Rising: A Shabbat Baking Story

Yes, this book is about making challah and the rituals surrounding it, but it’s also about family, love and the beauty of taking time to rest. Sophia Vincent Guy’s mixed media illustrations in pastel shades are perfectly in-keeping with the gentle lyrical nature of Sidura Ludwig’s narrative. The author includes a recipe for challah and a glossary of Hebrew terms after the story.
A book that should definitely find a place in primary school collections.

-- Jill Bennett * Red Reading Hub *

Overall, this would make a nice addition to a Primary School library, along with the rest of the series. Together they would be useful for teachers and classes thinking about a range of different festivals and traditions.
I could also see a family who were introducing their child to Shabbat in general, or specifically to baking Challah, getting some good use out of this, and perhaps coming back to the book for quite a long time and getting different things from it as the child aged.
There’s a simple recipe at the back (the ‘Make’ part of the series title) along with a glossary of the Hebrew terms. I’d recommend it for either families or congregations wanting to introduce their own traditions to younger children in a gentle and accessible way or for school libraries looking to broaden their resources for thinking about diverse kinds of celebrations.

* The Letterpress Proje