You know those important lessons that you would love to somehow transmit to your kids, but you have no idea how to do it without the lesson sailing right over their heads? (I’m not referring to the lessons on “Why It’s Important To Clean Your Room” or “Why You Should Not Pull Your Sister’s Ponytail”— those you’ll have to figure out on your own how to teach to your kids…) Take, for example, teaching children the importance of creating a kiddush Hashem in every situation they are in. That’s not something that is always easy for a child to grasp.

Sometimes, a simple mashal is the best way to teach something to a child. And when the story of the mashal is spun by talented author Rachel Stein, and the characters and setting are brought to life by children’s illustrator Racheli David—well, it’s pretty hard for a kid to ignore such a story and its lesson!

That is why we feel The Royal Mission is such a crucial contribution to the world of children’s literature. It takes the all-important lesson of how and why we must constantly bring honor to Hashem’s Name—and really brings the lesson down to a child’s level of understanding. In this story, readers are introduced to Fluffy and Cottontail, two servants of King Arnevet, who are sent by the king to enjoy a wonderful vacation…but with the caveat that they always remember who they represent, even while away from the royal palace.

Children will follow the two lovable bunnies as they encounter different scenarios and make decisions on how to act. As one bunny emerges as the hero and the other as the one who needs to brush up on his behavior, your child will grow in his understanding and appreciation of the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem.

This is a book every child, bunny rabbit-lover or not, will enjoy!

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It’s comical when it’s someone else’s kid. It’s not when it’s your own.

Your child asks you for yet another quarter to have “one more” chance at winning a stuffed animal from a machine—because, after all, it’s only a quarter…

He doesn’t understand why, even when there’s a sale, you won’t necessarily buy all the latest fads for him…

 The word “saving” doesn’t exist in his lexicon; immediately after receiving his Chanukah gelt or birthday check, the money is spent on nosh or small toys….

The concept of budgeting is unfortunately foreign to so many people, and the reason this is so is because too many adults never received the education of how to budget when they were young. As crucial a life skill as budgeting is, it doesn’t usually come naturally to children, and as parents and educators, it is our responsibility to teach our children how to budget, so that, when they get older, they have the necessary tools to be self-supporting, financially stable adults.

Menachem and Lieba Learn How to Budget is a groundbreaking concept in children’s literature. In this adorable, charmingly illustrated book, children will learn the basic fundamentals of budgeting and how to be responsible with their money. They’ll relate to Menachem and Lieba’s dreams and wishes (doesn’t every child want to buy, buy, buy at the toy store?), and will learn along with them how to make wise choices when it comes to spending money.

Invest in your child’s future. Buy this book for him. Down the line, he’ll thank you.

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Ah…nothing like those long, sweltering summer months with all the kids home, when it’s “too shmoiling (kid lingo for boiling hot)” to ride bikes outside, and it’s “too boring” to play board games indoors, and all you want to do is head for the pool—alone—if only you can somehow find a way to occupy the gang so you can swim in peace…

This, my friends, is where good, wholesome summer reading for your tweens comes into play. All you need is a “geshmake” book with an awesome and suspenseful plot, and maybe a few bags of popcorn and a slushy or two thrown in—and your tween is set for the next few afternoons! (If he’s a fast reader, sorry, Mom—you just may have to spend more money and indulge in new books a bit more often for him…)

Still looking for that terrific book that will actually hold your child’s interest for more than five minutes? Search no more—you’ve come to the right site! Secret of the Woods is a thriller of an adventure book, and your tween will just love it!

Set against the backdrop of summer vacation (when else?), Secret of the Woods has all the elements your adventurous preteen wants to see in a spine-tingling mystery novel: a great chevrah of boys with a penchant for detective work, a suspicious tenant who seems to turn up in the oddest of places, and an alarming amount of diamond robberies happening in a frum diamond dealer’s work area…

Want to know what will happen? Your tween sure does! Give him this book—and let his pleasure and fun begin…

Oh, and enjoy your swim! :)

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Michoel Lederman would be the first to tell you that it’s not easy having a special-needs sibling. Why does everything have to always revolve around Rikki and her cerebral palsy? To have to move with his family away from all his friends, his school, his pet parrot, and all that’s familiar to him, to faraway America, all because of Rikki and her special needs, is not an easy concession for a twelve-year-old to have to make.

Actually, moving to another place because of a situation that’s not in your control is not an easy concession for anyone, of any age, to have to make. One of my friends was forced to move with her husband and family from Eretz Yisrael to America due to family circumstances—and boy did she take it hard! While, as a wife and mother, she couldn’t exactly sit in her house and mope all day, it did take her a good few months to come to terms with the move, and until she did, there was many a day when she had to force herself to smile in spite of the bleakness she was feeling.

So when things don’t exactly go smoothly for Michoel in his new home…well, you can’t really blame him for being grumpy and out-of-sorts, can you?

But then a baffling mystery begins to rear its head, with implications that are very serious indeed… And before he knows it, Michoel finds himself knee-deep among cops and robbers that aren’t part of a game at all, but are quite true-to-life indeed!

For the adventure-loving tween (especially boys!) in your life who can also appreciate a deep message or two—this is a novel that will send chills and thrills down your spine! Join Michoel and his buddies in their fast-paced and frightening detective work…and see where it will lead everyone…

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You know the talented, popular girl in your class who was friends with everyone, was involved in every high school activity, and was beloved by the school staff, to boot? Not the kind of person who leaves an easy act for anyone to follow.

Well, what happens when Miss Popular has an older brother she’s close to, who’s a catch of a boy, and who just happens to be in shidduchim? It would follow naturally for her to try and seek out for him a girl just like herself, right? A girl she can be friends with, a girl she can be proud to call her sister-in-law.

But that’s not exactly what happens In Behind the Scenes. Simi Ostfeld is outgoing and popular, a real social butterfly; the girl her brother marries is the exact opposite. And while Simi wants to see the good in her new sister-in-law, and even tries to do so, when someone’s personality clashes so strongly with your own, finding the positive attributes in the other person can truly be an arduous task…

But let’s not forget that most streets go two ways. For all the great things Simi has going for her, her family has a background, too—quite an eventful one, at that—and Menuchi, her sister-in-law, has to come to terms with that as well…

There’s lots of heated emotion and tough family dynamics roiling in this new novel. Come and take a peek into the lives of some fascinating characters and their equally intriguing lives…

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When Speed Bumps, the first book in the Carpool Clan series, made its debut less than a year ago, “tween”-aged girls snatched it up—and then clamored for more—so fast, that we had no choice but to bend to the pressure and produce a second book right away!

So here it is, girls! Crossroads, a book that spotlights Tehilla—though of course you’ll meet Shevy and the rest of the crew again in this book, too!

There’s lots going on in Tehilla Markson’s house. First her parents took a girl into their home for a while—a girl Tehilla isn’t sure she likes. Then her family is thrown into shock when a horrible medical emergency arises…

Tehilla finds herself at a crossroads. She knows what she can do to help things out; she knows what she should do—but…how could she give up such a tremendous thing?

As any “tween”-ager knows, life is about making choices and decision—not all of which are easy. Tweens will identify with Tehilla in this book, as they find themselves enjoying the superb story!

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Although every Yom Tov has its own unique characteristics, differentiating it from any other Jewish holiday, when it comes to Pesach…well, Pesach is in a class of its own. For which other Yom Tov do we turn our homes upside-down in the hunt for some wayward crumbs of chametz—and then turn everything right-side-up again in order to begin cooking up a storm and churning out one gourmet meal after another (all gebrochts-free and ingredient-free, of course!)?

There’s an apron I’ve seen that has a very succinct message emblazoned across it. When worn by an exhausted, overworked housewife during the Pesach season, it really says it all: Why is this night different than all the other nights? DON’T ASK!

But be this as it may, one of the most obvious unique points about Pesach is its definite focus on the children—including the very young ones. This is the Yom Tov where our little ones are encouraged to ask questions and participate in the goings-on around them. And with My First Haggadah, by acclaimed illustrator Ruth Beifus, you can be sure that your kids will be participating at the Seder with wide-eyed interest and excitement!

What makes this haggadah so kid-friendly is the fact that there is very little text—just a few necessary, explanatory lines—but many adorable and captivating pictures that really bring the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim alive for children.

Want to light up your little one’s Pesach Seder experience this year? Buy this haggadah for him/her, and watch the pleasure set in…

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The interesting thing about Pesach is that no two families have the same minhagim. Take the Afikoman, for example. (Not the piece of matzah—that you’ll leave for your kids to take, or the leader of your Seder, or whoever has been self-appointed as the Afikoman Pickpocket of the Evening [read on]; I’m referring to the concept of it.) In some families, it’s the kids who take it, and then demand a ransom for its return. In other families, it’s the father or head of the Seder who hides it, and the kids have to find it. When they do, the father presents them with a prize. Does the father set the price for the prize, or do the kids? That depends on your minhag, too! And in still other families, the father/kids do the hiding/seeking—but there is no prize offered at all; the fun is simply “lishmah.”

Whatever your particular family minhag is, the concept of an Afikoman present is familiar to all. And if you’re the one doing the Afikoman-present distributing to your kids (and even if your family doesn’t “do” the Afikoman-present-distributing thing, there’s nothing wrong with indulging your kids once in a while, anyway…)—you’ll want to read on. Here is a book that will definitely pique your—and your kids’—interest!

All kids love comics. And when an entire book is a comics story—and a great story, at that!—well, what could be better reading material for a child than that? Escape from Egypt is the suspenseful and dramatic story of Avi Friedman, a regular, modern-day boy, who journeys back in time to Mitzrayim, to a world ruled by merciless Egyptian taskmasters…

In this book, readers will follow Avi’s adventures, as he becomes a worker in Pharaoh’s palace…and then witnesses the ten Makkos…and experiences the splitting of the Yam Suf… If you’re looking for a way to really make your child “see himself as if he went out of Mitzrayim,” this book will certainly do the trick! (It will do the same for you, too, by the way!)

For the Afikoman present, or the no-reason-at-all present, of the season for your kids—Escape from Egypt is the book to buy. Turn a few pages of it yourself, and you’ll see what we mean!

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Warning: do not start reading this book without a box of tissues at your side!

There. You were forewarned.

Yes, dear readers, this is a real tear-jerker of a novel. But don’t worry—that’s not its only claim to fame. Not by Accident is actually one of the most thought-provoking, beautifully-written books I’ve read in a long time. Each page whispers of themes so critical and so relevant to every single person, especially teens: the dangers of peer pressure; how important it is to be comfortable with yourself and to resist being a follower when your conscience screams at you not to; how to disassociate yourself from the “personalized” yitzrei hara in your life.

The book has its comic relief, too, such as the regaling of Leeba’s doll Avigayil Shprintza’s sorry demise, back when Leeba was an impulsive and bored seven-year-old. But mostly, the book pulses with the love that is inherent (though not always apparent) between two sisters. Anyone with a sister of her own will be able to relate to the sibling rivalry, competition, and jealousy that exists between Rosie and Leeba—and to the impossible-to-explain-but-impossible-to-ignore fierce love, protectiveness, and understanding that exists simultaneously and that underscores all the hard feelings.

Not by Accident is an excellent read, perfect to buy as a gift for that voracious reader in your life—or for yourself.

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I remember one of the first times I saw a Gadi Pollak illustration: it took me about ten minutes to look at it! This may sound odd to those who are not familiar with this talented and acclaimed artist’s work, but for those who know about Pollak’s artistic genius, it makes a lot of sense. Each picture Gadi Pollak creates is so chock-full of details that if you don’t pore over it for some time, you will certainly miss a whole lot of them.

That’s why, if you are planning to buy Gadi Pollak’s newest children’s Haggadah, called From Darness to Light, make sure you give yourself plenty of time, so that you can fully appreciate this masterpiece! Each extra-wide two-page spread consists of an exquisite, intricately-detailed illustration that incorporates many midrashim on the event portrayed in the picture. For example, Makkas Tzefardei’a—the Plague of Frogs—depicts a very realistic scene of what was going on in Mitzrayim at the time, complete with the huge frog spitting out many small ones as Egyptians stand over it, hitting the giant frog again and again, and animals and people fleeing in fright from all the noisy, croaking creatures.

Although officially a children’s book, adults will find themselves mesmerized by this Haggadah, as well. It really gives its readers—no matter what age—a feel of exactly what transpired during the events of Yetzias Mitzrayim.

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Click here for a sample page.