The PJ Library Blog

IT’S A MITZVAH to honor our parents. In June, we get to pay special attention to our fathers. In preparation for Father’s Day, here are a number of PJ Library selections that put dads in the heart of their stories.

Consider reading a couple of the titles below as a family before (or during!) Father’s Day. Our Book Selection Committee likes them, and you will, too!

	It Could Always Be Worse Author: Margot Zemach Illustrator: Margot Zemach In this beloved tale from Eastern Europe, a distraught man discovers a positive attitude for dealing with the overcrowding in his small home.
	Jodie’s First Dig Author: Anna Levine Illustrator: Ksenia Topaz Jodie dreams of one day becoming a famous archaeologist. When her father takes her on a dig in Modi’in, home of the Maccabees, she is able to participate in a unique way.
	Feivel’s Flying Horses Author: Heidi Smith Hyde Illustrator: Johanna Van Der Sterre Feivel’s wife and children stay in the Old Country while he comes to New York to make a better life for them all. A wood carver, Feivel creates carousel horses for a Coney Island amusement park – all the while working to earn enough to reunite the family.
	Can Hens Give Milk? Author: Joan Betty Stuchner Illustrator: Joe Weissmann Tova lives with her family on a small farm in Chelm. The farm has hens and a rooster, but no cow. Then one night, Tova’s father has a dream about how to get milk without actually owning a cow. Can it be done? Finally, the wise rabbi comes to the rescue — with a little help from Tova.
	The Brothers’ Promise Author: Frances Harber In this poignant retelling of a Talmudic story, siblings recall the promise each lovingly made to his father.
	The Secret Shofar of Barcelona Author: Jacqueline Dembar Greene Illustrator: Douglas Chayka In this story set in Spain in the 1500s, the son of a conductor blows the shofar in preparation for Rosh Hashanah, a practice he must keep secret.
	Gittel’s Hands Author: Erica Silverman Illustrator: Deborah Nourse Lattimore With her father constantly boasting about her talents, a young girl named Gittel is asked to perform impossible tasks. She must embroider a matzo cover without a needle and create an Elijah’s cup from a silver coin. Just as all seems hopeless, Gittel is rewarded for her kind ways and gentle nature by none other than the prophet Elijah.
	The Always Prayer Shawl Author: Sheldon Oberman Illustrator: Ted Lewin In this poignant story of tradition and love passed along from one generation to the next, a prayer shawl makes its way from grandfather to grandson.
	What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street Author: Elsa Okon Rael Illustrator: Marjorie Priceman In the early 1900s on the Lower East Side, a seven-year-old girl learns lessons of community, generosity, and courage from the Jewish immigrant population.