Kayla and Kugel's Super Sweet Rosh Hashanah

"A young girl prepares for the Jewish New Year by picking apples, buying honey and round challah bread at the market, and listening to Daddy practice blowing the shofar. Her playful puppy wants to help, too, but ends up running around in circles, knocking over the honey jars, jumping into the pond, and howling at her dad. Integrated into the simplistic plot, Kayla provides explanations for some of the holiday customs and rituals; others are explained in the author’s note. Bright, expressive cartoon illustrations complement Kayla’s cheerful disposition and Kugel the puppy’s adorable antics. This series title is cute, but rather didactic and uninspiring. VERDICT Fans of Kayla and Kugel, as well as libraries looking for basic Rosh Hashanah picture books for the youngest readers, may welcome this new addition."

—School Library Journal

"This book is sixth in the Kayla and Kugel series and it's just as perfect as the others. Kayla and Kugel are preparing for Rosh Hashanah gathering apples, honey, and round challah breaks. Uh oh! Kugel manages to get covered in honey, jump in a pond to wash off and soak Kayla. Kayla tells him tashlich is not today, but tomorrow. Back at home Kugel howls loudly to join Daddy and Kayla's shofar practicing. Kayla shares that the holiday is a time to apologize for our mistakes of the past year, pray for a sweet year, and think about ways to be a better person. All is calm by the time Bubbie and Grandpa arrive to start the New Year.

The artwork is bright and cheery, the text is beginner reader friendly with clear large font and simple language. Backmatter includes a glossary, brief information about the holiday and ideas for discussion. This series is great for home, school, or library collections for Purim, Sukkot, Passover, Hanukkah, and Shabbat as well as Rosh Hashanah."

—Association of Jewish Libraries

"Kay­la is a young girl with the per­fect pet, Kugel, a dog whose enthu­si­asm for cel­e­brat­ing Jew­ish hol­i­days match­es her own excite­ment. Some­times his zeal leads to momen­tary detours in find­ing the right ingre­di­ents, but even­tu­al­ly Kay­la and Kugel togeth­er locate every­thing they need for a sweet Rosh Hashanah. Kugel’s dis­rup­tions are not ran­dom, and they all con­tribute to Ann D. Koffsky’s pur­pose of incul­cat­ing joy in Jew­ish life.

Like any good teacher, Kay­la knows how to con­nect Kugel’s mis­takes to a pos­i­tive out­come. Charged with locat­ing apples to dip in hon­ey, the dog nat­u­ral­ly asso­ciates this essen­tial fruit with his favorite object, a ball. When he runs around in cir­cles, she reminds him that they will also need two round chal­lahs for their hol­i­day meal. Chil­dren and adults may be remind­ed of oth­er clas­sic tales for chil­dren where one event leads to anoth­er in a sat­is­fy­ing chain. Knock­ing over jars of hon­ey nat­u­ral­ly calls for a swim in the pond. This refresh­ing bath allows Kay­la to bring up the rit­u­al of tash­lich, when Jews toss bread in a body of water and think about their mis­takes of the past year. Although Kugel does not speak, Kay­la still engages him in implied con­ver­sa­tions: ​'Yes, Kugel, mis­takes like jump­ing into the pond.'

Koffsky’s warm and col­or­ful artis­tic style will be famil­iar to read­ers of the Kay­la and Kugel series. There is plen­ty of activ­i­ty, but it is not fre­net­ic. Instead, a few lines sur­round­ing the active pup­py denote move­ment, and a tum­bling pyra­mid of jars is accom­pa­nied by Kugel’s hap­py smile. Kayla’s braids also move like sem­a­phores, indi­cat­ing her response to every­thing from her dog’s dis­rup­tive antics to the arrival of her much-loved grand­par­ents. The sto­ry ends with a let­ter from the author to her read­ers, framed by her hands, one of which holds a ball­point pen. The note includes a glos­sary as well as thought-pro­vok­ing ques­tions about the sig­nif­i­cance of Rosh Hashana. Koffsky’s high­ly rec­om­mend­ed book offers chil­dren an intro­duc­tion to tra­di­tions with­out nos­tal­gia, although par­ents and edu­ca­tors may see both ele­ments of hol­i­day obser­vance in Kay­la and Kugel’s story."

—Jewish Book Council

"This is Koffsky's sixth 'Kayla and Kugel' book, and it's another holiday winner. Kayla and her frisky dog Kugel highlight Rosh Hashanah symbols like round challah, shofar, apples, and honey and the importance of asking forgiveness during Tashlich. Highly recommend the entire series."

—Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle