It is almost Rosh Hashanah, and the har­vest is ready. Tzip­po­rah and her fam­i­ly pick rutaba­gas, yams, turnips, pota­toes, and car­rots. Then, she and her friends choose the most beau­ti­ful of the veg­eta­bles and scrub them for the Rosh Hashanah meal. Tzip­po­rah is unsure whether these raw veg­eta­bles will make an entic­ing meal for the hol­i­day, but she driz­zles but­ter on them and adds brown sug­ar, hon­ey, cin­na­mon, and fruit. A deli­cious tzimmes is the result. After the syn­a­gogue ser­vice and the blow­ing of the sho­far, the fam­i­ly gath­ers for their feast, and the tzimmes is beau­ti­ful and sweet — just like Rosh Hashanah itself.

A tzimmes recipe is append­ed, along with an author’s note that gives more infor­ma­tion about Rosh Hashanah and makes a spe­cial point of encour­ag­ing chil­dren to help pre­pare the fam­i­ly meal. The beau­ti­ful illus­tra­tions depict a farm that is burst­ing with autumn col­or and com­plete with a mul­ti­cul­tur­al group of smil­ing fam­i­ly and friends. This is a love­ly book to read aloud at the start of a fresh new year.