CHALLAH DAY! Delicious and Fun for Everyone

If "challah" bread is not familiar to you, think about Brioche, Hawaiian Bread, or any other bread made with a basic yeast dough enriched with egg, oil, and (often) sweetener. Some also use a bit of honey and other tasty additions in the recipe. When prepared and served as challah bread, it is braided in a variety of loaf or ring shapes. 

Image courtesy of King Arthur Flour

Pronunciation of challah bread in English commonly renders the initial /c/ as silent, HAH` luh. The word is actually Hebrew, in which the initial sound and accent are not the same as in English, with /ch/ having a throaty sound, closer to a breathy cough. Khul AHH`. 

A new picture book offering is thoroughly Americanized, using brief rhymed text and big-eyed,  comic-style illustrations of the family and  their dog. In that context, this title CHALLAH DAY!  produces a pun in standard American English, for HOLIDAY. In fact, that's what first caught my attention.

Holiday House, 2023

CHALLAH DAY! is written by Charlotte Offsay and illustrated by Jason Kirschner. That photorealistic challah loaf on the cover appears on the title page, the cookbook cover in illustrations, and on other pages throughout. It features the rich golden (egg-brushed) crust, the knobby shape and yeasty rise from braiding, evoking an appetite-boosting sense of how that loaf would smell, fresh out of the oven. 

There was a time in this country that the only way to try challah bread was to make it yourself or live near a Jewish bakery. The luxurious taste, textures and versatility have brought it into nationwide supermarkets, bakeries, and restaurants, even when not labeled with the name of its Jewish origins. Weekly Sabbath/Shabat meals on Fridays after sunset provide the traditional celebratory reason for having a challah-making-day on a weekly basis.It also stars on the table for other Jewish holidays (with the exception of Passover, for which yeast/leavening may not be used).

This  text and its vibrant illustrations provide  a fantastic way to introduce the meaning, making, and savoring of challah bread in one family's life. It will likely inspire families (or singles) to try making it at home, since a straightforward recipe and advice appear in the back pages. Don't be intimidated by the prospect of making homemade bread, even if you've never done so before. Don't let the braiding process deter your efforts, either. This enriched recipe yields a stretchy, stable dough that supports amateur attempts. You can also find countless Youtube videos with walk-through directions for braiding in simple or elaborate ways. In this book, the two young siblings manage braiding with numbered images, so you certainly can do it. 

The rhymed text and simple illustrations comprise a series of spreads showing "how-to" with step-by-step simplicity, including spills or splashes. Also noted is that slices of challah bread make exceptional French toast. Challah bread is an ideal example of ways in which cultural and religious traditions are more universal than we might otherwise think. Rather than viewing anyone "other than" our own families or communities as "others", books like this one encourage us to draw a circle of open-mindedness, to consider what anyone might have or do from which we can learn. I recently featured a book (OUT AND ABOUT)  that exemplifies a Jewish value of giving to those in need, especially doing so anonymously and consistently. Now that's a value that we should all share, right? The familiar expression to "break bread together" means to welcome, to trust, to enjoy the company of others. Try sharing this wonderful new book with others, and making a loaf or four for yourselves!

OUT and ABOUT: A Story of Giving

 If the name of author Liza Wiemer is familiar to you, it could well be from her contemporary teen novel THE ASSIGNMENT. It's an award-winning and globally successful story inspired by actual events in this last decade. If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so. 

It is often said/presumed that novelists and others who write for teens and adults struggle to write picture book text. In extended prose, the author needs to "illustrate" everything the reader needs to know and feel and consider with language.  In picture books, the text is not only drastically lower in word count, but each word must earn its place on the page. The text must also allow the illustrator  the space and respect and trust that visual narratives will not just mirror the text but provide as much or more of the storytelling as the words do. That is a challenging task for the illustrators but also for the author to determine what needs to be said with words and what does not. Wiemer has succeeded beautifully with her first endeavor into picture books. Her text and illustrator Margeaux Lucas achieve that masterful interaction of text and images that convey the heart and soul of a wonderful story. 

Kaliot Books.  August, 2023

OUT AND ABOUT: A Tale of Giving is written by award-winning author Liza Wiemer and illustrated by Margeaux Lucas. There is so much to enjoy about a well-told story in a picture book format, and this new offering provides both entertainment and heartwarming life lessons without being didactic. 

The illustrations, of course, enhance the qualities of Daniel and his family's relationships, which are both loving and supportive but also realistic in the personalities and playful approaches of their interactions. Daniel's keen observations, insatiable curiosity, and vivid imagination reveal a believable boy who sees any mysterious box as potentially fulfilling his dreams. 

Eventually, though, that observational curiosity allows him to put puzzle pieces together and realize that other peoples’ dreams matter, too. That's especially true when life circumstances place hurdles in the way of happiness. I especially enjoyed that Daniel developed his growing understanding and chose steps forward to participate in kindness without relying on prompts or explanations from the adults or older siblings. His final page decision about how to respond to the curiosity of his younger brother was a satisfying confirmation of the change he had embraced.

This narrative involves an accessible amount of text with page placement and font sizes resembling short passages of longer, full text. That is a great match for Daniel's character and for the skills of target readers' ages. It also reaches readers at their own developmental capacity to take the same steps of logic and empathy as Daniel does. 

A brief glossary, simple explanation/quiz about the Jewish principles of giving, MAIMONIDES’ EIGHT LEVELS OF TZEDAKAH, and a short author note expand this particular Jewish family experience into an informative resource as well as an opportunity to reflect on the universal value of giving in ways large, small, publicly magnanimous, and generously anonymous. 

Author Liza Wiemer writes from her heart at every level, and she has agreed to answer several interview questions about this story and its origins in a post on her BOOK BIRTHDAY, August 15.

 

Until then… stay generous and giving in the best possible ways.