I was just reading the newest issue of AJL Reviews and came across Ellen Cole's review of the picture book Many Days, One Shabbat by Fran Manushkin. I see that Ellen felt the book to be too bare bones to be useful, and too lacking in plot. I just wanted to chime in with my own two cents.
When I first read the book, I felt similarly to Ellen, that it was lacking in substance. However, I do find that most Shabbat picture books are too heavy duty for the preschool classes of 2 year olds at my school, so I gave it a try. To my surprise, it went over like gangbusters! The minimal text was perfectly suited to the attention span of 2 year olds, and the attractive and clear illustrations showed the little ones Shabbat items and activities they could easily identify. Because this is a Jewish preschool and the kids are already familiar with these concepts, this book worked well as a review of Shabbat (I agree with Ellen that it's not meaty enough to be an introduction to Shabbat). I also found that I could adapt it for the older kids. When I read it to PreK (4 year olds), I asked them to watch for the pattern in the text. They were proud to be able to explain to me that there was a recurring pattern of Many/One on each spread. So please do give Many Days, One Shabbat a try in your storytimes. And remember, sometimes the only way to truly tell if a children's book works, is to read it with the children. Respectfully, Heidi Estrin Feldman Children's Library Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, FL [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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