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.

The 16 stories here were selected from Weilerstein's three K'tonton volumes--The Adventures of K'tonton (1935); K'tonton in Israel (1964) and K'tonton on an Island in the Sea (1976).

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 evening's story hour brings eager requests not for one or two stories, but three.

Each tale is filled with details about important Jewish ideas or traditions, and a dash of Jewish humor. Take K'tonton's slide down the side of a chopping bowl in which his mother was mixing Shabbat gefilte fish. He wanted a ride on the chopping knife. He predictably ended up covered in fish, a vision (illustrated in beautiful black and white ink) that makes kids ring with the laughter of Isaac.

Similarly, children emit gales of laughter on hearing of K'tonton's ride on the tip of a lulav--the palm branch that is pointed east, west, south and north, to the heavens and to earth as part of the harvest celebration of Sukkot. As K'tonton's father and the entire congregation stand to chant Hodu l'Adonai ki tov--Praise the Lord for God is good--there was K'tonton singing in a high treble that rose above all the other voices. Even more hilarious is the spinning Chanukah dreidel that carried him off the table, down the stairs, out the door, into the street and into a gutter, where K'tonton found a small bit of Chanukah money known in Yiddish as gelt.

K'tonton also turned up in a Purim cookie, a Hamentash, covered with poppy seeds, and tried to feed a hungry cat on Yom Kippur. He also got lost at the beach and was carried on the back of a seagull to an island in the sea, where he welcomed the Sabbath Queen with fireflies instead of candles and the bountiful harvest of the wilderness. On the island, he also shared wild fruit and seed bread on Shavuot, the celebration of the gift of Torah, with his new family--Mouse, Rabbit, birds, Turtle and Toad.

In the last four stories, K'tonton made his way to Israel inside the suitcase of a friend's aunt. There, in Jerusalem, he celebrated Pesach, the redemption of the Hebrew slaves, and righted some wrongs.

If your children don't love this book, I'll eat my hat. 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.

K'tonton in Israel appeared in 1964 as a sequel to The Adventures of K'tonton (1935). There were 23 stories in the first edition (which I own); I hope they're all in the 3-volume 1984 reprint.

An educational director and Chazan recommended K'tonton to me and I am glad I followed up. My son adores the magical little main character. Each evening's story hour brings eager requests not for one or two stories, but three. Each tale has a complex all its own and is filled with details of important Jewish ideas or traditions, and a dash of Jewish humor.

K'tonton, Hebrew for very very little, was the nickname of Isaac Samuel ben Baruch Reuben-whose first name meant laughter. He was a late-born miracle for whom his mother had prayed so hard one Sukkot that 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.

In this book's first story, K'tonton went to Israel on an El Al jet-inside the suitcase of a friend's aunt. Next, he went up to Jerusalem, passing an Israel National Fund forest, where a tree was planted when he was born. The third tale took K'tonton to Jerusalem for a special celebration of Pesach, the redemption of the Hebrew slaves.

The fourth found K'tonton at Mount Zion, which in 1964 had Israel's only view of Jerusalem's Old City, the Temple Mount and HaKotel, the Temple's remaining Western Wall. Two more stories brought K'tonton adventures with the President of Israel and children who mistook him for a puppet. How he escaped I won't tell.

K'tonton next obtained wisdom from a donkey, as in ancient times. K'tonton met Jewish and Arab children in a Hadassah clinic. He traveled to Ramat Rahel for more shenanigans. In the tenth tale, he made his way via an Arab milk wagon to Rachel's tomb near Bethlehem.

K'tonton's size allowed him to easily hide. Thus in the 11th story he washed his face in dew, jumped into a vegetable basket a woman carried on her head, said his morning prayers: "Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem" and made it to the gates of the Old City. In the 12th, K'tonton caused a stir in the market (I can't say how) and met an understanding tourist.

In seven more stories K'tonton prayed for peace at HaKotel, found a treasure, visited a desert kibbutz, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, an observatory at Haifa's Mount Carmel, outer space, Beersheba, the Dead Sea-and took a wild ride on a goat. He discovered some ancient prayer scrolls and saved a crop of wheat from an army of mice. (What you read here are mere hints. I'm not allowed to tell the details.)

Each of the 23 stories in this book has its own adventure-filled plot. Each also contains treasures to match those K'tonton found in Eretz Yisrael. 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.

The Adventures of K'tonton (1935) was printed at least 10 times (we own the 10th edition). K'tonton in Israel appeared in 1964 as a sequel and was in turn followed by K'tonton on and Island in the Sea (1976) and K'tonton in the Circus in 1981. I recently ordered the last, expecting a picture-book with one Hanukkah story. Low and behold, this 86-page volume contains 15 delightful K'tonton tales.

The book opens with a brief obligatory reintroduction of the magical little main character: Isaac Samuel ben Baruch Reuben's first name meant laughter, but his parents called him K'tonton--Hebrew for very very little--on account of his four-inch height. He was raised on milk with honey added from the land of Israel, and by age three could recite verses from Torah the way other children say nursery rhymes. As in all K'tonton volumes, each tale is filled with details of important Jewish ideas or traditions, and a dash of Jewish humor.

Here, as the title implies, K'tonton joined the circus. He had traveled from Brooklyn to South Carolina to visit his aunt. In her yard, K'tonton sat under her fig tree. Its vine reminded him of the biblical verse, "Nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks." All that day, he dreamed of the Messiah, and the next day, the first day of Kislev, his father tucked him into his pocket to go to synagogue.

After services, he sat on the window sill thinking of Elijah the prophet while his father talked to the Rabbi. He was singing softly, Am Yisrael Chai (The people Israel lives) when the sound of a trumpet rang, and a tall bearded man in a cape rode by on a bicycle. "Elijah, Elijah, you've come!" K'tonton shouted. Needless to say, the bike rider was not Elijah at all, but a circus man who brought K'tonton not to Jerusalem, as the Jewish Tom Thumb had expected, but in a circus tent.

Before long, K'tonton found himself at work as a main attraction in the Sideshow tent, where he met the Wild Man of Borneo and a Sword Swallower, who could not beat his sword into a plowshare, lest he lose his job. In another story, K'tonton met Mama Belle, Lillibelle and Papa Joe, a family of acrobats who cleared a small nook for him in their cramped trailer. When they saw he wasn't eating, and he explained that he must keep kosher, they found him bread, popcorn, boiled eggs and tuna.

In the fifth story, K'tonton visited the lion's cage--giving a kindergarten class visiting that day a major fright. The circus master warned him to be careful around animals that were once wild. To this, K'tonton objected fiercely. "When the Messiah comes," he said knowingly, "the lambs will lie down with the lions." Well, the master agreed, he could go into the cage again--but only after the Messiah came.

In the next story, Daisy, the Fat Lady, threatened to go on strike and lose most of her 410 pounds if the Big Boss didn't let K'tonton observe the Sabbath. (I won't tell what else happened.)

Stories seven, eight, nine and ten introduced K'tonton to the horses and camels, and elephants. K'tonton learned how a seal named Baby came into the circus, which involved a mitzvah--a good deed. K'tonton helped arrange a benefit, another mitzvah. K'tonton met Clarence, a clown who figured he was useless. K'tonton told Clarence about the Prophet Elijah, who had once noted that two clowns could count on going to heaven, since they "cause laughter and make sad hearts glad." K'tonton cheered Clarence, but himself grew despondent for reasons I can't reveal.

In the 12th story of this book K'tonton finally celebrated Hanukkah. This was even more original than the first Hanukkah celebration, in which he rode a dreidel off the edge of a table, down a flight or stairs and right into the street. K'tonton explained a thing or two, made some latkes and gave presents. This tale also featured a dreidel, but not the sort you might think.

After several more adventures, K'tonton made it home to his parents. How? Alas, I must keep that secret too. But in these stories, the circus barker is still shouting about K'tonton, and kids just love him. Yours will too. 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.

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

The 17 stories in this 1968 book feature Ruth and Debbie--two sisters who were not quite twins, and both had pointy chins, from always looking up at the moon. Once a month, their mother let them stay up to look at the new moon that was like a silver cradle. Sometimes it sailed out of a cloud, rose from behind tall buildings or peeked from behind the branches of a tree. And once it rose out of the sea. But wherever the new moon came from, it brought the Jewish holidays, and the sisters greeted it with "Shalom aleichem!" (Peace welcome!)

The book's beginning and its end, unfortunately, are much brighter than the middle. There are certainly some other highlights in these Jewish stories, but as a whole, they have not aged well. In the third, for example, the main character is Dvorah Bee, who lived in a hive with her aunts and cousins and wanted to make honey. She flies out and meets a sick flower. The dialogue is as saccharin as the concept. Devorah alighted on a pink petunia. "Good morning, Flower," she said. ""Good morning Bee." And so on. The whole point of this ridiculousness is to make honey for Debbie and Ruthie's Rosh Hashonah. Oy.

In the fourth more realistic tale, albeit still somewhat dated, Ruth and Debbie argued and, in the spirit of Yom Kippur, made up. For Sukkot, Ruthie and Debbie meet some new friends and invite them to build a Sukkah and join them there fore a meal. There's a story for Simchat Torah, four for Shabbat, one for Hanukkah, one for Tu'BeShevat (birthday of the trees), one for Purim, two for Pessach, two for Lag Ba'Omer and (including one about Rabbi Simon bar Yochai, who lived in ancient Israel) and one for Shavuot.

But while these stories all convey central Jewish ideas, they are dated and not nearly as compelling as Weilerstein's better-known K'tonton tales. If you had these stories as a child, perhaps you will appreciate them. Otherwise, they're camp. I recommend K'tonton instead. Alyssa A. Lappen

The 17 stories in this 1968 book feature Ruth and Debbie--two sisters who were not quite twins, and both had pointy chins, from always looking up at the moon. Once a month, their mother let them stay up to look at the new moon that was like a silver cradle. Sometimes it sailed out of a cloud, rose from behind tall buildings or peeked from behind the branches of a tree. And once it rose out of the sea. But wherever the new moon came from, it brought the Jewish holidays, and the sisters greeted it with "Shalom aleichem!" (Peace welcome!)

The book's beginning and its end, unfortunately, are much brighter than the middle. There are certainly some other highlights in these Jewish stories, but as a whole, they have not aged well. In the third, for example, the main character is Devorah Bee, who lived in a hive with her aunts and cousins and wanted to make honey. She flies out and meets a sick flower. The dialogue is as saccharin as the concept. Devorah alighted on a pink petunia. "Good morning, Flower," she said. "Good morning Bee." And so on. The whole point of this ridiculousness is to make honey for Debbie and Ruthie's Rosh Hashonah. Oy.

In the fourth more realistic tale, albeit still somewhat dated, Ruth and Debbie argued and, in the spirit of Yom Kippur, made up. For Sukkot, Ruthie and Debbie meet some new friends and invite them to build a Sukkah and join them there fore a meal. There's a story for Simchat Torah, four for Shabbat, one for Hanukkah, one for Tu'BeShevat (birthday of the trees), one for Purim, two for Pessach, two for Lag Ba'Omer and (including one about Rabbi Simon bar Yochai, who lived in ancient Israel) and one for Shavuot.

But while these stories all convey central Jewish ideas, they are dated and not nearly as compelling as Weilerstein's better-known K'tonton tales. If you had these stories as a child, maybe you'll appreciate them. Otherwise, they're camp. I recommend K'tonton instead. Alyssa A. Lappen