Thank You, God!: A Jewish Child's Book of Prayers (Shabbat) (Paperback)

by Judyth Groner (Author), Madeline Wikler (Author), Shelly O. Haas (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech, May God

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-Soft watercolors and a simple text introduce Jewish liturgy and tradition. These prayers honor daily experiences, holidays, and even death. Brief explanations precede each Hebrew prayer, followed by a phonetic transliteration (with an explanatory guide) and an English phrase usually thanking God for his blessings. Pastel illustrations, often used as a border, focus attention on the varying sizes of text. Containing more blessings and gentler pictures than Michelle Edwards's Blessed Are You (Lothrop, 1993), this is an excellent choice for family sharing and to balance religious collections.
Bonnie Siegel, Westacres Public Library, West Bloomfield, MI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Ages 3-7. Haas' finely worked watercolors evince a sense of serenity, as though echoing one of prayer's purposes. The morning sun highlights the silhouettes of two awakening children; parents' heads bend in a sheltering posture over the children with whom they are welcoming Shabbat; the havdalah candle's broad flame reflects from the faces of youngsters transfixed by its flare. Children catching fireflies and decorating a succah are among the other tenderly painted images that frame the blessings and prayers, which are printed in Hebrew block letters, with a Roman alphabet transliteration and an English translation below. In addition, brief, explanatory notes often place the prayers within a relevant context for youngsters. This thoughtfully prepared book not only teaches the blessings that herald the holidays and that welcome and close each day and each meal, but also includes parts of the Mi Sheberach and the Kaddish, prayers to turn to as needed when a loved one is ill or has died or when praying for peace. There is surprisingly little duplication between this and Edwards' Blessed Are You: Traditional Everyday Hebrew Prayers. Ellen Mandel --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580131018
• ISBN-13: 978-1580131018
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,820 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of our favorites!, January 18, 2002

By	Cathryn K. (Taxachusetts USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thank You, God!: A Jewish Child's Book of Prayers (Hardcover)

As the foreward of this book says, daily Jewish prayers instill values in children. When we say a prayer before we eat, children understand that it's important to be thankful for what we have, including food on the table. When we pray before going to sleep for our safety, kids learn to be thankful for their lives. The bottom line: we love this book. It has prayers for greeting the new day, and bedtime prayers. When our beloved pet cat passed away this week, we opened the book to the prayer for mourners. By coincidence, the page included an illustration of an elderly woman with a cat! The words and illustrations are right on target for children, and parents will appreciate it, too. I highly recommend this book, and plan to buy it as baby gifts for family and friends.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful , July 11, 2006

By	Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

When our first child was five, she asked us for her very own prayer book. This was the one we chose, and it has been wonderful both for her and her brother.

The book is only 25 pages, but it is filled with the most important prayers in the Jewish liturgy, beginning, after the prayer thanking God for a good night's sleep, with the Shema, the watchwords of the Jewish faith. As the English text explains, "Every morning and every night when we say the Shema, we are saying 'God is everywhere and God is One'."

These pages also include the beginning of the Veyahavta, which states, "We will love God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our might."

There are prayers for before and after meals, for lighting the Shabbat candles and blessing the Sabbath wine, and for saying good bye to Shabbat with the Havdalah blessings, with which the Jewish people welcome a new week.

The book also includes the most important blessings for four of the major holidays, Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukah.

Children are also introduced to prayers in thanks for nature, for trees, prayers for good health, prayers for escaping from danger or good health, for peace, and to remember those who have died. The book ends with the traditional Jewish benediction, which I noticed at a Catholic service some years ago, is also a Christian tradition--

"May God bless you and keep you.
May God watch over you in kindness.
May God grant you a life of good health, joy and peace."

--Alyssa A. Lappen

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just what I was looking for - almost, July 17, 2007

By	Bronx Girl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thank You, God!: A Jewish Child's Book of Prayers (Hardcover)

My husband was raised observant. I still have trouble with reading Hebrew and I wanted a book to help me with some morning and evening rituals. My one complaint is that they should have used the extended version of the Shema