This recommended board book, Mazel Toes! written by Audrey Barbakoff and illustrated by Annita Soble, hooked me from the title, and the rest of the rhyming story kept me turning the pages. What a treat to read all the Yiddish I heard growing up. Better yet, how wonderful to share it with future generations. I like how references to the various babies’ mazel toes appear in every other stanza, all the while introducing Yiddish words to kvell over.
My love, it lasts forever. My love, it grows and grows, From your shayna punim Down to your mazel toes.
My favorite stanza is above, and I can almost hear my grandfather saying it. It was years before I understood that when he said “pupik” he was referring to my belly button! Barbakoff makes every perfectly chosen Yiddish word work wonderfully to convey the pride everyone feels as they marvel at the bundle of joy.
Readers unfamiliar with Yiddish will appreicate the glossary at the end. I appreciated the diverse representation of characters in the illustrations, including multiracial, multigenerational, queer, and disabled characters. Additionally, the journey from the “old country” to the present, as they dote on the newborn, was a thoughtful approach. I’m a big fan of the flattened-style perspective Sobel used, a rich, naïve art that hints at a bygone era and flows easily from spread to spread.
If you know new parents, grandparents, in fact, the whole mishpocha, I cannot think of a gift that will warm hearts more than Mazel Toes!
Silas and Great-Grandma Faye always end their video calls with “See you soon!” Great-Grandma Faye says that Havdalah, which separates Shabbat from the rest of the week, is like saying “See you soon!” to Shabbat. She shows Silas a spice box made by his great-grandpa, who used to say, “Havdalah is the time between Shabbat and ordinary days, when we get to feel both kinds of magic at the same time.” Great-Grandma Faye suggests she and Silas make Havdalah together over the internet until they can be together again. Silas makes his own spice box. When Great-Grandma Faye finally comes to visit, they say Havdalah with both spice boxes.
GUEST POST BY AUTHOR PAMELA EHRENBERG:
It’s such an honor to be here as a guest on Good Reads with Ronna—thank you so much for having me!
When I realized that your blog celebrated its 13th (b’nai mitzvah!) year sometime during the pandemic (belated mazel tov!), it made me think about all the ways that different cultures and traditions have come up with for keeping people connected—even in our world where so often we’re pulled by opportunities and experiences to end up living far away from people we love.
The See-You-Soon Spice Boxis a modern take on a boy and his great-grandma who meet every week over video call for the Jewish ceremony of Havdalah, which is about saying goodbye (or “see you soon,” until next week!) to the Sabbath.
As a single parent (like the dad in The See-You-Soon Spice Box!), I had many years where in-person connections, especially with far-away friends and family, were super-difficult to schedule. And I think the pandemic made clear that there are a lot of people, for all sorts of reasons—disability, caregiving, job responsibilities, the challenges of life!—who can’t connect in person as often as we’d like.
But the pandemic also reminded us that connections helped by technology are nonetheless real connections with real humans. And that’s one of the wonderful things you’ve done all these years with your blog: you’ve connected creators at all stages of our creative journeys—pre-published, published, re-published, and those of us facing all kinds of uncertainties as we wonder what the next step will bring—and connected us with readers, who have realized all along that stories are one of the main ways that humans have always connected with one another.
At the end of The See-You-Soon Spice Box, when the great-grandma travels for an in-person visit, I think it’s a happy time for the family, to be able to connect in person. But I don’t think it changes their relationships, from the already-strong connections they’ve built across distances. Sometimes I forget that you and I haven’t yet met in person, since your blog makes me feel like I know you so well, even though we live 3000 miles away! Thank you so much for everything you do to keep readers, writers, illustrators, and stories connected in spite of everything!!
BUY THE BOOK:
Click this Bookshop.org link to purchase The See-You-Soon Spice Box or purchase a copy at your favorite independent bookseller.
Pamela Ehrenberg Photo Credit: Alexandra Taylor
BIOGRAPHY:
Pamela Ehrenberg’s previous picture books include Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas and Planting Parsley. Her middle-grade novel Detour Ahead (co-authored with Tracy López) was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. She and her children live in Washington, D.C., and she can be found online at www.pamelaehrenberg.com, and on Instagram & FB: @PamelaEhrenbergAuthor
After spending five miserable months at sea, Judah arrives in New Orleans. “His father and grandfather had also sailed the seas. They left their homes to practice Judaism in peace and freedom. God had taken care of them. Judah knew God had a plan for him, too.”
Mildenberger’s illustrations, using soft brown and blue colors, depict the busy harbor in Touro’s new hometown. “A busy harbor meant trade. And trade was a business Judah knew well.” Ades takes us through Judah’s transforming life as he welcomes new friends into his shop at Number 27 Chartres Street. Mildenberger draws crowds of people waiting in line as the industrious shop owner’s business booms. He becomes the most successful merchant in town unlike his father and grandfather who had been great Rabbis. “Had God planned for him to be a businessman?”
The United States entered the War of 1812 eleven years after Judah had relocated to New Orleans. When General Andrew Jackson urgently requested volunteers, Judah joined up, doing one of “the most dangerous jobs on the battlefield, bringing ammunition to soldiers.” During the war Judah was injured and his dearest friend, Rezin Shepherd, found him and nurtured him back to health. “While he lay in bed, he had plenty of time to think about why God had spared his life.”
e e Eagerly turning the page, we see Mildenberger’s moving full color illustrations of sad faces and homeless people as Judah walks through town. “His gut ached for the children who begged for food when they should have been in school. And he sobbed for families torn apart by diseases like yellow fever and cholera.” The poverty and suffering profoundly impacts Judah, supported by his cane, walking past the hospital. He knows he can afford to help these people and so he does. Judah begins making huge donations, but he “requested only one thing in return. He asked that his donations be kept secret. Judah Touro didn’t want to be famous.”
This engaging, educational story takes us through Judah’s purchase of the city’s first Jewish synagogue. We then see how “everyday, African men, women and children were legally sold as slaves so quietly, Judah began to pay off masters.” Ades explains to readers how, when Judah died in 1854, he left money for myriad charities and causes, both Jewish and non-Jewish. “He made sure that fire departments, public parks, libraries and schools could remain open and running.” In his lifetime, “Judah gave away more money than any other American of his time. But he was not famous. And that’s the way he wanted it.”
In the Author’s Note, Ades explains how Touro did not leave a diary. However his secretive, selfless and generous actions make clear that during his formative years he had learned a great Jewish value, helping those in need. This fascinating historical fictionalized story is a great lesson on kindness and humility for lower grade students. They’ll learn that success is more than having money; it is about what you do with that money, and that philanthropic deeds, large and small can be done without requiring recognition. In our world of social media and instant gratification, it was inspirational to read about a real life hero who did great deeds, but chose to avoid fame.
