ON THE SHELF
Here are a few of this years' PJ Library books that we hope will expand young readers’ minds and bring families together with a great story.
PJ Library Subscriber Age: 5
This retelling of a famous Jewish folktale about two brothers helping each other has been recast in some key ways. First, the story is now about two female friends. Second, one is Jewish, and the other is Muslim. And yet they are sisters in a deeper sense. The PJ Library Book Selection Committee was moved by this inspiring tale of peaceful neighbors who look after each other in times of hardship and plenty.
PJ Library Subscriber Age: 6
This interpretation of the famous Talmudic story of Honi and the carob tree exemplifies the value of l’dor vador —passing down tradition and wisdom from generation to generation. We plant orchards knowing that we may not live to eat the fruit; it is enough to know that our grandchildren will benefit from the harvest. The PJ Library Book Selection Committee was struck by the beautiful, spare writing and the exquisite message that is Jewish to the very core.
PJ Library Subscriber Age: 8
Leonard Nimoy is best known for his portrayal of Star Trek’s socially awkward alien, Mr. Spock. What many people don’t know is that Nimoy filled out Spock’s character and personality with details from his own upbringing as the child of Jewish immigrants who themselves felt like aliens in a new land. The PJ Library Book Selection Committee was indeed fascinated by this 2017 Sydney Taylor Honor book, and believes readers will be too.
PJ Library Subscriber Age: 8
When young Ruth Bader was growing up, girls were not expected to be lawyers. They were expected to be wives and mothers. Well, Ruth wanted to be a wife and a mother, but she wanted to be a lawyer, too. And when people tried to stand in her way, she dissented, all the way to the Supreme Court. The Jewish community is rightly proud of the first Jewish woman on the court, a.k.a. the Notorious RBG. The PJ Library Book Selection Committee was thrilled to send out this excellent biography, which won the 2017 Sydney Taylor Book Award for the best Jewish children’s book.
PJ Library Subscriber Age: 3
“ And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.” The first chapter of Genesis focuses on the wonder of night giving way to morning, as does this beautifully illustrated book by Caldecott medalist Mordicai Gerstein. The Jewish calendar’s particular way of marking time beginning in the evening encourages children (and grown-ups) to look at the world differently from the way we might otherwise see it. The child in this story approaches the night world with a sense of what Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called “radical amazement.” As the world darkens, its sense of mystery opens up.