or'
look like?" and "How do we know
God really exists if we can't see
Him?" Because Nothing Looks Like
God does a great job of answering
these questions in a way that children
will understand and appreciate:
What does God look like? God
looks like nothing ..
And nothing looks like God.
But there are many things you can-
not see.
And still we are sure they are
there...
Like cool breezes on a hot summer
night, Or the rays of the sun drying
puddles of rain.
Like the long hours until supper-
time, Or the short minutes of a day
at the beach...
Like the kindness in someone's
voice, Or the happiness in a song.
Like the pride when Mom or Dad
helps in your class, Or the jumpy
excitement at the start of a holiday.
You know it there, but there is noth-
ing to see.
One complaint: Illustrations show a
Japanese family, Hispanics, African-
Americans, American-Indians, a boy
in a wheelchair — but no one in a
kippah or wearing a Star of David.
post:), then challenges them along
the way to find all kinds of Jewish
items.
In the dining room, children are
asked to find a seder plate and a sho-
far; in the kitchen, they will find
Pesach dishes and a tzedakah box; in
the boy's bedroom they see a Purim
costume and a Simchat Torah flag.
The objects aren't hidden; tots at
all familiar with these will locate
them in a minute. But finding them
will provide children with a sense of
accomplishment, and it's fun for the
younger set to finally have a Jewish
book that provides them with an
interactive text.
'fi
e it:
-
The valeY ref Ble;.sjii
inustmred t-..y Kiraly Kreisw,th
My Jewish Home by Rabbi
Andrew Goldstein, with illustrations
by Kinny Kreiswirth. Copyright
2000, Kar-Ben Copies, Inc. 10
pages. Hardback. $4.95.
This is a gem of a little book for
tiny children (about age 3-4). A boy
takes readers through his house
("When you knock on my door, you
know mine is a Jewish home.
There's a mezuzah on the door-
(This is accompanied by a prayer
which, appropriately enough, thanks
God "who has not made me a
slave.")
There% also a very nice compilation
at the end of the book that tells when
the brachot included_are traditionally
recited.
The art is OK (though the illustrator
has had work appear in The Wall
Street Journal, you won't be wowed
by it here), certainly not a reason to
buy the book. But if you're looking
for a new way to add or increase
spiritual moments to your life, or the
lives or your children, this is a nice
place to start.
SOLOMON and theTREES
man Biets-Anel
iiiiis!rated by Est Silverbtrg-Kiss
na.
The God . Around Us:
Volume II: The Valley of
Blessings by Mira Pollak
Brichto, with illustrations by
Selina Alko. Copyright 2001,
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations Press. 30 pages.
Hardback. S 12.95.
kabbi Andrew Goldstein
thanks to God:
As birds that take to air in flight
And beasts that roam the jungle night,
No one a slave was meant to be —
For God, who made us, made us
free
Despite the trite title, The God
Around Us is actually quite a
nice book, though it shares, with
The Wonder of Nothing (review
above), a peculiar deficiency:
not a one of these children is clearly
Jewish. (Here again, there are Asian
and African-American and white
children, boys and girls, but no one
you could point to as Jewish.)
The God Around Us (I promise, I
won't mention the title again), is a
collection of brachot, blessings, in
English and in Hebrew. It's never
didactic; instead, small poems
aside each blessing lovingly suggest
why we would want to express our
Solomon and the Trees by
Matt Biers-Ariel, with illustrations by
Esti Silverberg-Kiss. Copyright
2001, published by the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations
Press. 30 pages. Hardback.
$12.95.
Midrash is just about as "in" a
term as you could possibly get in
the Jewish community.
Based on accounts in the Torah,
midrashim are interpretations, not
Halachah (Jewish law) and not
always factual. They're kind of like
those stories your parents used to
tell about walking 50 miles in the
snow to school with nothing but a
hard boiled egg for lunch and
being grateful they were even
allowed to go! The point of a
midrash is often to help you learn a
lesson, and lots of poetic license
may be involved.
Solomon and the Trees is based on
a midrash about King Solomon,
renowned not only for his profound
wisdom but his passionate interest in
all of God's world, including nature
and animals.
In this story, Solomon — though
clearly identified as the King Solomon,
the son of King David — makes his
first appearance clad in attire that
looks straight out of L.L. Bean, or
maybe Old Navy. He comes to the
forest to talk to the animals and the
trees, especially his favorite, a butter-
scotch-colored gem that "reigned over
the forest, like a powerful queen pro-
tecting her subjects."
He listens to the water that flows
through her roots, which was "the
happiest music Solomon and his ani-
mal friends knew. It signaled a healthy
new year not only for the tree, but for
the entire forest. As long as the forest
was healthy, Solomon knew his world
would be well."
Then Solomon becomes king, and
his subjects build him a grand Temple,
and prepare for him glorious robes
and the most precious jewels and an
astonishing throne made of (dramatic
music called for at this point) — wood
from a very special tree! (In soap
operas, this would be the moment for
what's called "the consternation fade
out," when a character stands silent,
clearly in the midst of troublesome
thought as,to what will be. And we all
can clearly imagine what is about
happen in this story ...)
When — gasp — Solomon sees
that his tree, and others, have been
destroyed just to build his throne, he
promises at first to punish those guilty.
But then he realizes they were only try-
ing to please him, so instead he vows
to rebuild the forest and then he dies
a happy man.
The art in this book is fabulous; inter-
estingly, the illustrator graduated from
the Fashion Institute of Technology.
3/9
As to the story, however, was this
2001
59