Editorial Review

“What goes around comes around arrives in a sweet way in the form of a sewing grandmother who always does something extra. Her mitzvot (good deeds) do not go unnoticed, supporting the surprise ending. Grandma Rose sews for young and old: clothes, blankets, table cloths, dolls. She saves her money to buy a set of Shabbat china dishes, just like the ones she used at her grandmother’s as a girl. Her coin jar fills, the bank converts the coins to dollars, but alas, when she arrives at the department store, all the dishes have been sold. On the way home, Grandma Rose markets to prepare a banquet meal to ease her sadness. When she enters her home, there are all her family, friends and customers each—drum roll!—with a piece of the long sought china purposely purchased to say ‘thank you.’ Ah that the world were so full of innocent gratitude and memory. But why not let a youngster relish this idea as a spur to good deeds? The magic of the sewing is more than the product; it is the joy of that extra kindness. The dialogue is sprightly if a little too ‘by gosh, by golly’; the illustrations deliver pert, pleased, happy people. There is bare bones overt Jewish content: customers with Jewish names, mention of ‘Shabbos,’ and one picture of a Shabbat dinner. However, the value of tikkun olam (repairing the world) jumps off every page. If this is what magical sewing can accomplish, hooray for that stitch in time!”—Association of Jewish Libraries