The Remarkable Journey of Josh's Kippah

By: Barbara Elissa
Illustrated by: Farida Zaman
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing
Publication Date: January 2010
ISBN: 978-0822599333
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: March 5, 2010

When Joshua Jacob's Bar Mitzvah was coming up there were a hundred blue satin kippot ordered for the celebration. Inside each kippah was the phrase "Bar Mitzvah of Joshua Jacobs." Much later, after the ceremony, one kippah seemed to be destined for travel. Uncle Avi Abelson put it on when he "was called to the torah for an aliyah," but he was in such a hurry he ended up rushing off to Los Angeles with Josh's kippah. Of course if he hadn't been such a wild `n crazy dancer at the party that night he just might have thought to have left it behind. It was the start of a wild `n crazy journey for that blue satin kippah!

Avi wore it when he blew the shofar and when he was on the ocean shores for Tashlich, but whoooosh ... it flew off his head onto Benjamin Brody's. Next stop for the kippah was in Sydney, Australia where Benjamin used it on "Yom Kippur when he read from the book of Jonah." The day was long and as he sat, his head went back and whooops, it landed on Coby Cohen's head. The next stop was Israel where it was knocked off Coby's head "by a very little girl shaking a big lulav" on Sukkot. Joshua Jacob's blue satin kippah was on an interesting round the world journey that started in New York and flew from one head to another until it somehow made its way back home. It was a kippah that would see many celebrations, but can you guess which ones that it might have been found at?

This was a charming story of a kippah that celebrated its way around the world at many Jewish festivals before it whirled its way home. It proved to be quite an interesting and very educational look at traditional Jewish culture. With each whoosh and whirl of the kippah I learned something new that I wasn't aware of before. For example, when the Megillah was read on Purim I discovered that "Every time Haman's name was read" the children "twirled their groggers and raised quite a ruckus." The artwork is simple, but vibrant and appealing. In the back of the book is a well done glossary that is easy to refer to when reading the story.

Quill says: If you are looking for a fun book to introduce your classroom or children to some of the fasts and feasts of Judaism this is one you might want to consider!