Tzimmes for Tzipporah

PreS-Gr 2–It’s almost time for Rosh Hashanah, and Tzipporah is finally old enough to help! She excitedly puts on her coat and boots and races outside to help her family dig up the root vegetables they planted on their farm. Hoyt (Bartali’s Bicycle) thoroughly, but concisely, tells the story of family and friends celebrating Rosh Hashanah, including their time at the synagogue and the blowing of the shofar. The illustrations’ colorful, bucolic scenery irrefutably support the text and the happiness Tzipporah feels about celebrating the autumn holiday and being old enough to help make the dish of tzimmes. Her playful brown puppy is in almost all the illustrations, as are many chickens, cats, cows, and other farm animals. The illustrations also show the diversity of Tzipporah’s community. The text is a bit confusing at the beginning of the story; when Tzipporah races outside to help her family dig up vegetables, the text says she “races down the rows,” but the illustrations show her racing down the stairs.