The Remembering Candle

PreS-Gr 2–A little boy with brown skin and his family are observing the Jewish custom of remembering, or yahrzeit, in this case his grandfather on the anniversary of his death. The ritual begins at sundown, as most Jewish holy days do, with the lighting of a special candle. The boy’s sister, who has tan skin, wants to blow it out, but their mother says that a memorial candle is not to be blown out; rather, it burns for 24 hours while they are remembering their grandfather. Their dad sets up a trivia game because Grandpa liked to play it, and they set up a telescope to look through because Grandpa liked to do that, too. The boy remembers Grandpa teaching him how to find the constellations. At bedtime, the mom tells a story from her childhood where Grandpa took care of her when she was sick. First thing the next morning, the boy checks on his grandfather’s candle. At lunchtime, they eat foods that Grandpa loved. Goldberg’s text is simple enough for young children to understand, but informative enough for all readers to engage in the story. Alko’s appealing illustrations complement the text perfectly, and she weaves Hebrew words throughout as part of the design. Back matter contains more information about yahrzeit and other Jewish memorial traditions, as well as details about the Jewish calendar.