Rising

Rising is a pleasant story about a little girl and her mother engaged in the Jewish religious and cultural practice of making challah, an egg bread that is traditionally baked for the weekly Sabbath meal. Challah is also made for other special holidays, often in different shapes, and is a staple in Jewish cuisine.

In Rising, a little girl greets her very-pregnant mother at the start of the day, and they begin the process of getting ready for the Sabbath at sundown on a Friday night. Challah takes time, as the story shows.

Ludwig is a native Winnipegger now living in Toronto, a journalist and fiction writer (You Are Not What We Expected and Holding My Breath). She has fashioned a delicately-paced narrative to reflect the process of baking, of a child-parent relationship, of a child learning and of the process of life, which must be carefully, thoughtfully considered.

The child and her Ima (‘mother’ in Hebrew) sip their steamy tea and hot chocolate while they give the yeast the time it needs to bubble and brew before adding the flour, salt, oil, eggs, sugar and flour.

The little girl is involved at every stage of the process, mixing and kneading, with her mother’s guidance. Ludwig offers potential new bakers accurate instructions for the way dough is transformed over 10 minutes or so of hand kneading:

We knead the wet dough. It sticks between our fingers.

We keep pressing, pushing, more and more.

The dough becomes a ball, shiny and round.

We tuck it under a towel, like a baby sleeping.

Ima rests and the little girl plays while they wait for the dough to swell, “like a deep breath.” Then they then split it into two loaves of six symbolic strands each - one for each day of the working week, and it rises again before being baked.

The bread turns out with a golden crust, “singing like the sun through our window.” As they begin the meal, the family, which includes a father, grandparents and another unnamed guest, recite traditional blessings, sprinkle salt on the bread and dip it in honey to represent bad times and good. The meal is a time to celebrate togetherness and the promise of a new week, a new baby and a happy future.

Canadian-born and now Israeli resident Sophia Vincent Guy’s mixed media illustrations are warm and appealing. Pastel colours in various hues fill in intricate designs of flowers, brickwork, doilies, chairs, etc. In combination, they add to the ambience of a calm household and a perfect summer’s evening in the back yard. The little girl’s world is stable, and the gathering of multiple generations provides the little girl with a loving environment with the opportunity to grow and flower herself.

The text is followed by the recipe Ludwig uses to bake challah. It should be noted that the instructions in the recipe call for the dough to be kneaded in an electric mixer, rather than by hand as it’s done in the story (although allowing that it can be done by hand). There’s also a glossary explaining Hebrew words.

Rising will suit families and schools that observe Jewish traditions and rituals and can be purchased by public and school libraries that want to include books to teach about these observances.