By
– April 2, 2012
When the author’s father died, her four-year- old daughter had questions about God. This book, written in rhyme and from a traditional perspective, describes how Hashem is part of our daily lives and can be found all around us in beauty, love, kindness and thankfulness. Translating these ideas into a format that is suitable for very young children takes a deft touch, and this book is not entirely successful. Although the book expresses ideas about where we find God and deals with feelings and actions appropriate to preschoolers, some of the rhymes are awkward and do not flow well. The illustrations are childlike — puff-painted, white stick figures and simple drawings of flowers, hearts, suns, moon and stars on colored backgrounds. There is a possibility this would appeal to young children, but it is unlikely to interest the adults reading it to them. The illustrations trivialize the subject rather than expand it to stimulate the young reader’s imagination. Even though the book was inspired by a death, it does not touch on the subjects of death or loss. This paperback book is sold as a kit, which includes a bookmark and a simple parent’s guide for doing activities and creating reading games with the 30 sight words. Ages 3 – 5, grades Pk – K.
Diane Levin Rauschwerger is librarian for Congregation Beth Am, Los Altos Hills, CA, and has worked as a children’s librarian for the Sunnyvale Public Library. She is the author of a series of children’s picture books, including Dinosaur on Hanukkah, Dinosaur on Passover, and Dinosaur on Shabbat, published by Kar-Ben Publishing.