afro8921's review
4.0
This picture book was a warm an inviting read. Goldie in apartment 5A makes choldent a Jewish stew every Friday and invites her neighbors over for dinner. Her neighbors are from different parts of the world but they all gather around Goldie's table to talk about their week and eat soup. Goldie gets a surprise when a sickness prevents her from making soup. Her neighbors bring a little bit of their own culture to her dinner table in this tale of family and friendship.
victaphone's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
rhodesee's review
4.0
Delightful! This would pair well with [b:The Bagel King|36205089|The Bagel King|Andrew Larsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1510609768l/36205089._SX50_.jpg|57835596] and [b:A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: A Story About Knitting and Love|28588003|A Hat for Mrs. Goldman A Story About Knitting and Love|Michelle Edwards|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469412329l/28588003._SX50_.jpg|48754858] for a Jewish or Mitzvot themed storytime. It would also work well with books like [b:Soul Food Sunday|53163541|Soul Food Sunday|Winsome Bingham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622738613l/53163541._SX50_.jpg|79990101], [b:Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao|35964863|Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao|Kat Zhang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548299901l/35964863._SX50_.jpg|57524095], [b:Bilal Cooks Daal|37829324|Bilal Cooks Daal|Aisha Saeed|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553386056l/37829324._SX50_.jpg|59509774], [b:Apple Cake: A Gratitude|38743209|Apple Cake A Gratitude|Dawn Casey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569283282l/38743209._SX50_.jpg|60332261] and [b:Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story|42642044|Fry Bread A Native American Family Story|Kevin Noble Maillard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552350029l/42642044._SX50_.jpg|66378695] for a multicultural food theme.
yapha's review
4.0
The smells of Goldie Simcha's Shabbat cholent fill the apartment building and every Saturday afternoon her neighbors join her for a delicious meal. But when she is sick one Saturday, her neighbors fill in with their own special foods. Includes a recipe for cholent at the back. Recommended for grades K-2.
afro75's review
4.0
This picture book was a warm an inviting read. Goldie in apartment 5A makes choldent a Jewish stew every Friday and invites her neighbors over for dinner. Her neighbors are from different parts of the world but they all gather around Goldie's table to talk about their week and eat soup. Goldie gets a surprise when a sickness prevents her from making soup. Her neighbors bring a little bit of their own culture to her dinner table in this tale of family and friendship.
middle_name_joy's review
5.0
For me, the taste of cholent is...Shabbat.
Every Friday, Goldie Simcha makes her grandmother's recipe for cholent, a Jewish beef stew, and shares it with everyone in the apartment building. For that is the purpose of Shabbat: togetherness. But when Goldie falls sick one week and cannot make cholent, her neighbors step up and bring to her native tastes of their own, so that they are still able to be with each other.
The message of culture inclusion is wonderful and unrepresented in picture books, but what truly stands out is Kyrsten Brooker's use of collage in the illustrations. I spent as much time appreciating the art as the story itself.
Every Friday, Goldie Simcha makes her grandmother's recipe for cholent, a Jewish beef stew, and shares it with everyone in the apartment building. For that is the purpose of Shabbat: togetherness. But when Goldie falls sick one week and cannot make cholent, her neighbors step up and bring to her native tastes of their own, so that they are still able to be with each other.
The message of culture inclusion is wonderful and unrepresented in picture books, but what truly stands out is Kyrsten Brooker's use of collage in the illustrations. I spent as much time appreciating the art as the story itself.
tashrow's review against another edition
4.0
Every Saturday, the residents of one apartment building spend the day smelling marvelous smells drifting down from the 5th floor. And every Saturday evening, everyone gathers on the 5th floor for Goldie’s cholent, a traditional Jewish stew. But then one Saturday, there was no wonderful smell and when little Lali Omar went up the stairs, she found that Goldie was too sick to get the cholent cooking and it was too late to start the slow-cooking stew. All is not lost though, as the neighbors look through their own pantries and refrigerators and create a Saturday meal that is not cholent but has many of the same ingredients incorporated into foods from their own personal heritages. There is Korean barley tea, tomato pizza, potato curry, and beans and rice.
Rockliff’s Shabbat tale is an amazingly diverse story. While it follows Jewish traditions in the beginning, including Goldie sharing memories as a little girl of Shabbat with her extended family, the magic comes when Goldie gets ill. Not only does the reader quickly realize how important this shared meal and time is for the entire building, but suddenly the heritage of each person is shown through their food. It’s a clever way to show community and diversity in a single situation.
Brooker’s illustrations combine cut paper art with rich thick paint. The result is the same winning combination of dishes served at the community Shabbat table. The different textures and colors come together to be something more than their individual parts, creating a dynamic world.
Celebrating community, this book shows how diverse people can come together in friendship and harmony to save the day. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Rockliff’s Shabbat tale is an amazingly diverse story. While it follows Jewish traditions in the beginning, including Goldie sharing memories as a little girl of Shabbat with her extended family, the magic comes when Goldie gets ill. Not only does the reader quickly realize how important this shared meal and time is for the entire building, but suddenly the heritage of each person is shown through their food. It’s a clever way to show community and diversity in a single situation.
Brooker’s illustrations combine cut paper art with rich thick paint. The result is the same winning combination of dishes served at the community Shabbat table. The different textures and colors come together to be something more than their individual parts, creating a dynamic world.
Celebrating community, this book shows how diverse people can come together in friendship and harmony to save the day. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
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