What gives you pleasure for free? – You may want to take a look at the illustration in which the wise man presents all the good things in our world that are given to us for free, and share your opinion of them with one another – Do you also enjoy them? And which other things that are given for free do you like?
The Peddler and the Baker (Literally in Hebrew: Pleasure’s All Ours)
A girl and boy appear in many of the illustrations in this book. You may enjoy looking for them as you leaf through it, and thinking of reasons why the illustrator chose to add them to the illustrations together.
The Peddler and the Baker (Literally in Hebrew: Pleasure’s All Ours)
Would you like to make challah? A recipe is waiting for you on the final pages of this book. Bon Appetit and enjoy the wonderful aroma that will fill your home.
The Peddler and the Baker (Literally in Hebrew: Pleasure’s All Ours)
Have you ever wanted to do something and had someone interrupt you? how did it make you feel? What did you do and say? This book offers the opportunity to discuss these kinds of situations, as well as some good-spirited solutions.
Someone snatched something from me, took something I wanted, interrupted me, bothered me – what do I do? You could think of positive responses together, like using the word “please”, or explaining what bothered you. How about making a paper die and writing all kinds of positive responses on each side, perhaps adding an illustration that depicts the written text? That way, whenever you come up against a problem, you could always throw the die and see what it suggests that you do in response.
Various animals appear in this book: Which one meows? Which one lays eggs? And which one lives in the shed? Let’s find out! One of the players picks an animal, and the rest of the family has to guess which animal they picked by posing questions, and getting hints, such as “the animal I picked meows”, “the animal I picked lives in a pen”. Keep adding more clues until your family has guessed which animal was chosen.
You could act the story out using clothes, hats, accessories, or stuffed animals. You could make the sounds made by the animals, show how each one responds upon encountering the elephant, or be the elephant sleeping on the path.
How did Guy feel when he destroyed Omer’s circus? And how did Omer feel when he discovered what had happened? Were you ever in a situation where you or someone you cared about ruined something for the other? How did you feel, and what did you do? Were you able to fix it? Perhaps you could discuss the feelings that emerge when something is ruined, and when you discover it can be fixed.
Is one of your games broken? Has the paint peeled off? Perhaps a nail has come loose? Then it’s time to fix it! Make a list of all the things that need to be repaired around the house, then pick an item at a time, and fix it. You could even make new things out of old ones. An old sock can become a puppet! An old box can be painted and decorated with colorful paper and stickers…
Circuses make children’s and adults’ imaginations run wild, and can be the setting for many fascinating occurrences. You may enjoy building your own circus at home, and acting the story out using the appropriate outfits and accessories. You could even be inspired enough to write a brand-new script about what goes on in a colorful circus.
Torn pieces of paper can be turned into a piece of art! Color some pages in various colors, then tear them up into small pieces. You could also use newspaper cuttings or scrap paper. Next, make a painting together on a blank piece of paper by sticking the colorful, torn pieces onto it, and creating a mosaic!
Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest Jewish Rabbis, lived in Eretz Israel between 50 and 137 CE, from the destruction of the Second Temple to the Bar Kokhba revolt. He partook in the writing of the Mishna and in forming Halacha, and was the spiritual leader of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Many legends and stories have been written about Rabbi Akiva, and numerous sayings attributed to him. One of his most famous statements are: “Amar Rabbi Akiva: ‘Veahavta lereacha Kamocha – zeh klal gadol baTorah (And Rabbi Akiva said: ‘Love thy neighbor’ – that is a major rule of the Torah”) (Bereshit Rabba, 24:8). Rabbi Akiva started out as a shepherd, and only began to study Torah at the age of forty. His life story, like that of many leaders and sages, teaches us that Torah and knowledge are available to all of us, at any time.
You may want to ask your child to look for the illustration of the donkey with the garden on its back. If that donkey could speak, what would it say? How does it feel, and what does it think? Perhaps you could make up a dialog between Rachel and the donkey. Suggest that your child choose one of the characters, and share an imaginary conversation with each other in which Rachel and the donkey express their feelings and intentions.
Have you ever avoided learning something in a new area because you were too embarrassed to do so? Perhaps you too have learned something at an older age, such as a new language, learning to play a musical instrument, or a new profession? You may want to share those experiences with your child. You could even ask them to teach you something that they can do well. Or how about going somewhere together and learning something new? Because the bashful cannot learn!
Rachel plants a garden on the donkey’s back. You may enjoy finding an old pair of shoes, a teapot or an old hat, filling them with soil together with your child, and planting a garden of your own.
Many stories have been written about Rachel and Rabbi Akiva. You may want to look for more tales about these exemplary characters at home, the library, or online, in order to become better acquainted with them. If you are familiar with the tune of this song, you could sing together: “Amar Rabbi Akiva: ‘Veahavta lereacha Kamocha – zeh klal gadol baTorah (And Rabbi Akiva said: ‘Love thy neighbor’ – that is a major rule of the Torah”).
You may want to leaf through the book and look for all the activities that the brothers do together. Perhaps your child can think with you about all the things around the house that are easier and more fun to do together by joining forces.
There are many words in Hebrew that describe farming. Does your child know the names of all the different actions? You could look at the illustrations depicting farming activities in the book, and try to do the same using hand gestures.
Each of the brothers is considerate of the other, and gives up his share without ever having been asked to do so. You may enjoy making an illustrated list together of examples of actions that show how each of you has conceded and helped members of your family.
Like the brothers in this book, you too can make a heartwarming surprise for your child during the night, to which they will open their eyes in the morning. Afterwards, your child may surprise you too!
The brothers in this story understand that dividing things up equally is not always the fairest method, and therefore each of them wishes to give up some of his share for his brother. You may want to discuss the different needs of your own family members, and promise your child that even when they do not get exactly the same things as their siblings, they too will always get what they need.
“Each of us has a city called Jerusalem” (Natan Yonatan): the book informs us that the Temple in Jerusalem was built on the exact spot where the two brothers met. Having read this story, you may want to look for pictures of Jerusalem together, sing songs about the city, and tell your children about “your Jerusalem”.
• Flip through the pages of the book with your child and look closely at the delightful illustrations by Shimrit Elkanati. Is this how you had envisioned the cats in the poem? You and your child can draw your own cats and make a special family version of the book.
• Using old socks, fabric and buttons, you can make hand puppets to enact the story – once using your own words, and once reciting the rhyming verses of the original poem.
• The poem is set in rhyme and is easy to recite. Your child can try to learn the words by heart and recite it out loud to you.
• Did you ever want to be like someone else? Did you perhaps dream of hair of a different color or more or less curly, or wish to be taller or shorter? After reading the poem, you can dress up in costume and try to experience looking like someone else. After this game, you could discuss with your child the beauty and beloved traits of everyone in your family, and encourage your child to be happy with who they are.
• You can explain the meaning of the saying “May the honor of your friend be as precious to you as your own” and discuss friendship. Who are your friends? Do you argue at times? How do you reconcile? Together you can draw two pictures: one picture showing friends arguing, and the other depicting the reconciliation.
• When the cats in the poem are offended, their fur stands on end and they arch their backs, and they stop talking to one another. You might talk with your children about feeling offended. How can we tell if we offended a friend or family member? What can we do when this happens? And how should we respond if somebody insults or offends us?
• Do your children know any other poems or stories by O. Hillel? The poem “A Tale of Two Cats” also appears in an anthology of his poems by the same name, accompanied by illustrations by Alona Frankel. You might look for the book at home or in the library, compare the illustrations in the two versions and enjoy reading together all the poems in the anthology.
The Peddler and the Baker (Literally in Hebrew: Pleasure’s All Ours) 
Elephant on the Path 
Who Destroyed the Circus? 
A Garden on a Donkey 
Two Brothers and the Temple Site 
A Tale of Two Cats 
שִׂיחָה
שֵׁמַע
יְצִירָה
בִּשּׁוּל
סִרְטוֹנִים
שִׁלּוּב הַסֵּפֶר
מִשְׂחָק
הַעֲשָׁרָה
הַמְחָשָׁה
הַשְׁרָאָה
כְּלָלִי
