Wednesday, October 7, 2009

A Read Aloud Favorite


My all time favorite Shabbat read aloud book is Once Upon a Shabbos by Jacqueline Jules. A great choice for ages 2-8 for any group setting, the book uses a fairy tale format to tell the story of a bear who gets lost in the middle of Brooklyn. The best parts are the repeating refains: "Are you meshuga? Bears don't live in Brooklyn!" and 'Honey, honey, sweet as Shabbos." The children quickly learn these lines and start chiming in with the reader, making it ideal for the classroom or for Tot Shabbat. I love the gentle introduction of Yiddish vocabulary and the appeal to both children and adults.

Jacqueline Jules is a prolific author of Jewish children's books and would make a great topic for a classroom author study. For more information check out her website.

2 comments:

  1. My kids love this book. And every time I read "meshuga!" I think of my grandmother. I love that my kids won't think that word is something only I made up!

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  2. This is a favorite book in our school. The kids love the Yiddish words, they think they are so funny.

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