Welcome to this week’s edition of Perfect Picture Book Friday!

Today we have a book that seems very fitting for September 11th. Also very fitting in advance of the upcoming Jewish High Holy Days.

Before we get to it, let’s find out who the lucky winner of Jasmine Fang’s giveaway from last week is! Jasmine kindly offered a Picture Book Manuscript Critique of under 600 words, non rhyming (with the caveat that due to book launch and life she is likely looking at Oct / Nov as the time she can get to it.) And the winner is. . .

koalabear (Kimberly Zhuo)

Congratulations, Kimberly! Enjoy your critique – I’m sure it will be amazing! Please email me at your earliest convenience so I can connect you with Jasmine!

And now. . .

I hope you can enjoy today’s PPBF pick for its beauty and for the need it fills, without actually having reason to need it yourself, but it is a lovely book for those times when such a book is just the thing to help someone who is grieving.

Title: I Wish That You Knew

Written By: Rebecca Gardyn Levington

Illustrated By: Alyssa Russell

ISBN#: 978-1499818963

Publisher: Little Bee Books, August 25, 2026, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-6

Themes/Topics: Grief, Intergenerational Relationships, Jewish customs, Rhyme, Memories

text copyright Rebecca Gardyn Levington 2026, illustration copyright Alyssa Russell 2026, Little Bee Books

Opening:

“I wish that you knew

the me of today,

the me I’ve become

since you’ve been away.”

text copyright Rebecca Gardyn Levington 2026, illustration copyright Alyssa Russell 2026, Little Bee Books

Brief Synopsis: [from the publisher] “It’s been one year since Grandma died. One year without beach walks, shopping trips, and baking challah together. On this anniversary, the first yahrzeit, a young girl attends Grandma’s unveiling ceremony, taking time to let go of some of her sadness and celebrate the many moments of joy they shared.”

Links To Resources: provided by author Rebecca Gardyn Levington – thank you, Rebecca!

In I WISH THAT YOU KNEW, the little girl participates in the Jewish custom of placing a stone, rather than flowers, on her grandmother’s grave. Often mourners choose a stone that has special significance to the person, one from a location that was meaningful to them when they were alive, for example. But since this practice is simply a custom, and not a religious mandate, there are no rules. And so I chose for the child in my story to decorate her stone and paint “I love you” as a way of honoring the special relationship she had with her grandmother.

There are various theories about why the practice of leaving stones on graves has become customary among Jews, but the one I like best is that unlike flowers that eventually die, a stone is solid and permanent. Stones aren’t going anywhere, much like our memories of our loved one. Their spirit, their wisdom, and their love for us (and ours for them) will live in our hearts—always.

For kids who are missing a pet, grandparent, or someone else they’ve lost and want to decorate a special rock to honor their memory, here is a “how to” guide on painting stones: https://themomentsathome.com/how-to-paint-rocks-for-kids-families/

For grown-ups, here is an article that explains more about the Jewish tradition of leaving stones on grave markers which explains some of the other reasons for the custom: https://thisisbarmitzvah.com/traditions/why-rocks-on-graves/

text copyright Rebecca Gardyn Levington 2026, illustration copyright Alyssa Russell 2026, Little Bee Books

Why I Like This Book: This gentle book, centered around the Jewish tradition of unveiling, kindly walks children through the feelings of sadness, loneliness, and longing that they may be experiencing in the wake of a beloved person’s passing by focusing on all the goodness of the time they spent together. The story follows a young girl through the first year after losing her grandmother. It acknowledges the bitter-sweetness of memories that simultaneously provide comfort and cause a yearning for what has been lost, and shows how the passage of time takes away some of the sharp edges of grief and allows people to find more comfort and less sadness in their memories of someone dear. The people we love never truly leave us because we carry them with us in our hearts. An absolutely lovely, wonderful book for a child who has lost a grandparent, parent – anyone they love – even a pet.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊

Rebecca Gardyn Levington is an award-winning children’s book author, poet, and journalist with a particular penchant for penning both playful and poignant picture books and poems – primarily in rhyme. She is the author of 18 books for children, including FINDING FORGIVENESS (a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable and PJ Library selection), WHATEVER COMES TOMORROW (a SCBWI Crystal Kite Honor winner and Northern Lights Book Award winner, which has been translated into 11 languages), AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? A Passover Hide-And-Seek Adventure (a PJ Library selection which was named one of the best holiday books of the year by both School Library Journal and the Association of Jewish Libraries), SOME DAYS I’M THE WIND (a 2026 Children’s Book Council Librarian Favorite and a 2026 Children’s Literature Assembly Notable), and BRAINSTORM! (a Pennsylvania Readers’ Choice Award winner). Rebecca’s poems and articles have appeared in numerous anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. She lives with her family in Summit, NJ, where she enjoys bouncing on a mini-trampoline, playing Mah Jongg, and eating chocolate-peanut butter ice cream (although not usually at the same time!). Find out more and sign up for Rebecca’s monthly newsletter at www.RebeccaGardynLevington.com.

Purchase Links:

Available anywhere books are sold!

Bookshop: https://tinyurl.com/yws6yfad
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/c4amus35
B&N: https://tinyurl.com/4t6p2njy