What a Way to Start a New Year!: A Rosh Hashanah Story

by Jacqueline Jules, Judy Stead (Illustrator)

Overview

Beginning the New Year in a new city isn’t easy, and it definitely isn’t starting out very well for Dina and her family! But when they’re welcomed by warm and generous hosts in their new community it becomes a very happy New Year for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512496925
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	24
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jacqueline Jules is an award-winning author and poet. Her many children's books include The Hardest Word (National Jewish Book Award finalist), Happy Hanukkah Lights, and Picnic at Camp Shalom. She lives in northern Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

Judy Stead's illustrations, rich with festive pinks, greens and purples, are attractive and cheerful even when her characters' expressive faces register disappointment or impatience. What a Way to Start a New Year! is notable in that Jules assumes a basic understanding of the holiday; making this amusing and less obviously didactic book a pleasure to read.

The New York Times - Sarah Harrison Smith

08/19/2013
Dina’s family is eating take-out pizza on packing boxes and yearning for their former home, especially since the imminent arrival of the Jewish New Year reminds them of old friends and traditions. Even Dina’s father, “who wasn’t Jewish, but... loved celebrating the holidays,” speaks wistfully of a neighbor’s honey cake. A thwarted trip back to Greenville and a series of small mishaps don’t help (hence the title, which also serves as the story’s refrain), and an invitation to services and dinner from one of Dina’s father’s new co-workers doesn’t encourage Dina, either. But what if Dina is wrong about her new community—in the best kind of way? As Jules (No English) notes in her afterword, arriving in a new community in time for the school year can be a double whammy for Jewish families. Stead’s (The Pink Party) bright, earnest illustrations convey a resilient close-knit family, but while she and Jules succeed in assuring readers that a core value of Judaism is welcoming new arrivals, their storytelling can be literal and heavy-handed. Ages 3–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Starting the Jewish New Year in a new city without friends or extended relatives is tough for Harry and his family, until the generous welcome by their new community known as the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim makes a significant difference. Not yet unpacked and with no plans for Rosh Hashana, the family remembers that their old neighbors, the Kaplans, only two hours away, invited them. The transplanted family piles into the car for the trip, but before the ride even begins, unexpected events lead to delays and alter their plans. Baby's diaper needs changing, then Mom locks herself out of the house. Dad comes with keys, but one flat tire and tow-truck rescue later, it is too late to travel, and the family returns to their moving boxes and thoroughly un–holiday-ready new home. "What a way to start a new year!" Through the disappointment, Dad works on a new plan: to join his officemate at Temple Shalom for the evening service, which leads to a family dinner invitation and an opportunity to meet and make new friends. "What a WONDERFUL way to start a new year!" It's a situation many contemporary families can relate to, and Stead's bright, multimedia illustrations track the emotional arc. A useful addition to the Rosh Hashana shelf. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews