty Max is impatient to get started, but Savta has a day of apple picking and orchard frolicking planned as well. Grumpy Max needs to be coaxed into enjoyment, but as the trio picks apples, plays, and tells stories together, he finally comes around to having fun, and even helps create a new Rosh Hashanah family tradition—caramel apples on the first day of the holiday, and apple cake on the second. The writing and illustration styles are straightforward and accessible. Max’s reluctance to relinquish his sour mood will ring true to kids and their parents and caregivers, as will his turnaround when shown love, patience and a chance to take ownership. The artwork features a fall color palette that compliments the theme and content, and bold, squiggly lines add a sense of dynamism to the somewhat static scenes in the orchard. Back matter includes information on celebrating Rosh Hashanah, a glossary of Hebrew terms used in the text, and recipes for “Savta’s Apple Cake” and “Max’s Caramel Apples.” This book shows plenty of positive, authentic, and accurate Jewish religious and cultural content, and is appropriate for the intended grade level for which it was written. While not a standout title, it is uncomplicated and easy to understand and relate to.
Association of Jewish Lbraries / Sydney Taylor Shmooze, September 02, 2021 - Gigi Perlman Pagliarulo
A wonderful grandmother — “Savta”in Hebrew, and as she is called in the book — arrives from Israel for a visit with her two grandchildren in America. A relaxed, vaguely hippie woman of indeterminate age, she is immediately lovable. From her long, gray, attractively disheveled hair, visible yet discreet wrinkles, work boots, and svelte, healthy physique, she is obviously fun even before she says one word. And her demeanor! She is a unique and special grandmother. Savta takes Max and his sister on an adventure. They are searching for apples to pick so they can make a special treat for Rosh Hashanah — caramel apples. As they search and pick, Savta shows off her many unexpected skills: she can aim and throw like an athlete, she can juggle like a circus performer, and she can tell engaging stories, all the while gently educating the children about the holiday and about their family history. The story flows effortlessly into a short delicious adventure which pulls together life lessons, Rosh Hashanah rituals, family traditions, and some yummy-sounding recipes. Beautifully illustrated, the book includes Hebrew vocabulary and insights about Rosh Hashanah. One small caveat: the caramel apple recipe calls for slicing the treats into wedges before serving, which could be optional. The apples can be consumed whole on the stick! Enjoy!
Jewish Book Council, September 2, 2021 - Helen Weiss Pincus
2020-12-25
Every page of this story has the character of a snapshot. On one page, Savta is showing her grandchildren, Max and Emily, how to juggle apples. On another page, Emily is pretending to blow a ram’s horn as practice for the Jewish new year. In the pictures, Max doesn’t look like he’s having much fun. He’d rather be at home, making caramel apples for the holiday, but Emily and Savta want to spend the day picking apples in the orchard beforehand. Kirkham’s illustrations, however, look less like actual photographs than like children’s drawings. Fall leaves are zigzag lines on top of patches of red and orange. The two children have large, round heads that make them look a little like candied apples. (All the family members are White and Jewish.) Readers may understand why Max is so impatient. The scenes sometimes feel more like isolated snapshots than like parts of a larger story—the book is episodic enough to make some people fidgety. And readers without a Jewish background may be lost. They’ll have to read the glossary at the back to find out that Savta means grandma in Hebrew. And the word Tekiah! —the sound a ram’s horn makes—is never explained. But the apple recipes on the closing pages are worth waiting for.
Readers will be anxious—happily and otherwise—for the book to end. (Picture book. 4-10)
