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Books for the Young
This is abridged from "The Year's Bookshelf," a survey
of books in English of Jewish interest by Dr. Joshua
Bloch, Chief of the Jewish Division of the New York
Public Library, the full text of which is to appear in the
forthcoming volume of the tri-lingual Jewish Book An-
ual to be issued by the Jewish Book Council of America
under the sponsorship of the National Jewish Welfare
Board.—The Editor.
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by DR. JOSHUA BLOCH
There are not many titles for
juvenile interest in this year’s out
put of American Jewish books. The
few volumes recorded here are not
without merit. They tend to make
Jews and Jewish life attractive to
the young reader. That several
draw upon the Bible for the mate
rial they present is not surprising.
In The Bible Story of the Creation
by Mary Alice Jones, illustrated
by Janice Holland (Chicago. Rand,
McNally, 1946), the seven days of
the creation of the world, as told in
Genesis, are interpreted poetically
for children. The great names from
the Hebrew Bible belonged to peo
ple whose problems and experi
ences are easily understood when
they can be read about in as fresh
a retelling of Bible stories as God's
First Children by Esther Salminen,
(translated from the Swedish by
Eugene Gay-TifTt), with lovely
imaginative illustrations by Kaj
and Per Beckman (New York, Roy,
1946). The book is clearly and
tranquilly written and designed for
children between the ages of 8 to
12. Another book for children of
the same age is Picture Stories from
the Old Testament by Marion Mad
ison; illustrated by Warren Kreuter
(Chicago. Wilcox and Follett, 1946).
These publications are of course
recommended with the understand
ing that those titles which are
Christological be used with caution
in the Jewish home and in the Jew
ish school.
Although the Bible offers rich
themes for the writing of children’s
stories, the year's output of juve
nile literature does not show that
Jewish writers have drawn upon
them. They have, however, writ
ten excellent books on non-Biblical
subjects. Such writers as Mrs. Sadie
Rose Weilerstein, Judith Ish-Kis-
hor, Mrs. Elma E. Levinger and De-
broah Pessin possess a special gift
that give their writings for young
Jewish children a lasting distinc
tion in children's literature. It is
the art of infusing historical and
religious facts with the atmosphere
of fairy-tales, producing the frame
of mind in the reader in which the
’■facts" are earliest and most mem
orably received. Several of their
works are designed to teach Jew
ish children both Jewish customs
and ceremonies and the general
background of Jewish holidays and
festivals. In her The Singing Way,
illustrated by Jessie B. Robinson
(New York, League Press, 1946), a
delightful collection of poems about
every happy Jewish event in the
lives of little Judit, Zipporah and
Danny—he of What Danny Did
fame, Mrs. Sadie Rose Weilerstein
contrived to encompass within
brief space a singing world of
laughter and love and reverence
that is Jewish and child-like and
beautiful. The lithe and rhythm of
her poems sing themselves into the
little reader’s heart. Her Little
New Angel, fascinatingly illustrated
by Mathilda Keller (Philadel
phia, Jewish Publication Society of
America, 1947) forms a worthy
companion to her What the Moon
Brought which was likewise pub
lished by the Jewish Publication
Society of America, (Philadelphia,
1942). They are the kind of books
which charm and delight and from
which considerable knowledge of
Jewish life is acquired by the juve
nile reader. How a little boy grows
up learning the traditions, religious
principles and customs of Judaism
is told by Mrs. Althea Osher Silver-
man in Habibi and Yow; a little boy
and his dog (New York, Bloch,
1946) who romp through a series
of adventures. They even see
heavens open up at midnight on
Shabuot—a tale strange to most
American children. Jane Bearman
is the author of several good Jew
ish holiday stories which were pub
lished by the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations. Her Fun
on Sukkos (Cincinnati, 1946) and
Passover Parly (Cincinnati, 1946)
are truly delightful stories for the
very young, written in simple
rhyme and lavishly illustrated with
plenty of color. Additional holiday
stories are contained in Happiness
for Sale; stories of Jewish life by
Dorothy Alofsin; illustrated by
Shirley Knoring (New York, Bloch,
1946) in which ideas of good sports
manship and high moral conduct
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