Review: Slow Down, Shoshi!: It’s Shabbat in Uganda
Slow Down, Shoshi!: It's Shabbat in Uganda
by Shoshana Nambi, illustrated by Moran Yogev
Kalaniot Books, 2025
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Karin Fisher-Golton
In Slow Down, Shoshi!, the protagonist from the acclaimed The Very Best Sukkah is back, with a challenging situation for her energetic nature—slowing down for Shabbat. The story opens lyrically, transporting readers to its rural Ugandan setting, with the sights, sounds, and smells of coffee trees. Shoshi rushes, both during harvest time and as she and her grandfather walk to town to sell coffee beans and buy supplies for Shabbat. Her haste causes her to forget one key element. As she gathers items to replace it, she gets another chance to slow down and, this time, experiences the value of savoring the moment.
While portraying a universal and very relatable growth arc about slowing down, author Shoshana Nambi also draws on her upbringing and exposes her audience to life in rural Uganda and the Abayudaya Jewish community. Readers get a peek into the process of how coffee beans go from farmers’ trees to a cooperative in town on their way to faraway homes. A note in the back and glossary allow readers to deepen their knowledge.
Illustrator Moran Yogev immerses readers in this world with expressive characters and setting details. The facial expressions of Shoshi’s goat Nbilo are a fun reflection of the mood. Yogev’s use of a warm color palette fits well with the warmth of family and Shabbat and provides continuity to the contrast between village and town life. Her depiction of the Shabbat items that Shoshi memorizes to buy in town gives readers opportunities to look for the items in the market illustration and to consider how their own traditions are the same and different.
Jewish Shabbat traditions are infused throughout the story, both in meaning and actions. Shoshi’s grandparents speak to her about these in ways that flow naturally with plot. Jewish and non-Jewish readers will relate to the universal theme about slowing down. Placing this theme in the context of Shabbat shows how Judaism supports it.
Hebrew School classes and families of all backgrounds will enjoy reading this picture book again and again and discovering more details and layers of learning each time.
While portraying a universal and very relatable growth arc about slowing down, author Shoshana Nambi also draws on her upbringing and exposes her audience to life in rural Uganda and the Abayudaya Jewish community. Readers get a peek into the process of how coffee beans go from farmers’ trees to a cooperative in town on their way to faraway homes. A note in the back and glossary allow readers to deepen their knowledge.
Illustrator Moran Yogev immerses readers in this world with expressive characters and setting details. The facial expressions of Shoshi’s goat Nbilo are a fun reflection of the mood. Yogev’s use of a warm color palette fits well with the warmth of family and Shabbat and provides continuity to the contrast between village and town life. Her depiction of the Shabbat items that Shoshi memorizes to buy in town gives readers opportunities to look for the items in the market illustration and to consider how their own traditions are the same and different.
Jewish Shabbat traditions are infused throughout the story, both in meaning and actions. Shoshi’s grandparents speak to her about these in ways that flow naturally with plot. Jewish and non-Jewish readers will relate to the universal theme about slowing down. Placing this theme in the context of Shabbat shows how Judaism supports it.
Hebrew School classes and families of all backgrounds will enjoy reading this picture book again and again and discovering more details and layers of learning each time.
Editor's Note: This book was included in the Association of Jewish Libraries' Fall 2025 Holiday Highlights list of the best new children's books about Jewish holidays.
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Reviewer Karin Fisher-Golton is a freelance children’s book editor and the author of the newly released middle-grade time-travel novel, The Clock and the Boulder; the award-winning board book My Amazing Day: A Celebration of Wonder and Gratitude; retellings of folktales for a reading program; and poems in several anthologies. She is a member of the Board of Advisors for Read Your World (formerly Multicultural Children’s Book Day). Read more about her work at www.karinfisher-golton.com.
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