Challah Day!

by Charlotte Offsay (Author) Jason Kirschner (Illustrator)

Challah Day!
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

It's Challah Day! A family mixes, kneads, and braids bread in this joyful, rhyming story about a Jewish holiday food that's baked with love. From kneading sticky dough to gathering with family around the table, Challah Day celebrates family, food, heritage, and tradition! Join this happy family as they bake delicious braided egg bread for their Friday night Shabbat dinner.

Yeast and sugar - water's warm,

mix and watch those bubbles form!

Crack the eggs - one... two... three... four

Extra if some hit the floor.

Messy flour and laughter abound. The scent of warm bread fills the house. Grandma and Grandpa bring the candles and hugs. Parents, kids, and baby too, can read this kid-friendly, rhyming recipe together.

Inspired by memories author Charlotte Offsay and illustrator Jason Kirschner have of baking Challah with their children, Challah Day celebrates the sweetness of sharing homemade food as a family. In the back of the book, read about the cultural importance of Challah and Jewish traditions.

This read aloud can be a joyful introduction to a new culture or a cozy way to celebrate a familiar one. Perfect for any occasion as a holiday gift or the start of a new weekly tradition. A Challah recipe is included.

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

A timeless Shabbat tradition sweetly told.

Publishers Weekly

With verve reminiscent of a vintage musical number, and crisp digital artwork that nods to 1960s animation, a family pools their respective talents to make challah--the twisted egg bread that's a tradition of the Jewish Sabbath. The action, set to rhyming text, focuses mostly on bustling kitchen interplay, occasionally breaking into choreographed flights of fantasy. In one spread, the pale-skinned family's elder child--the book's narrator--dances and leaps across giant containers of sugar, salt, and oil before hopping onto an enormous spoon that extends out of an equally large mixing bowl. Offsay (A Grandma's Magic) and Kirschner (Mr. Particular) don't rush the preparations (they take several frames to show how "the dough will start to rise/ growing till it's twice the size"), nor do they leave anyone on the sidelines (Baby kneads the dough by crawling on it, and the family dog helps tear plastic to cover the bowl). Guests arrive, Grandma "lights the candles bright," and everyone gets to enjoy "Finally--our favorite part--// homemade challah/ from the heart." Brief explanatory material and a recipe conclude. Ages 3-5. Author's agent: Nicole Geiger, Full Circle Literary. Illustrator's agent: Teresa Kietlinski, Bookmark Literary. (Aug.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Retro cartoon styling and smooth digital art in a color palette of green, blue, yellow, and pink give the illustrations a graphic pop-art feel that complements its warmth and whimsy. Light and fluffy as a fresh challah, this book would be useful as an educational lead-in to a program on Jewish holiday traditions. —The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

Charlotte Offsay
Charlotte Offsay is the author of several children's books including A Grandma's Magic, Challah Day!, and The Big Beach Cleanup. When she is having a particularly loud day, she can always count on her two small bear cubs and husband to bring calm and quiet back to their home in Los Angeles, California. Learn more at CharlotteOffsay.com.

Abi Cushman is the author-illustrator of Soaked!, Animals Go Vroom!, and Wombats Are Pretty Weird. Abi is also the illustrator of The Quiet Forest by Charlotte Offsay. She lives deep in the wooded suburbs of Connecticut with her husband and two mischievous kids, who make her home very loud indeed. Visit her at AbiCushman.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780823454112
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Holiday House
Publication date
August 01, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV033020 - Juvenile Fiction | Religious | Jewish
JUV050000 - Juvenile Fiction | Cooking & Food
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Stories in rhyme
Jews
Challah (Bread)

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