this book is interesting and unboring, they have lots of info on mummies, pyramids, etc. it also features alot of pictures (it even shows pictures of the dead!) buy this book.

I think this is A realy good book.It is very scary and interesting.Also it is about mummys and tombs.

Myths, legends and folklore about the days of the weeks are presented in an engaging style, beginning with the story of Sunday and ending with Saturday. Perl even explains the inexplicable -- Daylight Savings Time and the Uniform Act of 1967 in a simple and memorable way. Even an adult can remember it.

Blue Monday (Monday was washday and "such work would make anyone feel blue")is defined and explained. "Scientists tell us that, after a weekend change in routine," Perl writes, "our internal body clocks are out of harmony."

This is a book that parents will especially enjoy sharing with children. There's a wealth of information here, skillfully and entertainingly presented.

Sunnye Tiedemann (aka Ruth F. Tiedemann)

Kimmel provides three winning tales for the most solemn days of the Jewish calendar, one for each mitzvah, or good deed, a Jew must perform to obtain forgiveness for wrongs done during the previous year. He opens with the longest, on charity, or Tzedakah--the requirement for which Jewish tradition is most uncompromising.

The glovemaker's wife Rivka prepared for Rosh Hashonah, placing two loaves of round hallah into her oven next to a pot of scraps of meat and some potato--hardly enough to be called stew. But she was grateful, as times were hard and others had even less.

After a knock at the door, she expected a beggar, to whom she was embarrassed to have little to give. Instead, an elegant officer appeared. He asked her to care for his samovar--a family heirloom--during his seven-year posting to a distant land. She unwrapped the samovar to find it black with tarnish and covered in cobwebs, and polished it, with no effect.

Another beggar knocked and she gave him a coin. The samovar brightened. She puzzled and polished it again. A poor old woman, barely able to pay her rent, passed in the street. Rivka ran to give her the larger of her two hallahs.

She returned to find the samovar again strangely brighter still.

Rivka's husband then then rushed in, excited that a nobleman had bought a pair of leather gloves for which a widow had refused to pay. When Haskel asked for five crowns, the nobleman offered 100 and gave the glovemaker 900 crowns more to make nine more pairs.

The couple, confused, turned to their rabbi, who advised them that they had been visited by the Prophet Elijah himself. At the end of seven years, they would have to give the samovar back, and everything would be as it was before. "You have been given seven years of good luck. Use them well."

Rivka rushed back to the market, buiying a fish for the widow, and bread, meat and vegetables for the other poor people. The samovar was now nearly clean. After the holidays, all the money was gone but Haskel sold gloves as fast as he could make them. Of this wealth, they used only what they needed and gave the rest to others. After seven years, the officer returned to find the samovar shining perfectly.

"This samovar is older than the world," he explained, his eyes beaming with kindness and wisdom. "In all the years of its existence, no one has taken better care of it than you. I believe you have earned the right to keep it."

Rivka and Haskel refused, but as they turned to take the samovar down for the officer, he disappeared. They lived for many years, and the samovar remained on their shelf, gleaming brighter than 1,000 suns.

Kimmel's stories of prayer and repentance gleam as well. Alyssa A. Lappen

Sommerdorf, Norma. An Elm Tree and Three Sisters. Illus. Erika Weihs. New York:
Viking, 2001.
Three young sisters live on a farm where they help their mother and father plant gardens, milk the cows, and feed chickens in An Elm Tree and Three Sisters. One day, when the three sisters decide they need a tree for their yard, they hitch up a horse and wagon, and off they go. They find a small tree near a stream, take it back to their house, and plant it in the middle of the yard so that they can watch it grow as the years pass. The three sisters find that the tree becomes an important part of their lives as they grow older.
An Elm Tree and Three Sisters is a great book for preschool age children. The book sends the message that getting along with others can be lots of fun no matter what you are doing, even if it is finding a tree to plant in the yard. Another message that readers can gather from reading this book is that something as simple as a tree can bring family members together as the years go by. The illustrations in the book go right along with the text, giving a young child who may not know all of the words an idea of what is happening. This book could grab young children's attention because of all the different colors used in the illustrations. Illustrations appear on every page, starting with the picture on the cover of a big tree and three young children swinging and playing under it.

My daughter received this book for her 5th birthday. Our whole family loves it, as will you if you buy it, I guarantee! The pictures are sweet and the story is poignant and lovely; it will have you wiping away a little tear at the end. It is the perfect bedtime story-- not too long or short, and a restful but engaging read.

What a disappointment to find out that this book is out of print. It is refreshing to find a book that diverses from the usual Purim tales about Haman or Purim costumes. This story can be used in many circumstances in which a person can overcome adversity to contribute positively in the community around them. Herschel is blind, but finds other ways to be productive in a world that has him labeled. My students were totally spellbound as I read to them. Great story.

I was disappointed to see that this book is out of print and hard to get. I read it to a group of children last week that were totally spellbound from the beginning to the end. It is difficult to find Purim books that deviate from the traditional "Esther and Haman" story of the Megillah. This book took a totally different angle, focusing on human worth. The little boy in this story made his disability (blindness) secondary, and showed his town (and the reader) that a disability is only one if viewed as such. He found other ways of contributing to his community. Find this one if you can.

Hershel was a bit of a teivele (devil). He was the only boy in his village who could not see, but that did not stop him from making mischief, as boys will do.

He behaved well in school, but grew bored when the others practiced their writing; that was when he pulled a frog from his pocket and let it loose to revel in hearing the teacher, Reb Shimmel, jump up and down and dance around the frog.

He caught his frogs at the river, his favorite place in the town. There he had frogs, water, and friends--and mud to play in besides, He loved building tunnels and mountains in the smooth cool mud, and often came home dirty.

His mother Basha would scold him for getting so dirty, for it made more work on top of all she had to do to keep them clothed and fed since Hershel's father had died.

This year when Purim came, he wanted more than anything to help his mother make the Hamantashen--shaped like Haman's hat--the cakes that they would carry from house to house as sweet gifts to remember the joyful victory of good over evil so long ago in Shushan. His mother told him that to help, a person needed eyes.

Hershel climbed into bed, said the Shema, and whispered his prayer to God, to be able to really help his mother. That night he dreamed of an angel descending on a silver ladder, who bent and spoke to him. "Make what you see," she told him. "But I don't see," he protested. "The doctor from Kotsk said I shall never see again."

When Hershel awoke the next day, he told his mother the story from his dream, and determined to help her shape the Purim cookies that year--by feeling.

Guidelines prevent me from telling precisely what happened in the last 12 pages of this story--but it's quite a tale. And, as the song says, Purim was "a happy holiday, What a happy holiday!"

The book also includes a two-page summary of the Story of Esther and a recipe for Hamantashen. Alyssa A. Lappen

Ironically, the 'fundies' ...are unlikely to approve of it! ...extremely committed 'fundamentalist' Christians (or other religion, as in ultra-orthodox Jews, or hardline Muslims or whatever). This book is not made for people whose worldview is already cast in stone- there is no way that they would be able to endorse a book that sums itself up by saying "The fact that in this world there are so many people following so many different paths to God shows that there is no one right way."

This book is a rarity in these times: a book that looks at the big picture, written in a clear, accessible but literate manner. It does not talk down to the reader- precocious 9's will enjoy it, but so will adults. It is a journey through the evolution of religion, from early concepts of powers beyond our own into increasingly structured and codified faiths. The summaries of the developments of the major world faiths of today are outstanding- they give a clear context and understanding in a very clear, succinct paragraphs. Illustrations in a variety of styles support and augment the text beautifully.

There are other books for teaching the specifics of different faiths, for every age range. This book paints a picture of how the religions of today developed, and makes a strong case for tolerance of understanding and respecting other paths to God/ Enlightenment/ Truth etc. Even the back cover quotes pitch in- I initially ignored them, assuming that they were the usual "this is a great book" blurbs, but instead they area fine selection of quotes from people as diverse as Frederick the Great and Thomas Paine.

If you are interested in a broader understanding of religion as a part of human society - for yourself or for your children- this is a great place to start. And you may just find some things that lift your faith in the world at the same time. This is a don't miss book for anybody who can accept the idea that there is more than one right answer.

I think this book is very moving and provides students with a greater understanding of religion. I did not find this book biased and thought that it would help some of my students, who came from communist countries, understand what religion is. Doesn't mean that I want to convert them, but it will be easier to participate in discussions of religion and create dialogue with their parents, who entered them into a religious school.

Unfortunately, a previous review of this book deterred me from buying it for quite some time. But I happened to find it in a local used bookstore and LOVED it! I am an atheist and I tend to be overly sensitive to religious propaganda. I get very aggrivated when I feel people are forcing their beliefs on me. This book absolutely did NOT do that!

This was a very good introduction to world religions. In my opinion it gave very equal treatment to the different religions and was not biased in any way. And after introducing each of the more popular religions, the writers spent an additional five pages discussing lesser practiced religions, atheism, diveristy, and the "Golden Rule". The very last pages of the book even contain a glossary which includes information about religions that weren't included in the book.

This was exactly what I was looking for to introduce the various world religions to my 6-year-old son! Don't let the previous reviewer scare you away! I highly recommend this book!

Im not even Jewish but man, this book really taught me how to become a man and if I hypothetically was jewish, I would know exactly how to go about my bar mitzvah

This 29-page story, originally published in 1965, provides a straightforward accounting of the Passover story, most appropriate for non-Jewish children who want to understand the celebration.

It explains the holiday that happens each spring, when Jewish people the world over celebrate their freedom from slavery with a Seder meal. Six pages are devoted to the Passover story itself--of how, more than 3,000 years ago, Egypt's ancient Pharaoh enslaved the Jewish, God brought ten plagues upon them and Moses led them forth to freedom and into the promised land.

Several pages are also devoted to how Passover is celebrated today.

The only weakness is that the text is dry. It doesn't convey the joy and spirit of this happy holiday. Alyssa A. Lappen