The World's Birthday: A Rosh Hashanah Story

Daniel is determined to have a birthday party for the world to celebrate Rosh Hashanah

PreSchool-Grade 3-- Daniel loves to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. When his father tells him that part of the Rosh Hashanah tradition is to celebrate the creation of the world, the boy is determined to have a birthday party, including cake, for it. His sister mocks him, his parents humor him, but the baker gives him several boxes of candles because, "after all, the world is no young chicken." That night Daniel leads everyone outside, and, under the sky, lights the candles. This is a delightful holiday story about a young child making his own personal connection to belief and ritual. Each full-page watercolor illustration is juxtaposed with a full page of text; the gentle colors and earnest, wide-eyed expressions add greatly to the strength of the text. This is not a book to provide information about the holiday, but it is a strong commitment to faith in a way that is perfectly comprehensible to children. --Micki S. Nevett, Temple Beth Emeth Library, Albany, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Daniel wants to celebrate the Jewish New Year in terms that a child can truly comprehend--a birthday party. He convinces his family of the rightness of his plan, even though his older sister Naomi pooh-poohs it. Daniel even invites Mr. Gutman, the baker--from whom he buys an immense birthday cake. That evening, under the bright stars of an autumn night, they sing "Happy Birthday, World" and the wind blows out the candles. Pointillist in style, Winter's fall-toned watercolors nostalgically place this loving tale in an earlier, Rockwellesque urban setting. In an afterword, Goldin notes appropriately that another name for this holiday is Yom Harat Olam, or The Day of the Birth of the World, "commemorating the sixth day of creation, when God made man and woman and completed the physical creation of the world." Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.