By
– December 16, 2011
Like its companion, With All Your Heart: AWeekday Prayer Book, this is a visually attractive family prayer book, with appealing color illustrations created by Jewish day school students. “Designed to make celebrations at home, school and synagogue more accessible and meaningful,” it was chosen be to be a 2007 Notable Book for Young Readers by AJL’s Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee. It reads from right to left, with prayers first in Hebrew, then transliterated, then translated into childaccessible/understandable English. The sections are “color coded to offer community leaders or family members visual cues when leading, teaching or responding. The book contains an explanation of Tzedakah; rituals associated with Erev Shabbat, Shabbat morning, Havdalah, bedtime, and holidays; Shabbat and festival blessings; a guide to Torah study for the whole family; sources for prayers and songs; and both a shortened and a complete version of the Birkat Hamazon, The Blessing after Meals. Highly recommended for all ages, it conveys a joyous message: learning the structure and meaning of the rituals and prayers will add to our enjoyment of celebrating Shabbat and the Jewish festivals.
Andrea Davidson is the librarian of The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood, Ohio. She holds an M.L.S. from the University of Michigan and is a former member of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards Committee. She enjoys trying out the books she reviews on the kids at the Temple and on her grandchildren.