Sadie Rose Weilerstein, born in 1894, was a leading author of Jewish children's stories for more than 50 years. She introduced the tiny character named K'tonton in the September 1930 issue of Outlook magazine.

Isaac Samuel ben Baruch Reuben--whose first name meant laughter--was a late-born miracle. His mother had wanted a child so badly that in her Sukkot prayers, she promised to love even a child "no bigger than a thumb." Sure enough, before a year had passed, she gave birth to a son. And sure enough, he was no bigger than her thumb. She blanketed him in the flax she had used to wrap an etrog--the Israeli citrus fruit used to celebrate Sukkot--and cradled him in a hand-carved etrog box.

An educational director and Chazan, whose students loved the tales, recommended the book. I am glad I followed up, because my son adores this magical little fellow. Each 2 to 5-page tale is filled with details about important Jewish ideas or traditions, and a dash of Jewish humor. The evening story hour brings eager requests not for one or two stories, but three.

This 16-story 1976 volume appeared as a sequel to The Adventures of K'tonton (1935) and K'tonton in Israel (1964). It is illustrated by Michael Berenstain. (His parents Stan and Jan created the Berenstain Bears in 1962, which Michael also illustrated).

In the first book, K'tonton slid down the side of a chopping bowl, made his first trip to the synagogue on the harvest festival of Sukkot, rode on the tip of a lulav (the palm branch used in the celebration), planned a palace for the Sabbath Queen, saved the birds on Shabbat Shirah, planted trees in Israel, rode a spinning Chanukah dreidel, turned up in a Purim cookie covered with poppy seeds and celebrated Pesach with help from a mouse.

In the prologue, the author explains that K'tonton had just returned to his parents on Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Comfort. He had been lost for three months. The stories tell what happened in that time.

K'tonton's parents took him for a picnic at the beach. There, K'tonton simply disappeared. His mother had stuck him into his father's hat band, to protect him from the wind. As the wind grew, a gust lifted his father's hat off, with K'tonton on it. It blew right onto a seagull, which flew off. His parents had no idea where he was. The hat landed in the ocean, and then in some reeds. On that lonely island, K'tonton was rescued by a duck, whose ducklings warmed him. The second day and story landed K'tonton in a bird's nest, where among other things he thanked God for giving back his life.

In the next nine stories, K'tonton built a house from a seashell, moved it to a drier spot, befriended a turtle, found food and water, repaid the mother duck's kindness. He welcomed the Sabbath Queen with fireflies instead of candles and fed his new animal friends with the bountiful harvest of the wilderness. He made clothes from the beach grasses, greeted the new moon, and celebrated Shavuot. In one story he coped with the insects. In another, he grew very sad and cheered himself in wonderful ways.

In the last two stories, K'tonton helped a wounded swallow and found a way to leave the island. The book closes with a nine-page section about the holidays K'tonton celebrated on the island.

This book is a great read-aloud for children of all ages. It will light their eyes like fireflies. Alyssa A. Lappen

Sadie Rose Weilerstein, born in 1894, was a leading author of Jewish children's stories for more than 50 years. She introduced the tiny character named K'tonton in the September 1930 issue of Outlook magazine.

This story, originally two, also appeared in the first of Weilerstein K'tonton collection, The Adventures of K'tonton (1935), and The Best of K'tonton, a 1980 compendium of 16 stories from three books.

Isaac Samuel ben Baruch Reuben--whose first name meant laughter--was a late-born miracle. His mother had wanted a child so badly that in her Sukkot prayers, she promised to love even a child "no bigger than a thumb." Sure enough, before a year had passed, she gave birth to a son. And sure enough, he was no bigger than her thumb. She blanketed him in the flax she had used to wrap an etrog--the Israeli citrus fruit used to celebrate Sukkot--and cradled him in a hand-carved etrog box.

It was also on the harvest festival of Sukkot that K'tonton made his first trip to the synagogue. As his father put his etrog carefully into its box to take to shul, K'tonton eagerly asked to join him. "Next year," answered his father, "when you're a little bigger." Like all over-eager boys, K'tonton did something he shouldn't, and climbed inside the etrog box to hide.

Once in shul, he couldn't see, so he climbed onto the lulav--the palm branch that is pointed east, west, south and north, to the heavens and to earth as part of the celebration. As K'tonton's father rose with the congregation to chant Hodu l'Adonai ki tov--Praise the Lord for God is good--there was K'tonton singing from atop the lulav, in a high treble that rose above all the other voices.

What happened next in this great tale of a tiny boy will light children's eyes. Alyssa A. Lappen

Sadie Rose Weilerstein, born in 1894, was a leading author of Jewish children's stories for more than 50 years. She introduced the tiny character named K'tonton in the September 1930 issue of Outlook magazine.

Isaac Samuel ben Baruch Reuben--whose first name meant laughter--was a late-born miracle. His mother had wanted a child so badly that in her Sukkot prayers, she promised to love even a child "no bigger than a thumb." Sure enough, before a year had passed, she gave birth to a son. And sure enough, he was no bigger than her thumb. She blanketed him in the flax she had used to wrap an etrog--the Israeli citrus fruit used to celebrate Sukkot--and cradled him in a hand-carved etrog box.

This story probably appeared in the first Weilerstein K'tonton collection, The Adventures of K'tonton (1935). It reappeared in The Best of K'tonton, a 1980 compendium of 16 stories from three books.

K'tonton was in the kitchen when a kitten appeared at the door. He asked his mother to give it some milk. At first, she refused, since feeding the kitten would encourage it to come back every day. But she fed it, and it came back a second day. On the third day, K'tonton's mother was preparing taiglach (honey pastries) and set a cup of honey at the edge of the table to fetch the kitten's milk. Then she went to answer the phone.

Just then, K'tonton saw a stream of honey running down the side of the cup, and licked it off. There was more honey on the rim. K'tonton leaned forward to reach it and sent the cup crashing to the floor. His mother asked if K'tonton had done this. He didn't answer. She blamed the kitten, and he did not correct her.

The lesson is very simple and traditional for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. "For sins against God, God can forgive. For sins against another person, only the person wronged can forgive." But it's told in a way that small children can understand.

How K'tonton achieves atonement is what makes this story special. Alyssa A. Lappen

Well written, extremely enjoyable.We both have read with interest as many of this series as we can get.

This book has poetry criticism for the most popular poems studied in the high school and college students. It also includes the complete text for each poem reviewed. This book is excellent for a smaller library that cant afford to buy 72 volumes of literary criticisms.

If you love a happy ending, if you love to feel like you have lived part of another person's life, if you love human drama, this is a book to read. I have shared this series with many people now.

I absolutely loved this book. It was witty and charming. This was a family at it's best. I loved the spirit and open-mindedness of these amazing people. The book was about Mary Rose, but I promise that you will fall in love with the whole family before you finish reading it. Her brothers' love for her and their need to protect her was endearing. Compassion, loyality, love, respect, and honor are all displayed throughout this incredible family saga and lovestory. I can't wait to read the rest of the series and find out what happens to these great characters. Keep up the great work, Ms. Garwood!

I was becoming disappointed in Garwood's books because of the "Me, puissant hero. You, ineffective heroine." style she was adopting. With this book, she has achieved a great triumph: she penned a believable, romantic and above all, humorous tale.

Too many novels have trite dialogue or exaggerated sex scenes and Garwood manages to steer clear of both. "For the Roses" entertained me so much that I had to put it down more than once so that I could stop laughing at the antics of the characters. I especially loved her heroine, Mary Rose Clayborne, because the young woman was intelligent, sassy and sweet. She also has a strong streak of common sense not often found in the gloriously beautiful and reckless heroines that populate lesser author's works. Mary Rose is definitely NOT monotonous or vain.

I like the structure of the novel, with its chapters interspersed with letters written by the Clayborne family to their matriarch and Mary Rose's namesake, Mama Rose. The characters come alive through the letters and we gain an insight into their personalities that we would not normally have.

Bravo, Ms. Garwood! This is the most excellently written novel of yours I have ever read.

This was the first Julie Garwood book I have read. The characters were well defined and unique; the story-line was excellent and moved quickly from the beginning. It was one I could not put down easily, and found myself reading it into the early morning hours of the night. Garwood has a real talent in humorous dialogue -- I laughed histerically all the way through, and cried right along with the characters as well. Being an avid reader, I found it difficult to read another book after completing this one...just hated for it to end! Now, I cannot wait to read more of Julie Garwood's books. She has made me a lifetime fan. Next: The Clayborne Brides, one by one.

I found this book to be very helpful. in fact I found just what I wanted. It tells you what types of roses are fragrant, dissease resistant, everything you would need to know about each rose. It also had beautiful pictures and was very easy to follow.

This book is definitely very good. The first time I opened it, I was disappointed, as I saw in the first two chapters a history about roses. Then comes the good part: it explains whatever you may need to take care of your roses. It has a lot of pictures and photos, it explains what kind of soil do roses need, how to choose the right plants, planting the roses, watering, fertilizing, pruning, reproducing, combating pest and diseases, how to protect the roses from freezing, etc. It includes pictures of how roses diseases looks like, gives you an explanation of the symptoms, and the solutions available for the disease. The last two chapters describe how to enjoy roses indoors, how to make potpourri, and has an "encyclopedia of roses" with photos of a lot of different species. In short: buy this book. Definitely the "American Rose Society endorsed" logo is well earned.

Having been a patient with similar problems, it was exiciting to see such a book in print. Excellent helpful hints, easy recipes with a dose of encouragement for people with jaw problems.

This book is aimed atthose who cannot chew normally, due to some medical problem. I have no such problem, but, having acquired it through a friend, I proceeded to try, to eat, and to lovethe recipes -- easy and delicious soups (split pea, squash, carrot)and purees (peas, lima beans)especially -- also salmon quiche, frittata. Made great use of summer garden overproduction of herbs and vegetables. This is a real little gem of a cookbook. the recipes and have been utterly delighted!

Toddlers are very challanging! 1,2,3...The Toddler years talks about specific toddler behaviors: biting, sleeping, toileting, tantrums, etc and gives guidelines on how to work with those behaviors while treating the kid respectfully! Read this book.

is simply the best toddler book out there. In the same vein as books such as How To Talk So Kids Will Listen (and Listen So Kids Will Talk), this book shows ways to communicate with and understand the little people in your life. I know few other books that show such respect for children and their individual process as this one. As a nanny and an aunt, I highly recommend it for all who interact with children!

This book is a small but powerful tool for parents! I recommend reading it even before your children hit the "toddler years" because this book put me in such a great state of mind for parenting. I was observing the way my daughter's caregiver was interacting with the toddlers in her room when my daughter was still just an infant and I was amazed and astounded by the approach and results that this caregiver reached with the "Terrible Twos". I asked her more about her philosphy and she lent me this book to read. This book still hits the heart of my current philosphy of parenting my now six year old daughter. P.S. It has worked tremendously well for with my now 3 yr old son!!! Thanks Irene and the Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center