Starting preschool can be a difficult transition for very young toddlers and their parents. To leave the security of home and parent can lead to feelings of sadness or tension.

I Go to School takes the child by the hand and leads him or her through the typical Jewish school day. Families can use this book to orient the child to what he will see: cubbies and toys, to the order of the day: circle time, arts and crafts, lunch, and rest time, followed by outdoor play and going home.

The child is reassured that there is a beginning, middle, and end to his time away from his parents. The pictures show what the abstract concept of sharing actually looks like, and the role of the teacher as a new adult in a child's life.

Going beyond the book with this title is to appreciate that our Jewishness is not reserved just for our time in the synagogue or on the Sabbath. The children in this comforting setting are expressing their identities each and every day. They give charity and make the blessing before eating bread. They cut, paste and paint Hebrew letters at their little easels. Being Jewish is natural, fun, and joyous!

Reading this book and even taking it to the classroom on the first day of preschool will make it easier to prepare for this important milestone and open a child's eyes to the excitement of a Jewish education.

 

When a new baby comes into the life of a small child, everyone has adjustments to make. In the story Big Like Me, Benny's mother has a new baby, and suddenly he goes from being the youngest child in the family to becoming a big brother. As he tries to interact with the newborn just as his older brother did with him, he soon discovers that the baby is not developmentally ready for all those activities.

When Benny was small, his big brother taught him to say the Shema (a prayer that speaks to the oneness of the Creator.) First his brother said it for him every night before bed. Then slowly Benny picked up the words, repeating them carefully even if he did not understand. Yet night after night, he listened to the most famous of all Jewish prayers, and soon this little boy could say it all by himself!

Going beyond the book with Big Like Me is to recognize the importance of saying the Shema with our children every night before they go to sleep – either in Hebrew or using an English translation.

After World War II, rabbis representing many European Jewish communities set out to recover all the Jewish children who had been hidden in Christian orphanages. The religious authorities would only allow the rabbis to take custody of children they could prove belonged to the Jewish Faith. Children who knew their Hebrew names, would be free to leave with the rabbis.

The rabbis looked at a room full of hundreds of Jewish children, but only a handful remembered their Jewish names – some were too young to recall – some were too traumatized to think – some were too frightened to answer.

Then the rabbis had an idea! They asked the priests and nuns if they could return when the children were in bed for the night. The heads of the orphanages agreed to this strange request. That evening, one rabbi came back, and as the young children lay in their cots, he began to say the beginning of the Shema prayer. "Shema Israel" and the children answered the rest -- the words came back to them. These special words that they remembered from their days in their cribs were part of an indestructible synapse that led them out of the doors of the orphanages into the light of their heritage!

Going beyond this simple picture book reaches to the essence of our souls as we recite with our children, the timeless words of the Shema.