Eri­ca Lyons and Bon­nie Pang’s new pic­ture book presents young read­ers with a lit­tle-known part of Jew­ish his­to­ry. When Nazi oppres­sion descend­ed on Europe’s Jews, some found a tem­po­rary refuge in Shang­hai. Lily’s Hong Kong Hon­ey Cake includes infor­ma­tion about this process in an after­word. The sto­ry itself focus­es on one fic­tion­al child and her fam­i­ly, who aban­don their home and bak­ery in Vien­na, trav­el­ing far away to an unfa­mil­iar land and cul­ture. As con­di­tions in Chi­na wors­en, their Rosh Hashanah cel­e­bra­tions become more dimin­ished by pover­ty. Yet, with each year of their exile, Lily’s moth­er rein­forces the sweet­ness of their tra­di­tions. Warm images of fam­i­ly life empha­size how Jew­ish cul­ture was able to take root under the most adverse circumstances.

The book opens with Lily’s moth­er man­ag­ing her busi­ness while keep­ing her baby girl at her side in a bassinet. Com­bin­ing the ele­gance of pas­tries ​“wrapped in pink paper, del­i­cate like a butterfly’s wings,” with the sup­port of their whole com­mu­ni­ty, the bak­ery embod­ies an idyl­lic atmos­phere before every­thing changes. Lily’s excite­ment about the upcom­ing move con­trasts with the despair of adults, which is ini­tial­ly hid­den. Her moth­er feeds her hon­ey cake onboard the ship for Chi­na, repeat­ing her reas­sur­ing phrase, ​“For a sweet year, my sweet one.” Pang’s illus­tra­tions evoke the family’s enthu­si­asm about offer­ing their prod­ucts to wel­com­ing neigh­bors. Store signs in Chi­nese and the noo­dle shop next door may seem exot­ic, but the cus­tomers who line up for hon­ey cake aren’t very dif­fer­ent from those they knew in Vien­na. The cake’s sweet­ness melds with ​“smoke from the neighbor’s incense,” as they gath­er togeth­er, lis­ten­ing to Papa’s nos­tal­gic stories.

An ugly real­i­ty encroach­es on each ensu­ing New Year in Shang­hai. Lyons’s sub­tle selec­tion of details allows young read­ers to glimpse a world at war. Rice sub­sti­tutes for flour and the news­pa­pers wrap­ping their cakes are ​“filled with pic­tures of war.” By Lily’s eighth cel­e­bra­tion of Rosh Hashanah, the hon­ey cake has dis­ap­peared entire­ly. But the war ends, and a two-page spread depict­ing the family’s voy­age by ship to Hong Kong is an icon­ic image of emi­gra­tion and hope. Observ­ing the hol­i­day in a for­mer­ly grand hotel, the Jew­ish refugees have access to a Torah and prayer books. What more would they need? Lily’s now engrained habit of adap­tive­ness leads her to take a bold step. She approach­es the hotel’s kitchen staff, and, with the essen­tial ingre­di­ents of their kind­ness and empa­thy, the hon­ey cake returns.

Lily’s Hong Kong Hon­ey Cake is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed and includes an after­word, a glos­sary, and a map.