A Turkish Rosh Hashanah takes place in Istanbul, Turkey. Most of the book is set in an open-air marketplace, where some youngsters meet vendors who sing as they sell. As the children help their grandmother shop, they are accosted by cats and bullies, whom they overpower by acting together. The final scene features a warm and colorful Sephardic Rosh Hashanah seder in Grandma’s home. The picture book ends with facts about Jews in Turkey and their Rosh Hashanah customs, as well as a Ladino dictionary and a translation of the pomegranate dealer’s song.
Ellen G. Cole, a retired librarian of the Levine Library of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, is a past judge of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards and a past chairperson of that committee. She is a co-author of the AJL guide, Excellence in Jewish Children’s Literature. Ellen is the recipient of two major awards for contribution to Judaic Librarianship, the Fanny Goldstein Merit Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Dorothy Schroeder Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California. She is on the board of AJLSC.
