On Friday Afternoon

February 5, 2024
Sundown is only a few hours away,
and young Leelee and dog Pickles are theoretically helping their family prepare for Shabbat. Animation-style digital artwork by Halberstadt (A Basket Full
of Figs) tells a different story, however. As the pair moves from room to room, they leave a mess in their wake—crumbs from taste-tested challah rolls, and detritus around a newly decorated tzedakah container. But between the time crunch and the anticipation (soon, “there are only ten minutes until candle lighting”), arriving guests—led into the house via procession by Leelee and Pickles—immediately lend a hand. “A cousin adds flavorful food to the table.... Friends dig up extra chairs, plates, and glasses.... Mom watches over the roast and the kugel, and everyone watches the clock,” writes Babay (The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom). At last, sundown arrives, and with Leelee at her side, Mom strikes a match to light the Shabbat candles, and text wishes “Shabbat Shalom.” While the reason why all the preparations must be completed by sundown is never fully explained, the eager-eyed characters, portrayed with various skin tones, sweetly convey gifts of shared ritual, connection, and gratitude. An author’s note concludes. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Laurel Symonds, Bent Agency.

February 15, 2024
Young Leelee and her dog, Pickles, prepare for Shabbat one busy Friday afternoon. With the spiraling structure of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985), the book follows the duo from one activity to the next. Leelee and Pickles must clean up the crumbs they dropped while eating challah, which leads to them finding loose change under the couch. They decide to donate the money, but the tzedakah boxes are full, so Leelee empties out a flowerpot to use instead. Onomatopoeic interjections, encouraging a read-aloud experience, are included throughout, beginning with the simple clink of a coin and escalating to the "Pah! Bah-bah! Rah!" of a trombone that Leelee finds when searching for a shoe. This discovery leads, naturally, to a parade through the street, with Leelee and Pickles inviting the neighbors and friends they meet home for dinner. The penultimate spread calms both characters and readers with the sights and sounds of candle-lighting before the Shabbat meal begins. Expressive cartoon illustrations depict a brown-haired, olive-skinned Jewish family enjoying a loving, if hectic, afternoon. A close-up of detritus under the couch and a long shot of a mother putting on earrings in a mostly tidy house convey the dynamism of the scene; Leelee's curly pigtails bring an enormous energy all their own. Repetition and mounting lists create a propulsive rhythm as sunset draws nearer. Leelee's community is a diverse one. Warm and lovely. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-8)

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September 20, 2024

PreS-Gr 2-On Friday afternoon, Leelee and her family are busy getting ready for the Jewish Sabbath, which begins at sundown. She and her dog Pickles taste-test the challah rolls, decorate and then put money in a tzedakah box, gather clothes that no longer fit for donation, bathe, and invite friends and neighbors to join them for the Sabbath meal. In a cascading series of events that is reminiscent of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, one thing leads to another. For example, while cleaning up, they find a long-lost trombone which leads to a parade down the street. Playful digital cartoon illustrations depict brown-haired Leelee with large round brown eyes; diverse skin-tones are shown in the extended family and friends. Children will enjoy "reading" the pictures to find fun details like the angry cat and a lost Lego figure. Families who observe the Jewish Sabbath will relate to the frantic rush to get everything prepared in time but terms like challah, tzedakah, mitzvah, kugel, and Shabbat Shalom are left for readers not in the know to guess from context. The author's note defines a mitzvah as a good deed or charitable act and provides 12 suggestions for how readers can improve the world; these have little connection to the story. VERDICT Fun but incomplete, this book is an additional purchase for most collections.-Rachel Kamin

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