Jewish Kids

After enjoying decades of acclaim in the pages of the acclaimed weekly newspaper The Jewish Press, the lovable, side-splitting tales from the legendary town of Chelm have been collected in the world's first encyclopedia of Chelm stories. This new treasury of Jewish wit and whimsy brims with more than 150 stories straight out of the fabled town of Chelm - the place where solving life's practical problems was never a straightforward affair, but rather a rollicking journey into the inane.

Jewish folklore is full of vivid stories that both entertain and teach. We have selected for you a collection of tales and stories from the Talmud and Midrash, and rewritten them to suit the needs of children of Jewish culture and any other. Along with a large helping of gentle humor, these tales entertain while being infused with the perennial Jewish struggle for survival and dignity.

Stacy Friedman is getting ready for one of the most important events of her young life—her bat mitzvah. All she wants is the perfect dress to wear, her friends by her side, and her biggest crush ever, Andy Goldfarb, to dance with her (and maybe even make out with her on the dance floor). But Stacy's well-laid plans quickly start to fall apart... Her stressed-out mother forces her to buy a hideous sequined dress that makes her look like the bride of Frankenstein. Her mitzvahs are not going well at all. And then the worst thing in the entire world happens.

Surrounded by her large family, Loma is happy living in the judería of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and wants nothing more than to someday have a family of her own. Still, when her intimidating grandfather, her Belo, decides to bring her along on his travels, she's excited to join him. Belo has the ear of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, and Loma relishes her adventures with him, adventures that are beyond the scope of most girls of the time. She soon learns just how dangerous the world is for the Jews of Spain, and how her grandfather's influence keeps their people safe.

Hi, whoever is reading this. I’m Zipporah Chava McConnell, but everyone calls me Zippy. Things used to be simple—until a few weeks ago. Now my best friend, Bea, is acting funny; everyone at school thinks I’m weird; and my mom is making me start preparing for my bat mitzvah, even though we barely ever go to synagogue. In fact, only thing that still seems to make sense is magic. See, the thing is, I’m a witch. I’ve been casting spells since I was little. And even if no one else wants to believe in magic anymore, it’s always made sense to me, always felt true.

In The Struggle, Uri sets fire to his house by accident right before his bar mitzvah, killing his mother. He will spend many years searching for relief from the guilt that plagues him. His status as a foster kid, his burn scars, and his monstrous appearance leave him lonely and suicidal in high school. Then, in his college years, he falls under the spell of The Professor, head of a cult called The Struggle. To please the insatiable and expensive demands of The Professor, he becomes a brutal debt collector. He allows The Professor to control him, even telling him who to marry. FBI agents, ...

All that is needed for evil men to triumph is for good men to do nothing. One Only Kid, Book 1 of Manny’s War & Peace, is a novel combining truth with fiction about people living through a brutal war where normal human beings can become cold-blooded killers. ‘Hat low over his face to cover the black and blue bruises, Manny turned into Shotten Ring where he was swept forward amidst men, women and children, who shouted and chanted viciously and aggressively, “Sieg Heil, Juden, we are coming to get you...” Feeling sick, helpless and scared in case he was recognised, he watched ...

It is 1939 in Berlin, Germany, and 12-year-old Lillian and her Papa are on the run from Nazi soldiers. Because they are Jewish, they are in danger of being arrested and put in prison. Lillian’s father is blind, and it seems no one is willing to help them - until they meet Otto Weidt. Mr. Weidt runs a factory that makes brushes for the Nazi army, and his secret is that he employs blind Jewish workers. Lillian learns that Otto Weidt is determined to keep her, Papa, and all the Jewish workers safe. But will he be able to?

A treasury of Jewish tales and parables from the great collection of Story Time with Uncle Yossi. Celebrating the life and work of Rabbi Yosef Goldstein ("Uncle Yossi"), this series contains carefully selected Jewish tales and parables from the unforgettable recordings of Story Time with Uncle Yossi. Drawn from the midrash, Talmud, and Jewish lore, his beloved stories instill a love of God, love of the Torah, and love of the Jewish people, planting the seeds for fine character development and personal refinement.

Spanning over 500 years, Pura Belpré Award winner Ruth Behar's epic novel tells the stories of four girls from different generations of a Jewish family, many of them forced to leave their country and start a new life.

Best friends Anna and Colin defeated the King of the Dead on Halloween night, saving the magical Ravenfall Inn they call home. Now, with Hannukah approaching, the kids are looking forward to exploring their new powers—and maybe enjoying a little challah and peppermint cocoa, too. But then a Raven—a guardian of the supernatural world—shows up at their doorstep with a warning. A demon from Jewish lore is hunting the Tree of Life, a source of untold power and immortality. If they can’t stop him, they risk losing the magic of Ravenfall forever.

The moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias “Anna”) and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust. A middle grade nonfiction novel-in-verse by award-winning author Susan Hood with Greg Dawson (Zhanna’s son).

On election night 1934 in Minneapolis, what appears to be a politically motivated attack sets off a chain of events that draws the Red Jackal into a web of intrigue. Initially focused on uncovering the motives behind the assault, the Red Jackal soon realizes that a deeper conspiracy is afoot—one that threatens to sabotage a college football game and dash the hopes of a local university’s shot at a national championship. As the Red Jackal delves deeper into the mystery, he finds himself caught in the crossfire of an undeclared war between rival mob families in the Twin Cities. Struggling...

One boy’s journey. One family’s secret. One ship that changes everything. In 1585 Spain, fourteen-year-old Rafael Ortega dreams of sailing the seas, but when his family’s secret Jewish heritage is discovered by the Spanish Inquisition, Rafael is torn from his home and thrown aboard a galleon bound for the New World. Trapped in a world of storms, pirates, and betrayal, Rafael must navigate more than just the treacherous seas—he must find a way to survive and reunite with his family before it’s too late. As the Inquisitors tighten their grip on his loved ones and danger looms at ...

Rhyming Bible stories One day, Pharaoh’s daughter bathed in the stream. Did she see a basket, or was it just a dream? No! She heard a baby, and it softly cried, so the Egyptian princess ran to look inside. “It’s a baby!” she told her maidens with surprise and fell in love with the baby who looked very wise. She took the baby; it was against her father’s law, but a baby couldn’t live in a basket made of straw.

This collection of biographies of brave and brilliant Jewish female role models - selected in collaboration with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and including an introduction written by the iconic Supreme Court justice herself - provides young people with a roster of inspirational role models, all of whom are Jewish women, who will appeal not only to young people but to people of all ages, and all faiths.

The exercises in this book use everyday Jewish items to inspire mindfulness in children. Imagine you have a piece of fresh challah in one hand and a spoonful of hot chicken soup in the other. Smell the challah, blow on the soup. Lie down, close your eyes, and "take a walk" through your body from head to toe. Or meditate with a special word shalom, which means "peace." Our minds are like forests, and our thoughts are like monkeys jumping through the trees.

Pout-Pout Fish is spending Passover with his friend Miss Shimmer and her family, and he’s bubbling with excitement to learn all about the Seder tradition! Surrounded by friends old and new, he’ll learn that on this special holiday, there’s always room at the table for wonderful things to happen.

The Purim play is about to start, but the megillah is missing! Without the scroll that recounts the Purim story, how can the show go on? Never fear: three determined hamantaschen—DETECTIVES! Right. Three determined DETECTIVES are on the case. With the help of a mysterious stranger and a few disguises, the detectives uncover the facts so the true story of Purim can be told.

Children, kids, preschoolers, and toddlers will learn about the Jewish festival of lights with this educational book. It explains why Hanukkah is the celebration of hope and miracles, relating the story of the Maccabees, the destruction of the temple, the Menorah, and the miraculous oil. This book also explains how the traditional items are used (the hanukkiah, the candles, the Shamash, the kippa, the latkes, and the dreidel).