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2 New Picture Books Featuring Moms

| Tasha
Book cover for Arctic Adventure: A Tundra Tale by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Alexandra Cook. Features a little arctic fox and a large arctic fox sitting nose to nose with two humans in a boat in the background.

Arctic Adventure: A Tundra Tale by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Alexandra Cook

  • Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9781250385444

As Little Fox follows her mother into the cold winter morning, she knows that the sun won’t appear now for weeks. At the same time, a child joins her mother to help photograph the Arctic. Both mothers clean up their children and then start exploring. The moon stays in the sky, reindeer head to the mountains to graze, then a polar bear arrives. The families explore the ice floes and meet a narwhal and a whale. As they play, a storm begins to brew, sending icy snow and brisk winds. The two little ones are lost together until their mothers find them both. That night, after the storm, the northern lights fill the sky.

The combination of the fox family and human families exploring the Arctic setting near one another works particularly well in this enticing picture book. Just right for winter storytimes, children will love seeing the animals while also seeing the beauty of the landscape. The mixed media illustrations are marvelously angular and dramatic, showing the ice ridges, the glow of the northern lights and the merry adventurers in the epic space.

A cold and gorgeous Arctic adventure. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Book cover for Bread Is Love by Pooja Makhijani, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu. Features a brown-skinned mother and two small children looking at the table where the title is written in flour.

Bread Is Love by Pooja Makhijani, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu

  • Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
  • Publication Date: February 10, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9781250906885

Mama bakes bread every weekend and the young narrator and her little sister help. Bread is only made of four ingredients: flour, water, salt and starter. The starter is sourdough, gloopy, alive and sour smelling. Everyone helps with mixing the ingredients together. Then they must wait for the bread to rise. It takes patience to make bread. Once risen, the dough is shaped into bread. But it must rest again overnight, just like the children. Sometimes the bread will come out beautifully but other times it isn’t quite right. This time it deflated, but it still tastes good!

I’m a dedicated sourdough bread maker and also make bread every weekend, so this book spoke to me. I love the family working together to make bread but best of all I appreciate the fact that the loaf doesn’t turn out quite as they may have dreamt it would. That’s part of bread making that simply has to be embraced. The entire process teaches children about patience, imperfection, and the joy of being able to eat the results. The illustrations in this book are wonderfully welcoming and warm. They feel like a warm loaf of bread straight from the oven.

A yummy love-letter to bread making. Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Soosie the Horse That Saved Shabbat by Tami Lehman-Wilzig

| Tasha
Cover image

Soosie the Horse That Saved Shabbat by Tami Lehman-Wilzig, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt (9780998852775)

Long ago, when Jerusalem was still a small town, there was a bakery. The bakery specialized in challah, and made enough for the entire community. Jacob was the bakery’s delivery boy who drove the cart that was pulled by Soosie, the owners’ horse. The two traveled in the early morning along the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem, delivering challah. As each family paid, the coins dropped into the metal bank with a clink-clang. They did the same route, day after day, month after month. But then one day, Jacob was too sick to make the deliveries. Jacob was certain that Soosie, the horse, could make the deliveries all on her own. So they put a note on the cart and sent her on her way. Soosie stopped at each place, accepted the money in the bank, and walked on. Back at the bakery, they worried about whether Soosie could do it all on her own. Three hours passed, and finally Soosie was home again with an empty wagon and a bank full of coins.

Inspired by the history of Angel Bakery in Jerusalem, the author created a gentle folktale about dependability, challah and Shabbat. The author explains the details of Shabbat in her author notes, including the importance of animal rights as a part of Shabbat. Her writing pays homage to folklore capturing the same repeating elements as Jacob and Soosie make their regular rounds. She also uses plenty of sounds in her writing, emphasizing them and inviting participation.

The illustrations are light-hearted and merry. From the bustling bakery to the stable next door to the many people of Jerusalem they interact with. The entire book has the same quiet humor and good-natured belief in one another.

Paying homage to folklore and Jerusalem, this Jewish picture book is full of the warmth of bread and community. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Kalaniot Books.

Cinnamon Baby

| Tasha

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Cinnamon Baby by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by Janice Nadeau

Miriam was a baker who had her own little bakery where she made wonderful breads.  She always saved the cinnamon bread for last because it was her favorite.  As she made the bread, she sang the songs of her childhood, weaving them with the scent of cinnamon in the air.  Then one day a young man named Sebastian bought some cinnamon bread and continued to by a loaf every day for a year.  Finally, he proposed to Miriam and she said yes.  Soon a baby was on the way, but when the baby arrived it cried and cried and cried.  Nothing would settle the baby down until Miriam got a sudden idea  and headed for the bakery with her family.  She made every kind of bread with the cinnamon bread saved for last.  And what do you think happened when her voice mixed with the cinnamon and sugar in the air?

This modern magical story is simply delicious.  Winstanley’s writing is gentle and strolling, building towards the story and throughout until it is neatly tied together by the end.  There is a sense of ease, of simplicity and of love throughout the entire book that is very comforting and warm. 

Nadeau’s illustrations have a modern feel to them with their bright mix of yellows and pinks against browns and grays.  At the same time, they feel timeless with the people riding bicycles, pushing prams, and the motif of curling wrought iron. 

This sweet story has the spice of cinnamon to keep it interesting and the warmth of bread baking to keep it filling.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.