No comments about Celebrate Ramadan (Celebrate Holidays).

5 comments about Celebrate! Stories Of The Jewish Holiday.

1. This has proven to be the perfect book to help our own (Catholic) children learn about the holidays our Jewish friends and neighbors celebrate throughout the year. Thank you, Gilda Berger and Peter Catalanotto!



2. Good books on Jewish traditions and heritage are very hard, if not almost impossible, to find. This book is easy to read and understand - for adults and children alike.



3. Aimed at intermediate or slightly older readers (but also could be read aloud to younger readers) this is an excellent introduction to the major Jewish holiday, including traditional ways to celebrate the holidays, recipes, activities and history. Adults as well as children are likely to learn something new about each holiday - I know I did!



4. I used this book to introduce my private-school, sixth grade students to some Jewish holidays. The stories are clear, entertaining, and accurate, explaining the history and religious reasons for each holiday without being educationally or spiritually overwhelming. They are written with love and care; even my non-Jewish students remembered and referred to the stories throughout the year. This book is a treasure!



5. A really great book to learn about the religion, customs and history of the Jewish faith. The storys are wonderful and the crafts and food are easy and meaningful.

2 comments about The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh.

1. A very sweet story with a lovely message about traditions and remembering your heritage even as changes through the generations blur the past. Well written in a style that respects both the subject and the readers, and lovely illustrations as well. Hope to see more from this author!



2. Excellent story that is beautifully written and illustrated. It captures an important part of our heritage while emphasizing the importance of family tradition and roots. My 8 year old just loved it and I can see my self reading this to her over and over again. The story teaches U.S. history on one level and family sharing on another. The illustrations are beautiful. I strongly recommend this book.

3 comments about I'm Taking a Trip on My Train.

1. This book is a rhyme that repeats itself adding a verse at a time. It uses pictures of various train cars, etc. that my son shouts out as we get to them. Great for 3-4 year olds.



2. We discovered this book at the library and it became a favorite. After returning it our 3 year old kept asking for "the train book" and we couldn't remember the title. Her persistance drove our detective work (do you have any idea how many juvenile train books there are?) and it is now a bed-time, back-seat, grandma's lap, any-old-time-favorite. It is also the first book our little girl "read" back to us! This book has great rhymes, details to rediscover, and new vocabulary leading to more new vocabulary. Special memories..and a big thumbs up from our little engineer!



3. We discovered this at the library as well. My son (an early train lover) already responded to it at 15 months, and by 18 months was asking for it. At 20 months now, he knows words like "caboose" and "signal" because of this book! (Ok, maybe not the world's most useful words, but for a train lover...) The book is repetitive in a way kids seem to love, and has pictures for words in places so they can "read" along with you. The ending is also very cute, connecting train-world to the real world of baby's life. My husband is not a big fan of the illustrations (the cover gives a good indication of what they are like) and I agree they are somewhat cutesy and with little artisitc merit, but my son doesn't seem to care!

No comments about Olive's Pirate Party.

No comments about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Rookie Read-About Holidays).

2 comments about On Purim.

1. This book is a great introduction and explanation of Purim. My 6 year old enjoyed it throughly- especially the interaction with Haman's name. The storytelling is both delightfully clear and detailed. It is companioned with beautifully flowing pictures. I especially appreciated the gentle smattering of Hebrew words throughout. Having a word glossary with pronuciation prompts makes this a complete resource book on Purim.



2. Cathy Goldberg Fishman's On Purim will reach ages 5 and older with a fine picturebook story of a young girl who wonders why masks are worn on Purim. Her family acts out the Purim story and provides her with newfound understanding of God.

2 comments about The Really Fun Family Haggadah.

1. We read the Haggadah over and we think this will be the best year for your seder yet. My childern are 8 and 5. The older one reads hebrew the younger is able to sing the songs. We are looking forward to sharing this new family tradition with extened family and friends.



2. I've been searching for a way to make the seder more engaging and fun for kids -- and I mean little kids, like from toddlerhood until adolescence. For them (and for many adults) the hour or two until dinner is just plain boring -- a whole lot of talking with a smattering of songs, but not really fun songs (think Wiggles). This book had a promising title, good reviews and a colorful cover, but it just doesn't live up to its name. Like so many other "fun" or "family friendly" haggadot, its answer to the boredom is more talking: discussion topics, interesting facts and history, quizzes, etc. Those are all well and good for adults and older kids, but for the wee ones it just makes it drag on longer. It's not particularly well illustrated either -- not in a way that would engage small children while the adults drone on for what seems like an eternity. Young children need physical stimulation (songs with choreographed hand movements they can learn, for instance) and broader and more energetic interactions. In defense of this book, I haven't found an actually really fun haggadah yet and I've been searching for a couple years. Maybe it doesn't exist and I need to make up my own.

4 comments about Sammy Spider's First Purim.

1. This book is very good for children of all ages. It tells the story about Purim in a fun and delightful way.



2. I very much enjoyed reading this story to the kids. Sammy keeps yelling out "MOTHER!" It made the story fun to read. And it builds up excitement for the holiday.



3. I don't know how the un-Jewish concept of a spider family became the mechanism for a series of books about Jewish holidays but my kids and their friends love them.
   
   In these books Sammy observes the human family and asks his mother what they are doing. The mother always seems to have the answer even if it doesn't concern spiders (they just spin webs). This time Sammy is watching the family getting ready for a Purim celebration. Sammy is full of questions and tends to ask them very loudly. At one point Sammy even needs to be rescued by his mother.
   
   This is a book of noises but they are not your typical children's book noises. There is more about this holiday in the book than in the Tu B'Shevat volume but only the superficial symbols. There is a short version of the story of Purim included at the end of the book but it is very basic and simple. Still, my children (six and under) did find the book entertaining.



4. My two-year-old daughter LOVES this book! She really enjoys joining in for the repetitive lines, "Mother!" and "Spiders spin webs!" The book also does a good job teaching about the preparation for the holiday, e.g., baking hamantaschen, making a costume. The human boy in the story makes a grogger out of a paper plate and buttons and my daughter and I followed the suggestion and made the same ones ourselves and they were a big hit during megillah reading. I've just ordered some of the other Sammy Spider books and I'm hoping they'll be as good as this one. I highly recommend it.

No comments about Speak Up, Spike (Bananas).