“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Throw out the typical question to a group of kids, and watch the answers—and their imagination—fly! Fire fighter…police chief…doctor…and was that “lion tamer” I just heard, too?

Now, what if you could put a Jewish spin on this question, and, while activating your kids’ imagination and getting them to think about the different jobs they could do when they grow up, have them contemplate along a spiritual angle?

Sheitel macher…shochet…sofer…these are some of the answers you might hear. (Sorry, I don’t know of any Jewish job that involves taming a lion just yet, though of course your child could always be the one to invent that job!) Ah—and here’s where you could listen and shep nachas about the Jewish profession chosen by your little tzaddik or tzaddekes…

That’s what Tools of the Trade, by Aviva Werner, is all about—getting kids to think out of the general box and along more of a Jewish angle when focusing on possible future jobs they might want to do. The book is fun and brightly illustrated, and sure to provide lots of entertainment and discussion with your kids, as they explore the various tools they would need for each “Jewish job.”

Click here to purchase online.

“Ma, look at the project I made in school!”

“Ma, I need this note signed, now!”

“Ma, Dovid took away my pencil!”

Could you tell that I just walked into the house?

If you’re a mother of young children, you’re probably smiling and nodding your head, thinking how similar things are in your home when you enter the house in the middle of the day, to face your rambunctious crew who has been, ahem, missing you like crazy while you were away. But I have to say, that day it was different. Because that day I was prepared.

I didn’t say a word to the kids. I didn’t even turn my head. All I did was whip out the new book I’d brought home with me:MiddosMan 3. And, as I expected, my kids immediately erupted in cheers. All whining and complaints forgotten, they began clamoring over the book, begging me to read it to them. And I just smiled serenely and headed to the couch, silently thanking MiddosMan for once again coming to the rescue, this time to help out an overwhelmed mother and her bored children…

The MiddosMan series is only a few years old, yet it has become so wildly popular among children, I sometimes wonder what we did before it came out. Because aside for being excellent, adorably illustrated books that teach great lessons to kids, these books also come with their own read-along CD’s, complete with music and songs. This means that you could actually leave your kids with the book, turn on the CD player so they could “read” along with each page, and then go to the kitchen to make supper!

MiddosMan 3 focuses on the middah of being happy for others—not being jealous when your sibling or friend has something that you don’t. And instead of appearing in his Middos Mobile or Middos Copter, as in Books 1 and 2, MiddosMan races to save the children from Mr. Yetzer Horah…in his Middos Boat!

My kids were glued to the book—they absolutely loved it. Buy the book for your own gang—you’ll see exactly what I mean!

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You know those books that are real tear-jerkers, the ones that could move even the most indifferent of readers and turn them into a bowl of mush? Yeah, well, this novel is exactly like that.

When reading Dreams Delayed, be sure to set yourself up first with a big box of tissues—trust me, you’ll need it! Between the happy moments and the sad ones traversing the chapters, the emotion running throughout this book is buzzing and ALIVE, and you will feel it!

You’ll read about Ayala, who’s on cloud nine about her engagement to Bentzy, “the best boy in the universe”…until a terrible tragedy sends her plummeting down, down, down, straight into a black abyss, from where she watches her hopes and dreams dissipate into thin air. You’ll read about Gavi, a teenager in pain—on two accounts. And then there’s Batsheva, and Mrs. Kramer, and Shuli, and of course Shaya…and all the rest of the very realistic characters who breathe life into this masterpiece of a novel and give it its stunning and oh-so-compelling quality.

Dreams Delayed will not only provide you with lots of reading pleasure—it will actually be an experience for you, one that you will not soon forget. Enjoy!

Click here to purchase online.