the Family Treasury of Jewish Holidays

by Nancy Patz (Illustrator), Malka Drucker

The Family Treasury of Jewish Holidays is a compendium of facts, activities, and stories from around the world suitable for use by the entire family.

Genres: Judaism, Nonfiction, History, Jewish, Religion, Holiday, Childrens

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Patz attended public schools in Baltimore (Arlington, Garrison, and Forest Park) and Goucher College, graduating from Stanford University. Her illustrations, paintings, drawings and prints have been regularly exhibited in Baltimore museums and galleries, and she lectures widely in schools and teachers’ groups on the art of the picture book.

Nancy Patz is the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of 4 granddaughters and a grandson.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of facts, stories, and traditions about major Jewish holidays, going chronically from Rosh Hashanah to Israeli Independence Day, with Shabbat described at the end. This book contains a lot of good information, from Challah recipes to excerpts from Anne Frank’s Diary (for Holocaust Remembrance Day).

This book has a great significance to me because I didn’t grow up very observant. Without this book, I wouldn’t know very much about the major Jewish holidays. Although meant for kids, this book contains great arguments for celebrating the holidays and keeping the faith. I also used it as a source for explaining holidays like Pesach and Hanukkah to my classmates. And yes, I am fasting on Yom Kippur.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great overview of Jewish holidays (as the title implies) that explained the history and belief behind each holiday and tradition. They were backed up by a great selection of stories, recipes and games, and the illustrations were marvelous. I also enjoyed that the historical inspiration behind the drawings was explained at the end of the book. I look forward to learning more about Judaism, and this was a great place to start for me.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for kids but definitely supplementary to adult Jewish holiday education and missing lots of relevant info. Loved the illustrations, midrash, folk stories, and recipes.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this are ok, but the illustrations are good, and they stories are short and there is an aim at explaining what each holiday is about to the very young that is helpful--especially if the parent is not all that well versed in the history

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent family book.