Challah, Challah for You and Me

"Fol­low­ing their 2022 pub­li­ca­tion of the charm­ing book Apples, Apples, All Year Round, which was also aimed at preschool­ers, Bar­bara Bietz and June Sobel are now offer­ing us a sweet look at chal­lah, the bread most peo­ple asso­ciate with Jew­ish life and Shab­bat cel­e­bra­tions. The authors rein­force these asso­ci­a­tions through live­ly text, lilt­ing rhythm and rhyme, and col­or­ful art depict­ing friend­ly ani­mals, deli­cious treats, Shab­bat close­ness, and a vari­ety of Juda­ic symbols.

All the salient fea­tures of chal­lah are includ­ed: its squishi­ness, sweet­ness, warmth, col­or, and, most impor­tant, its asso­ci­a­tion with rit­u­al and the par­tic­i­pa­tion of car­ing fam­i­ly mem­bers and friends. These details pro­vide read­ers and lis­ten­ers alike with a sense of com­fort and joy.

In a short after­word, the authors explain the bless­ings on the chal­lah and remind us to be grate­ful for the bread we eat every day—to appre­ci­ate the sat­is­fac­tion of sit­ting around the table and shar­ing chal­lah with fam­i­ly on any occa­sion at all."—Jewish Book Council