On the morning of December 29, 1890, the Lakota chief Big Foot and some 350 of his followers were camped on the banks of Wounded Knee creek. Surrounding their camp was a force of U.S. troops charged with the responsibility of arresting Big Foot and disarming his warriors. What happened is now called the massacre at Wounded Knee, which resulted in approximately 300 Lakota dead. Although scattered fighting continued after the massacre, what happened at Wounded Knee effectively ended both the Ghost Dance movement and the Indian Wars.

Neil Waldman begins his book "Wounded Knee" with the recollections of Black Elk, a young Lakota warrior, of being awaken that morning by the sound of gunfire. From there Waldman goes back to the first contacts between native peoples and Europeans, putting the massacre in context with the entire history of the conquest of the New World. He then narrows his focus to the Plains War in the 1870's, which includes the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and Ghost Dance movement of the late 1880's that led to this final, fatal confrontation between the Lakota and the U.S. Calvary. Waldman provides an objective view of how this tragedy came about, covering how events made the massacre almost an inevitable finale to centuries of conflict. Waldman also does the illustrations for this book, and I believe several of the them are based on period photographs.

The massacre at Wounded Knee is the important historical counterpart to what happened at the Little Bighorn, which was the one great victory enjoyed by the Plains Indians against federal troops. However, that victory only increased the determination of the Army, and the government, to eradicate the "threat" posed by the Indians. Wounded Knee becomes the final price the Indians had to pay for their "victory" and therefore you really should not teach or learn about one without the other. True, Waldman provides an objective view of this event, but in doing so he really gives his reader little choice as to where their sympathies should lie.

We used this Haggadah for a few years when our children were preschool-age, with mixed success. I liked the extensive suggestions for involving young children in all aspects of the seder experience. However, we found that the English narration - while lovely - was overly long and didn't hold the kids' attention, especially in the absence of attractive illustrations. It would probably be more suitable for older children. The book reads from left to right and is almost entirely in English, which may be a benefit or a weakness depending on your own personal preference. We ended up supplementing quite a bit from the good ol' Maxwell House version and eventually switched to a somewhat more traditional family-oriented Haggadah.

The first 15 pages of this Haggadah focus on preparations for the Seder, rather than the ceremonial meal itself. Anyone who has never before prepared a Seder will find this section extremely useful, for it offers many suggestions to involve the children even before the holiday begins. Children can help decide, for example, who should lead the meal, or themselves prepare to lead parts of the service. They can also help clean the home of Chametz (unleavened bread), make Charoset and prepare the Seder Plate. (The book even suggests substitutes for vegetarian families.)

Only 36 pages are devoted to the Seder itself, but they are easy enough for families with little or no Hebrew, and for small children to understand. All blessings--Lighting the Candles, Shecheyanu (Thanking God for life, sustenance and reaching this season), the Kiddush (Blessing of Wine), Dipping of Greens, HaMotzie (Blessing the Matzah), and Blessings over the Bitter Herbs and Charoset--are included in Hebrew and English transliterations. So are the Four Questions. Unfortunately, the recitation of the Ten Plagues is in English, with no Hebrew, transliterated or otherwise.

But the book includes Dayenu. In this song, the Jewish people thank God for the miracles that Pessach celebrates--granting our freedom, bringing us forth from Egypt, dividing the Red Sea, feeding us manna, leading us from the desert, giving us Shabbat, leading us to Mount Sinai, giving us Israel, building the Holy Temple.

In addition to Elijah's Cup, this Haggadah also includes Miriam's Cup on the Seder table. This egalitarian addition celebrates the women of the Pessach story--Moses' mother Yocheved, the midwives Shifrah and Puah, Pharaoh's daughter Thermutis, and Miriam, who watched over Moses, put him in the basket and led our song when we emerged from the Sea of Reeds.

Pessach has always been my favorite holiday. This book helps children understand that while Passover celebrates events that happened thousands of years ago, each person must remember them as if he or she was also redeemed from slavery, brought to Mount Sinai, and given the Torah. It infuses the holiday with the immediacy that makes it special. Alyssa A. Lappen

If you're looking to bring freshness as well as beauty to your seder, buy this book. Ellen Schecter's "Family Haggadah" doesn't replace the traditional Haggadah; it's a companion that helps you -- and your guests -- to see the seder with new eyes. Schecter's telling of the Passover story is so vivid that both children and adults will be caught up in its drama and imagery.

Listen to some of her opening words for the seder:
"The story we tell tonight isn't a fairy tale that happened 'once upon a time.' It's a true story. And as we create our Seder celebration together, we will help it happen tonight to each of us...Tonight, in our home and other homes, in this neighborhood and others, all across the country, in countries all over our planet, families of Jews and their friends are beginning their Seder and lighting their candles. Imagine them joining us at one huge table that stretches across the world; imagine the flames of all our candles, countless as the stars in the sky."

Over the past five years, I've used these words at seders with many adults and children, and I've seen how powerful they are. Adults look up from their Maxwell House Deluxe editions with surprise. Children stop fidgeting. Suddenly, everyone is listening with full attention, then someone immediately asks, "What are you reading from? That's lovely...."

My response always is, "Wait, there's more."

Beyond its gorgeous language, this small Haggadah-companion includes thoughtful suggestions for how to prepare for the holiday, three pages of good ideas for encouraging children's participation, and many lovely (if black-and-white) illustrations by Neil Waldman. But it 's the marvellous words that make it essential. One more example: "Tonight, we tell the story of our Exodus from Egypt to you, our children; someday you will tell it to your children; and someday they will tell it again and again to their children and their children's children...That is our hope: That each of us will be a link in the chain that stretches from God to Moses, to Miriam, to me; that you will become strong links in the chain that stretches from generation to generation, like hands holding hands across the years."

I suggest you buy multiple copies of this book, read it before the seder so you know what's in it, pick out your favorite parts, and then invite your guests to share in reading aloud from it. In doing so, you will enrich your seder many times over.

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom has hit the nail on the head: this book is a helpful introduction for the absolute beginner, but from a Traditional point of view, it's "Shabbos Lite."

My suggestion? Use the book as an introductory guide -- and then, if you want to learn more about Shabbat observance (and incidentally rid yourself of some silly prejudices at the same time), make friends with some Traditionally observant Jews and spend an occasional Shabbat with them.

It's a mitzvah for you, it's a mitzvah for them, everybody's happy. And fostering Ahavat Yisrael in this way is very much in the spirit of Shabbat.

As an Orthodox Jew, I naturally have certain reservations about recommending a Reform book, especially one that says you can just sort of make up your own level of Shabbat observance as you go along. I guess you would have to call me the "traditionalist" among the smorgasbord of pick-and-choose choices the authors offer for how Reform Jews observe Shabbat.

Now, having said that, I think the book can still be a useable gate for the absolute beginner, coming from a secular or Reform background, who is trying to bring Shabbat observance into the home. It does have good "how-to" instructions for the home rituals, non-sexist translations, and clear transliterations of the Hebrew text. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the how-tos for the rituals are very traditional, reflecting, perhaps, the recent movement within Reform to introduce more Hebrew into the service and more observance into the home.

Plus it has the written music for the blessings and songs around the table, and there are nice explanations of some of the "whys" for the traditions, such as why we have two candles, etc.

All of which makes it an appealing reference for the non-Orthodox Jew who is trying to explore Shabbat but does not want anything "too heavy." I especially liked the relaxed, user-friendly writing style. (My Orthodox brethren could learn a lesson here, because, sad to say, many Orthodox book in English are just too academic and formal, making them inaccessible to the rank beginner.)

At the same time, because it takes the Reform approach, tending to see Judaism as a man-made culture rather than a divinely-revealed religion, it doesn't really go into much depth about the halachic (Jewish law) details for observing Shabbat, nor does it stress our obligation to God to observe it, etc.

So, if I may use an analogy, "Gates of Shabbat" is more like a fast-food burger, rather than a full Sabbath meal.

My advice would be to use the how-to instructions for making the blessings and singing the songs, and regard the various "models" as essays for helping you to examine your own relationship to God, Judaism, and Shabbat as you evolve toward greater levels of observance. Once you are really inside the Gate, you'll need other resources as well, to deepen your learning.

I bought this book because I felt that I was not learning enough about Shabbat in my conversion class. It is an excellent book for people converting or who want to know more about the Sabbath as Jews observe it. There is Hebrew, English and transliteration for the prayers. There are wonderful stories, there are explanations to the how and why of many things done on shabbat. The book has songs in transliterated Hebrew and at the end of most of them it tells you what you are actually singing about for those who don't fully comprehend Hebrew. It helped to make services more meaningful for me because now I actually know what I am sininging about. There is also a companion tape of music put out by the Reform movemnet for this book.

This is a lovely collection of stories from around the world all with a common theme: Jerusalem. They are gathered by an excellent story teller, Howard Schwartz, and retold as a group. I had been familiar with his adult books, particularly the ones that tell tales of mysticism which can be rather complex for children, and was pleased that this book really hit the mark for youngish kids. The illustrations are lovely and add to the pleasure of the book.

The illustrations in this book greatly disturb me. Because, from my understanding King Solomon was a black man. I think it is a great insult to the original people of this planet that you make the man proclaimed to be the wisest leader ever out to be a caucasian. You do a disservice to white society by elevating the notion of white supremacy and a disservice to the black man by falsifying his past.

The illustrations in this book need to be redone or the book pulled from publication.

THE WISDOM BIRD is the story of the meeting of two cultures.....Black African and Jewish, told through the legendary meeting of Solomon and Sheba. It also presents parents and teachers with a wonderful opportunity to teach children respect for other cultures, and the creatures of the earth. In the story, a small bird uses its wisdom to convince a king and queen that they are acting in an immoral way. The bird's ingenious tactics can lead children to understandings about human nature, and the book is a wonderful jumping off point for discussions with kids. The artwork is beautiful. I give this one an A plus!

The author Mr. Oberman came to our school and told the story and it was really great. It was great story and I learned about Jewish people and African people and how everyone can learn something froim somebody, even from a little bird. The pictures are also really terrific