Measuring a Year

June 1, 2022

PreS-Gr 1-Sparse poetic text celebrates various changes and experiences throughout a year in this engaging, multicultural Rosh Hashanah book. The book starts with the question, "How do you measure a year?" It continues with, "By looking at how much you grew...or all the things you learned to do?" It proceeds in that vein, mentioning everything from making mistakes, to being brave, to having fun, to moving away. It culminates with, "Our lives have changed in many ways," and ends with thanks and celebration for the new year. The watercolor, colored pencil, and digital artwork portrays a diverse cast of children experiencing a variety of memorable moments throughout the year. These include sleeping in a sukkah, celebrating Purim, learning to tie shoes or ride a bike, planting a tree, getting a shot, or attending a wedding or bar mitzvah. The illustrations have a softness to them, depicting children who are portrayed in an engaging, slightly childlike style, with round eyes and faces. Different members of the cast appear on different pages, experiencing the various events of the text; all of the main players, including one girl in a wheelchair, return on the final spread. Hoang alternates between spreads and single-page scenes, with occasional spot art to move the story along. The book concludes with back matter that engagingly restates the question of the text and talks briefly about Rosh Hashanah. VERDICT This sweet, accessible book would be a lovely Rosh Hashanah addition to any library collection.-Amy Lilien-Harper

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2022
"How do you measure a year?" By charting how much you've grown? By taking pride in the new things you've learned, created, and accomplished? By thinking about the friends you made and the experiences and feelings you had? How about all those and more? In simple, appealing, lilting rhymes, this sweet, thought-provoking picture book describes how to think about the most sacred holidays in the Jewish calendar--the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). These holidays mark not only the beginning of a new year, but also times of looking back upon the past year, reflecting on oneself, and owning up to and making up for mistakes made. A splendid feature of this book is that, without the text's specifically mentioning it, the delightful illustrations strongly imply that a year can also be measured by how much one has widened one's circle and opened home, mind, and heart to others--that is, how inclusive one is regarding family, friends, and neighbors. The cheery art, created with watercolor, colored pencil, and Photoshop, presents a lovely display of humanity--perfect for a new year, every year, and every day: Children and adults are diverse in skin tone, hair color, and physical ability. Jewish readers will appreciate depictions of Jewish culture throughout, including symbols and joyous holidays and celebrations. Endpapers highlight Rosh Hashanah's delicious symbols--apples and honey--signifying a "sweet New Year." (This book was reviewed digitally.) By any measure, a lovely, jolly book. (information on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) (Picture book. 4-7)

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September 5, 2022
“How do you measure a year? By looking at how much you grew... or all the things you learned to do?” The narrator of this Rosh Hashanah meditation nudges readers to use the Jewish New Year to reflect on the concluding annum: “Times you were strong and super brave? Things you wish you hadn’t said or that you hadn’t done?” González Hoang’s sunny, digitally finished watercolor and colored pencil art portrays a variously inclusive cast of children and families in moments big and small, happy and sad. Jewish culture and celebrations are woven into the vignettes both subtly (a wall of children’s crafts includes an ice-pop-stick Star of David and a paper dreidel) and explicitly (a campout in a backyard sukkah). Elovitz Marshall’s afterword is, like the book’s contemplative text, a gentle tribute to the hope and possibilities of new beginnings—in the New Year season, the opening of school, and even “the start of each new day”: all are opportunities to “push the ‘reset’ button, and begin (once again) to be better.” Ages 3–5.

September 15, 2022
Grades K-2 Poetically spare, conversational text commemorates Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur by encouraging readers to consider, "How do you measure a year?" The many means of measurement posited include physical ("By looking at how much you grew"), intellectual ("All the things you learned to do"), and social ("Kids you met") growth. In a year, some children might move away and travel "to a brand-new home," and others might journey far emotionally by acknowledging and atoning for regrets and mistakes. Hoang's warm and friendly colored pencil, watercolor, and digital cartoons have the inviting appeal of a scrapbook album, with detailed scenes full of relatable experiences, from learning to tie shoelaces to attending special community events like a wedding or bar mitzvah. Back matter offers cultural context and additional prompts for personal reflection. Providing a thoughtful rumination on the passage of time, as well as information about Jewish holidays, this picture book measures up on many levels.

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