• Age: 4 to 8
• Grade: p to 3

A quiet, joyful story celebrating a Jewish mother’s tradition of making challah with her child merges a lyrical text with stunning illustrations—and includes the author’s favorite recipe.

Melt into the nooks and crannies of this book’s unhurried pages, offering a place to rest and a pregnant pause for counting your many blessings—current and imminent! Here, a child and a mother measure, mix, knead, shape, and tuck their dough under a towel like a sleeping baby. Then, as they do every week, they wait while their dough rises, soon to be baked and gratefully shared at a Shabbat gathering with loved ones. Author Sidura Ludwig’s poetic narration captures the experience of a Jewish family as they make challah—a lesson in patience, slowing down, faith, and family. Illustrator Sophia Vincent Guy brings light and warmth to the scene, from a sun-bleached, gossamer curtain to the rising steam from the bread, all rendered in delicate, decorative patterns. Whatever their background, readers will be happy to find the author’s go-to recipe for challah at the end, along with a glossary and an author’s note describing the personal meaning of her family’s weekly ritual.

SIDURA LUDWIG is the author of the widely successful novel Holding My Breath. Her short fiction has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She works as a communications specialist and creative writing teacher, and her creative nonfiction has appeared in several newspapers and on CBC Radio. She is currently working on her M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults through the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, she now lives in Thornhill, Ontario, with her husband, Jason Shron, and three children, Boaz, Dalya, and Isaac.

Sidura Ludwig's profile page

Sophia Vincent Guy's profile page

A meditative look at Shabbat preparations. . . . Carefully laying out each step of the baking process, from mixing ingredients to braiding the loaves, the book evokes Shabbat itself, conveying the beauty of taking time to rest and appreciate loved ones. . . . Intertwining the tactile rituals of baking with the religious and cultural heft of Shabbat, a contemplative paean to challah.
—Kirkus Reviews