Chil­dren’s

Mea­sur­ing a Year: A Rosh Hashanah Story

  • Review
By – December 14, 2022

Sweet­ly intro­spec­tive, this short, beau­ti­ful book exam­ines the growth of a child over the course of one cal­en­dar year. Becom­ing phys­i­cal­ly taller, learn­ing new things, help­ing oth­ers, mark­ing impor­tant rit­u­als such as wed­dings and bar mitz­vahs, and cel­e­brat­ing hol­i­days with fam­i­ly — all these and more mark a year in the life of a child. They are part of the process of becom­ing a ful­ly formed per­son who is ready to take on the respon­si­bil­i­ties of adult­hood. And no time is bet­ter to reflect on progress, Mar­shall says, than dur­ing the hol­i­days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Mea­sur­ing a Years jaun­ty pic­tures and live­ly prose com­bine to make this an appeal­ing book that will prompt dis­cus­sion about grow­ing, learn­ing, and being the best one can be.

Michal Hoschan­der Malen is the edi­tor of Jew­ish Book Coun­cil’s young adult and children’s book reviews. A for­mer librar­i­an, she has lec­tured on top­ics relat­ing to lit­er­a­cy, run book clubs, and loves to read aloud to her grandchildren.

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