Chil­dren’s

Good­night Sh’ma

Jacque­line Jules; Melanie Hale, illus.
  • Review
By – January 16, 2012
Sim­ple, poet­ic, and effec­tive, Good­night Sh’ma is a per­fect bed­time com­pan­ion. The board book for­mat is per­fect for lit­tle hands, and cer­tain to become a bed­time clas­sic that will give com­fort to young ones at bed­time. Par­ents and chil­dren will love the soft, ethe­re­al illus­tra­tions that accom­pa­ny the love­ly prayer. The sparse text is best for younger chil­dren, but it is like­ly to cre­ate a sooth­ing rit­u­al that can last a life­time. An old­er sib­ling could eas­i­ly read Good­night Sh’ma to a lit­tle broth­er or sis­ter. This and include real­is­tic details, like a mechitzah at the recep­tion. The tar­get audi­ence for this book is the obser­vant Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty.
Rachel Ros­ner is the Direc­tor of the Jew­ish Book Fes­ti­val in Rochester, NY. She also runs Jew­ish Fam­i­ly Pro­grams for the JCC, and has worked there since 1994. She holds a degree in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion from Syra­cuse University.

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