Sammy Spider's First Purim

Sammy Spider

by Sylvia A. Rouss

Sammy Spider wants to help Josh get ready for Purim. Instead, he gets stuck inside a grogger. How will he escape?

Genres: Jewish, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was basically just a little intro to what Jewish people do for Purim.

The illustrations are scraps of paper collage images.

Purim - holiday. Long ago in the city of Shushan, Persia, a man (the king's minister) named Haman tried to kill the jews. They were saved by a Jewish queen named Esther and her cousin Mordecai. Told in the book of Esther.

make a costume to wear to synagogue read from a "megillah" (Book of Esther) scroll

bake hamantaschen - (Yiddish for "Haman's pockets") - 3 cornered cookies with poppyseed filling or jam

make a grogger - noisemaker to twirl and spin when you hear Haman's name. Haman is the villain in their story. They make noise to drown out his name.

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Best part of the story was when the spider's mom calls him a noisemaker.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is similar in style to the other Sammy books. I really liked the illustrations. In this book, Sammy acts like a grogger with making noise. The book touches on traditions with making noise with the grogger, eating hamantachen, and dressing up in costume. The book doesn't go into detail of the Purim story though so it would need to be supplemented by additional material if that is the direction you are going with the book. Overall, great book.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a set about the mother & child spider who live in a Jewish home. I won't bother with the others.

Cute. Art is somewhat akin to Eric Carle. Lots of sound effects that many young children will love, that reminded me of Denise Fleming (come to think of it, maybe the art is more like her work, too). Unfortunately (imo) only minimally educational.

[K Morlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story for young children.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gotta love that Sammy Spider!

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming story, was one of my daughter’s favorites.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sammy spider is watching the boy in his household get ready for the Jewish holiday of Purim and learning all about it. Right toddler and up. Perfect one on one and very easily understood with a little humor.

[K.L. Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sammy Spider wants to go to Synagogue when he sees Josh creating his costume. Of course, Sammy's mother doesn't think he should go because he is a spider and spiders spin webs. When Sammy sees Mrs. Shapiro making hamantaschen, he wants to make some too. But of course, he is reminded by his mother that spiders spin webs. Sammy watches as Josh makes his grogger. When it is time for josh to leave for the celebration, Sammy finds himself trapped inside the grogger. How will he ever get out?

Children will enjoy another lesson learned adventure with Sammy the spider. Colorful swatches, geometric shapes and simple sentences makes this story an easy read and fun to look at. Children will also learn basic part of the Purim celebration.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor Sammy! He is always getting mixed up in the preparations for some holiday or another, in aid of explaining those holidays to the young. This time his curiousity gets him stuck in a homemade grogger (noisemaker) used for Purim. For children unfamiliar with the holiday, or who just need a reminder of what happens, this basic text would be fine. However, it just didn't catch my son's attention. Because it only outlines what will happen, rather than showing the celebration itself or telling the story of Esther, we didn't find this PJ Library selection essential (we preferred other stories that either showed a Purim celebration or retold the story).

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations were colorful and the discussion of Purim traditions was nice, but I didn't like how Sammy's mother kept telling him that he couldn't participate in X, Y, or Z Jewish tradition because he was a spider. My son and I imagined the spider going to the synagogue and partaking in lots of fun Jewish activities instead.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sammy Spider is full of learning moments for young children. With Sammy we are able to learn about Purim and others in this series. Review of this book here: http://bit.ly/vz2DdO