Parting Thoughts

By Winnie Sandler Grinspoon
President, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation

This story appeared in the summer 2026 issue of PROOF, a PJ Library magazine.

Winnie Sandler Grinspoon spends quality time with her grandson with his favorite PJ Library book.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WINNIE SANDLER GRINSPOON

I am thrilled to share our good news: My husband and I have joined the grandparent club! The baby is doing great, the parents are starting to sleep, and we are deeply in love.

And now our family gets to experience PJ Library in a whole new way.

For our daughter, PJ Library was something she’d grown up around. Her grandfather created the program, inspired by the excitement she and her brothers showed for Jewish storybooks when they were young. And for the past dozen years, PJ Library has been her mother’s work. Our daughter knew that PJ Library sends Jewish storybooks to kids, and she watched me travel to new cities and countries as PJ Library grew to serve more families. She knew the basics.

But knowing about something is different than experiencing it. Seeing PJ Library with new eyes is showing our family what it feels like to be embraced by this community.

At the baby’s brit milah, the Jewish circumcision ritual, the mohelet arrived at the ceremony with a PJ Library welcome bag of books for the baby and information about how to sign up. Had my daughter not already known about PJ Library, this outreach — made possible by PJ Library’s work with hundreds of mohelim and rabbis — would have been a beautiful way to introduce her to the program as a new parent.

A few weeks later, my daughter mentioned that her in-laws in Dallas had signed up online for PJ Library’s grandparent program. This program offers grandparents in the US and Canada a taste of PJ Library: an annual sample of PJ Library books plus emails with resources for raising Jewish grandkids and news about PJ Library happenings. We signed up too and received a lovely welcome box with two books and a sweet letter with best wishes for the new baby.

Living in New York City, our kids get to benefit from a robust PJ Library parent connector program. Many communities offer PJ Library connectors; their role is to welcome new parents and connect them with other PJ Library parents through playgroups and other social events. A connector has already reached out, and my daughter is looking forward to meeting other new parents.

And then, of course, the books! This past spring, my daughter shared a video in which she read My Matzah, by Ann Diament Koffsky, to the baby. He absolutely loves this book about a koala’s search for matzah at a Passover seder. He breaks into a smile each time she reads it with him. And because the baby enjoys it, his parents enjoy it too, and they read it repeatedly.

As I watch the many ways PJ Library is showing up for my family with warmth and intentionality, I feel incredibly grateful for every PJ Library professional working behind the scenes and every donor whose generosity makes it possible. And when I share my grandson’s infectious joy as he follows his favorite koala’s matzah hunt, I am reminded again of how this simple gift is helping a whole generation of families create a joyful grounding in their Jewish identity. We are inspiring many happy, meaningful moments for our kids and grandkids. We are teaching families about celebrating life the Jewish way. We are doing deeply impactful work together. From our family to yours, thank you.