This month some readers in our 7-8 year old age group will receive Rachel Shalev’s oversized board book, Israel. The Book Selection Committee first saw Israel in German and were immediately reminded of the very popular “Where’s Waldo?” series.
Israel
by Rachel Shalev
Recommended for ages 7 to 8 Years
Israel is filled with interesting shapes and vivid colors -- just the kind of scenic tour that was made for babies!
Israel was submitted to PJ Library by Myriam Halberstam, founder of Ariella Books, Germany´s first Jewish publishing company for children’s books. (The company’s first release, A Horse for Hanukkah, written by the founder herself and illustrated by the American award-winning artist, Nancy Cote, was chosen as a Hanukkah selection for PJ’s 4-year-old participants in 2012.) Halberstam founded Ariella Books in 2010 after recognizing a great need in Germany for Jewish children’s books. Her primary goal was to provide her own two young daughters with Jewish books in their native language.
We chose Israel because we thought it would be fabulous to take American kids on an exciting and entertaining trip across the country through colorful, very detailed illustrations and nearly-wordless stories about Israeli life. It’s also a great book to foster dialogue and entice young readers and their families to find out more about the state of Israel through independent exploration. And not to be forgotten: the book is a lot of fun!
April 11, 2016