“Alko’s mul­ti­me­dia illus­tra­tions have the feel of a care­ful­ly com­piled scrap­book, lay­er­ing visu­al grace notes through­out this bit­ter­sweet nar­ra­tive about a trea­sured rit­u­al” — Pub­lish­er’s Week­ly, starred review

I was sad when Grand­pa died. I think about how sad Mom was too.
Mom says she miss­es Grand­pa, but all her mem­o­ries are like shin­ing lights.

Grand­pa died last Novem­ber. Now, one year lat­er on the anniver­sary of his death, a boy and his fam­i­ly light a spe­cial can­dle. It’s not a birth­day, Hanukkah, or Shab­bat can­dle. It’s a yahrzeit can­dle in remem­brance of him, and it will burn all night and all day tomor­row until sun­set. But why does it burn for so long?

The boy and his fam­i­ly spend the next night and day remem­ber­ing Grand­pa and shar­ing sto­ries with each oth­er. From his styl­ish hats, to piano duets, and apple squares for dessert, warm mem­o­ries of Grand­pa shine like stars with them while the yahrzeit can­dle burns — and con­tin­ue to shine when it goes out.

• Fea­tures the Jew­ish memo­r­i­al tra­di­tion of a yahrzeit candle
• Demon­strates how hap­py mem­o­ries of our loved ones help us deal with grief
• End­notes with more on the Jew­ish cal­en­dar and memo­r­i­al traditions