Israel

by Richard Lord

Describes how the Judaic culture of Israel is reflected in its many festivals, including Pesach, Sukkot, and Hanukkah.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Anyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes and explores many Israeli festivals. The first two pages answer the question ‘when’s the celebration?’ The book then goes on to explore a few of the Israeli celebrations; this is done in various ways. When learning about the festival ‘Pesach’ a story is told which retells what happened to the Jewish people in Egypt. As each festival is explored a different method is used, from recounting events, to giving the children instructions of how to make Israeli biscuits, which are eaten during celebrations. The book aims to involve the reader as much as possible so their understanding and knowledge of the festivals increases. There is also a section with activities such as a traditional Jewish dance, which also has the accompanying music.
The book gives the reader a chance to reflect on what they are reading by providing small snippets on each page labelled ‘think about this’ which encourages the children to identify with Israeli children, especially when explaining sensitive issues such as remembering the Holocaust.
The book contains many interesting pictures which will maintain the readers attention, for example one whole page is a display of fireworks exploding to accompany the text which explains how the Israelis felt when they celebrate Independence Day.
Lots of new vocabulary will probably be introduced when children read this book. There is a glossary and index page to support their learning and also any Israeli words which are used are spelt out after the word to allow the children to try and pronounce the word, e.g.) gregers (GRAY- gurs).
I think this book is an excellent resource for the classroom and an effective way of encouraging children to learn about and explore other children’s cultures and traditions.

[Sharese Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay to read, I guess I just didn't understand some of the pictures that the illustrator put in the text. Overall, I think students will learn something from this book and I think that students can even make something from it. Whether the student, teaches or pass what they learn to the friends and family or understand how the Israel culture is, is all that a teacher can ask for. I feel like my students will have mixed emotions on it mainly because that is how I felt, this text to me is either, you like it or you just are okay with it because it has facts.

[Cws]

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