Customer Reviews

The Bedtime Sh'ma

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The beautiful artwork and simple language of this unique book for very young Jewish children provides families with a satisfying bedtime ritual with which to end the day. Sarah Gershman has adapted the collection of psalms, poems and prayers of the Kriat Sh'ma al HaMitah, into child-friendly verses that focus on themes of protection and preparing for sleep. Short prayers of a few sentences are written in large print with lots of appealing white space and accompanied by a peaceful bedtime scene. For example, these few words are spread over three pages:

"My child, may you lay down gently to sleep. And may God's peace spread over you. May God who watched over those who were here long ago, watch over you. May God bless you and keep you safe. May God give you light when it is dark. May God help you grow and be happy."

The accompanying serene and lovely artwork by Kristina Swarner, in hues of deep purples and blues, along with the flowing typeface design, make this a truly beautiful adaptation of the nighttime Sh'ma, invoking traditional nighttime blessings of peace and protection and helping to create a lovely new family ritual at bedtime. The author has included the adult version of the Kriat Sh'ma al HaMitah in both English and Hebrew at the end of the book. This engaging book won the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Younger Readers from the Association of Jewish Libraries. Ages 4 - 8. Reviewed by Lisa Silverman

The accompanying Bedtime Sh'ma CD, sung so simply and intimately by Rabbi Julia Andelman, is lovely and perfect not just for children but also for adults. The book and CD are wonderful together, each magnifying the charm of the other.

This creative book is a sweet way to end the day with a thoughful and meaningful message to my 3 year old daughter before she goes off to sleep. How wonderful!!

A lovely way to help a child go to sleep and to help a Jewish child learn a most important prayer.

Beautifully written and illustrated, a wonderful baby gift or gift for a young child. The CD is wonderful too. My son asks me to read the book over and over.

Overall its a cute book, I don't think I would have bought it had I actually gotten to see the whole book. I actually found a couple of the pictures creepy, like the ghostly heads floating in the window. I skip the pages I find creepy. My toddler loves the page with the giraffe and pointing at all the stuff.

G-d's name is spelled out 1-the name "Ad-n-" in English and 2-Elokiem in Hebrew = bottom line you have to treat this book with respect as a prayerbook and not put other books on top of it, not let it fall on the floor, etc. Also the page after the "shema" the phrase B"h S"m k'vo malchuto l'olam va'ed should be said in a whisper. Wrote some text but left out the "how to" of the tradition.

My son loves this book. The illustrations are just wonderful.

However... (secular & non-jews can stop reading now)

There are several halachic problems with this book and cd. If you are an adult male, the cd is kol isha.

G-d's name is spelled out (albeit in English, which many don't/won't have in their homes). Although you could consider the representation of a hamsa as an 'actual' hand of G-d.... I'm uncomfortable with that illustration. B"h S"m k'vo malchuto l'olam va'ed is mistranslated, badly, imo. The service is set out at the end of the book, so you either pass it on to someone else or take it to a genisha.

So I'm torn. I admit that I read this book to my son prior to having really reviewed it (given as a gift). Now, of course, until I can get him away from it, I'm pretty stuck.

Stick to the Artscroll/Feldheim/HaChai publications for the little ones. KarBen seems uneven in its publications. (The Ziz stories are very well done.)

i was almost brought to tears and immediately pulled out of my daily stresses when i was reading this to my 10 mo. daughter. some of the wording and the delicate illustrations are definitely endearing. "i am not alone" was one of lines referring to sleep. just a lovely book that reminds me of the beauty of my religion and making the routine sacred. i did also purchase the audio CD and was fearful it would be too free & easy but it is also a thoroughly respectful work with great soul.

really a beautiful story (with great illustrations) to put your kids to sleep with - my wife and i highly recommend it!

this is a very lovely sweet book, a great one to put my grandchildren to sleep with.