Chil­dren’s

Jodie’s Shab­bat Surprise

Anna Levine; Kse­nia Topaz, illus.
  • Review
June 3, 2015

Jodie’s Shab­bat Sur­prise is the newest addi­tion to a series of pic­ture books about Jodie, who wants to fol­low in the foot­steps of her archae­ol­o­gist father. This one has her (and her dog, Dig­ger) find­ing an ancient wine press in an Israeli park not far from her home. A few days lat­er, the find and the site become the set­ting for a sur­prise birth­day par­ty for Jodie’s father; the wine press has been filled to the top with grapes, and the bare­foot guests hap­pily squash away until there is enough juice for all to drink. A note at the book’s back informs the read­er that the sto­ry is based on an actu­al arche­o­log­i­cal” pup­py, who helped uncov­er an ancient press. It’s nice to see a book that in­troduces young chil­dren to the archae­o­log­i­cal process and to a facet of Israel they may not be famil­iar with — its ancient heritage.

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