Our children read all of Mrs. Ganz's books and love her fantastic characters. They look forward to reading her new books.

Your children will love this, as did mine. It's nice to look at , easy to understand, and it will show your child the aleph bais at a very early age. Start now mom, this is the book to begin with. A must have for every Jewish family. bg

I love Heddy Levi. The book about her brother Jeremy was great too, but I liked Heddy better. she has such interesting ideas and such funny things happen to her and her friends. I wish I was in their class - or they were in mine. I think every girl - even if she isn't Jewish - will love Heddy. I only gave the book a "9" (instead of a "10") because it should have been at least 100 pages longer!

Savta Simcha is a very special woman. She is old, but she acts very young. She does very unusual things which people don't normally do (unless they are like Savta Simcha!) It's a book about a Jewish woman and Jewish children in Israel, but I think taht that children anywhere would enjoy it. I did. A lot! In fact, I liked all the Savta Simcha books (this one is the fourth).

Every day Fivel asks his wife what he should catch for supper, and every day she makes a different dish: salmon patties... tuna salad... They are happy despite their meddlesome neighbor, who keeps trying to remind them that the lake Fivel fishes in is stocked with nothing but carp. This book is very charming and great for reading out loud to young children.

This is a sweet story of a boy in Australia whose small town had lots of stores, but none that sold the lemon-like citrus fruit needed to help celebrate Sukkot, an eight-day fall festival that comes five days after Yom Kippur.

During this time the Jewish people recall 40 years in of wandering in the desert before they arrived in the Promised Land and celebrate the fall harvest. They build huts with roofs fashioned from fruits and vegetables--and open to the stars--in which to eat their meals. Daily festival ceremonies require a perfectly shaped etrog, and a lulav (or palm branch) adorned with the leaves of myrtle and willow, symbolizing eyes and heart.

As this story opens, Yedidya was five years old, and excitedly awaiting Sukkot, for his father had ordered him his very own etrog from Israel. But when the package arrived, and he opened it, the etrog was all mushy and brown, not at all the perfect fruit required to celebrate the holiday. Yedidya was crestfallen. But then he got an idea. He peeled the etrog, gently picked out its seed, placed it in some dampened cotton and watered it every morning and night.

After a long time, despite his brother's jokes, the etrog seed sprouted. He put it in a small pot, covered it with earth and watered it week after week until a tiny green point erupted from the soil. His sister laughed and said it would never grow. But Yedidya tended the pot, wrapping it on the window sill against the winter drafts, and in the spring, planted the sapling etrog tree outside.

The next year, when Yedidya was six, there was still no etrog. His father told him growing fruit would take three years and that he could not pick the fruit until the tree was four. Worse, he had never heard of an etrog tree growing in Australia.

Yedidya, of course, was not to be discouraged. The years passed, the tree grew, and what do you suppose happened? I can't tell. But boys are like trees. They grow, and the wise ones bear good fruit. Alyssa A. Lappen