Judaism

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman

This is a very accessible, simple explanation of a very complex religion. Aware of the many books that Jews use for study and enlightenment, Wood emphasizes "the most important book," the Torah, which is also "the most important part of the Scriptures." The "most important place for Jews to practice their religion" is the home. The Shema is "one of the most important Jewish prayers." "The most important day of the Jewish week" is called Shabbat. One sidebar explains that while believing and belonging are important in Jewish life, the "most important thing is behaving." There is a lovely double-page spread containing explanations of the most important lifecycle events—birth, bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, and death—and how these are celebrated. A couple of nice easy crafts can be good projects for almost any age reader either in a classroom or a family. A glossary and a really good index round out the book. There are a couple of errors: The word Sefardi is misspelled Serfardi once, and it is not in bold type when the word Ashkenazi is. But these are minor errors which I hope will be corrected in the next edition. On the whole, recommended.