One of my fondest memories of visiting my grandparents’ home as a kid was burrowing in their “book room.” This was a room at the back of their house whose walls were lined with shelves upon shelves, all of them groaning under the weight of literally hundreds of sefarim and books. Immediately upon entering my grandparents’ house, I’d greet Bubby and Zaidy (gotta be mindful of derech eretz, of course) and then go check out their nosh pantry (nothing doing before that!). Next step was usually the book room. And once there, well, there was no telling when I’d emerge from its depths…

There was just so much to read in that room! Magazines, novels, comics books, mysteries… For a bookworm like me, the place was akin to something like Gan Eden.

Without question, the stack of Olomeinu’s in the corner of the room beckoned to me most enticingly, and that’s usually where my devouring began. I’d pore over the pen-pal pages, tickled pink when I’d find the names of adults that I knew. Were those adults once kids, too, who enjoyed writing to other kids about their hobbies, siblings, and favorite teachers? And the “Mommy’s Favorite Stories” column–that was a big hit, too, with its adorable stories to tease the imagination.

And always, always, there were Rabbi Zevulun Weisberger’s stories.

Even as a young kid, I loved those stories. There was something so charming and so real about the way Rabbi Weisberger wrote. The story could be about a secret Pesach Seder during the Spanish Inquisition, or it could be about a color-war contest in a boys’ overnight camp; no matter what the subject matter, you knew that a Rabbi Zevulun Weisberger story would be a great one. And now that I’ve become a grown-up (though always a kid at heart!), I find myself marveling at those stories, at the way Rabbi Weisberger understood the minds and hearts of the children he wrote for, even more.

You can understand, then, why I was so excited to learn that Israel Bookshop would be publishing an entire book of Rabbi Weisberger’s short stories. What better gift to give my own children than the stories I myself–and my parents, too, for that matter–grew up on! And when I heard that the book would also include a mini biography of this beloved author, well, that sweetened the deal even more!

Called Operation KT and Other Stories, this is a book every parent and grandparent would want to grace their bookshelf–whether or not they have a “book room” of their own in their homes. I can just see it becoming the next classic for kids…flying out of the bookstores as fast as they are restocked…becoming “required reading” for school…

Yes, dear readers, this is a book you’ll want to go out and purchase a copy of today.

Click here to purchase online.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2015 at 10:00 am and is filed under General, New Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.