My First Hebrew Word Book

Children's Literature

Pastel watercolor pages crammed with familiar people and things will make this dictionary book a favorite with the youngest set. Beginning with "ani - I" (also spelled in Hebrew letters, of course) a child's body parts are identified. Next we move on to the family, items of clothing, a house and what is in it, and then each room, and what is in it. On to school, the city, the grocery store. Back home for bedtime—which, for some odd reason, precedes bathtime, and both of which precede the birthday party, the zoo, the seasons, numbers and colors! Except for this strange sequence, this is a delightful book and presents a large, useful word list in Hebrew and transliteration. It should be ever so much fun for children to learn the language with such adorable pages to turn. 2005, Kar-Ben, Ages 3 to 7.
—Judy Chernak

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Students and teachers of conversational Hebrew, as well as families interested in introducing the language, will appreciate this picture dictionary. Basic Hebrew words for parts of the body, members of the family, clothing, the house, school, playground, city, grocery store, bedtime, bath time, a birthday party, the zoo, the seasons, numbers, and colors are included. All are written in block letters with English transliteration and translation. Each spread includes a large, detailed illustration with the individual items clearly identified along the bottom. The color cartoon art is cheerful and contemporary. At the back of the book, a word list is organized alphabetically in English and includes the Hebrew words and corresponding page numbers. All in all, this is a wonderful resource. It's more sophisticated than Schlomo Peterseil's Fun with My First Words (Pitspopany, 2001), more child-friendly than Howard I. Bogot's My First 100 Hebrew Words (URJ Press, 1993), and less intimidating than Heather Amery's The First 1000 Words in Hebrew (Usborne, 1985).-Rachel Kamin, Temple Israel Libraries & Media Center, West Bloomfield, MI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.