“Just me!” – Toddlers like to feel all grown-up and independent, as if they too are adults. While reading a book together, you can enjoy sharing with your toddler and strenghtening their sense of capacity: They can hold the book, point, say words they recognize, and even read the book to you or to one of their toys.
The pictures in this book help you see the challah-making process, and understand the various stages. You too can make a dish together and photograph the process of its preparation. That way, you can be reminded of preparing it, look at the pictures together, and take pride in the delicious result.
Challa recipe
Dough:
1kg of flour
½ a cup of sugar
2 spoons of yeast
2 cups of lukewarm water
½ a cup of oil
2 eggs (optional, you can also make it without eggs)
1 spoon of salt
An egg for brushing or some oil
Method:
Mix the flour, sugar and yeast in a large bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients and knead well for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes elastic and soft.
Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic bag and leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in volume.
Use the dough to make challahs. You can make them large or small. You can brush the challahs with egg or oil.
Bake in an oven set to medium heat for half an hour, until the challah turns golden. Enjoy!
You can look at the pictures together and discuss the details in them. You may want to ask questions such as: Where is the girl? What are the children doing? Where is the broom? Where is the challah? You can return to an image you have already looked at from time to time, and who knows – perhaps you will discover some additional details?
A shirt? A swimsuit? Perhaps a dress? How about taking a look inside your closet, finding clothes you like, and saying when you usually wear them: Winter clothes, summer clothes, fancy clothes for special occasions, and all-time favorite clothes.
The verses of Why is the Zebra Wearing Pajamas? have been set to music and turned into a beloved children’s song. You may enjoy scanning the QR code, and proceed to sing and dance together.
The zebra’s friends feature in the book’s illustrations: You could leaf through them together, find the various friends, name the animals together, and introduce them. Next, you could say the name of an animal you know, and then look for it in among the illustrations contained in this book.
You can encourage the toddlers to actively join in reading the story. They can complete rhyming words, accompany the conversation between the animals with facial expressions and proper hand gestures, and make the sounds of the animals appearing in the story.
You can ask the toddlers: What do you like to do on Shabbat? If the family has special preparations for Shabbat, it is worthwhile to tell and share them with the toddler
The book features a bee, a turtle, an ant, a chicken, a cow and a rabbit. Ask the toddlers to identify the various animals in the illustrations in the book and accompany each animal with its unique voice or add other characteristic detail: the bee hums, the rabbit bounces, the turtle crawls slowly, and the cow is mooing.
How to make a turtle with the palm of your hand? Close the palm to a fist and hide the thumb inside. Call the turtle out, take out the thumb and wave it hello. You can create a bunch of turtles with all the palms present at home You can also be a turtle yourself and walk slowly on all fours. Are you tired? Get inside to rest in your “home”.
You may want to look at the graceful illustrations together. You could stop on each page, and look for amusing details. Have you found the drawing hen, egg-laying boy, and tower-building bee? What else about the illustrations was funny?
What do you see on your way to kindergarten? Do you, like the child in the story, see a grocery store, a dog, a baby in a carriage, or a café? Does a pink car pass you by? You may want to draw the route to kindergarten together, adding details about the places and people you encounter on your way.
You could act the story out using puppets and stuffed animals. Ask one another: “Would you like to change places? It’ll be such fun!” Perhaps you could add other animals and characters who want to go to kindergarten too.
The boy in the story meets a different animal each day. Does your child know the days of the week? Do you have fixed plans, like afternoon classes or other activities on certain days? Or a shorter day on Friday? And what do you do on Shabbat, when you do not go to kindergarten? You may enjoy making a chart representing the days of the week, and drawing your daily activities under each day.
On the final page of the book, the children and animals perform the Friday Night ritual known as Kabbalat Shabbat. How is Shabbat marked in your child’s kindergarten? You may enjoy having your own Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony at home, and sing Shabbat songs, just as they do in kindergarten.
Sometimes it is hard to get up and go to kindergarten in the morning. Is your child always happy to go to kindergarten? After reading this story, you may find a game to make getting ready easier in the mornings, and help your child go to kindergarten with a smile on their face.
You may enjoy looking through the book together and noticing Avner Katz’s amusing illustrations. You may want to ask your child to tell you the story according to the sequence of images. Do they remember what Yoyo prepared from each of the ingredients he had bought?
How do you get ready for Shabbat? Does your child join you as you shop at the market or grocery store? Toddlers are happy to help with simple tasks: they can help choose flowers for Shabbat, or locate the cucumbers, tomatoes, or watermelons on the store shelves.
Yoyo prepares delicacies from the vegetables he buys. You may enjoy having the following discussion: which dishes do you prepare from cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes etc.? Are there any special dishes you typically eat during Shabbat meals at your home?
Does your child take part in preparations for Shabbat? Young children can also peel oranges, cut cucumbers with a plastic knife, tidy their room, or set the Shabbat table.
Do you know any other poems or stories by Datia Ben Dor? You may want to look for them at home, in kindergarten, or at the local library, and enjoy them together with your child.
You could also make a potato “sculpture”. Use a toothpick to attach two olives to a potato for eyes, a piece of carrot for a nose, and a thin slice red pepper for a mouth. What should you attach to its head? Hair or a hat?
Datia Ben Dor was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1944, and immigrated to Israel at 18 months. At the beginning of her professional career, Ben Dor engaged in music education, writing scripts and songs for many Israeli children’s television shows, such as Parpar Nechmad (“Lovely Butterfly”), and Rehov Sumsum (the Israeli version of Sesame Street). Her children’s poems and numerous books are well-known and loved, among them Ani Tamid Nishar Ani (“I Always Stay Me”), Digdugim (“Tickles”), Otiyot Mefatpetot (“Chatting Letters”), and Kakha Zeh BeIvrit (“That’s How it is in Hebrew”). Datia Ben Dor has received much recognition for her contribution to children’s literature, such as the ACUM award, and Bialik Prize for Lifelong Achievement in Children’s Literature.
יויו מכין מגוון מעדנים מהירקות שהוא קונה. אפשר לשוחח יחד: אלו מאכלים אתם מכינים ממלפפונים, עגבניות, תפוחי אדמה וכד’? האם יש מאכלים מיוחדים שמאפיינים את ארוחות השבת במשפחה שלכם?
גם אתם יכולים להכין “פסל” מתפוח אדמה. בעזרת קיסם מצמידים לתפוד שני זיתים לעיניים, חתיכת גזר לאף ורצועת פלפל אדום לפה. ומה כדאי להצמיד לראש, שיער או כובע?
כדאי להכין מבעוד מועד את החפצים והמאכלים שיויו קנה בשוק, ולקרוא את הספר באמצעות אביזרי המחשה. לאחר היכרות עם הסיפור אפשר להקים במרכז הבית דוכן מכירות עם סלי קניות ומצרכים שמוזכרים בסיפור, ו”שולחן שבת” – לשילוב במשחק החופשי של הילדים.
“מה יש בתוך הסל?” תוכלו לשחק משחק הניחושים: מכינים סלסלת קניות עם הדברים שיויו קנה ומטפחת לכיסוי העיניים. הילדים צריכים למשש בלי להסתכל ולנחש איזה חפץ הם מוציאים מתוך הסלסלה. כאשר הילדים מכירים את הסיפור הם יוכלו גם לספר מה יויו הכין מכל ירק או פרי.
יויו יצר פסל מתפוח אדמה. תוכלו לשחק יחד את משחק הפסלים: משמיעים לילדים מוזיקה ומכריזים על אחד החפצים שמוזכרים בסיפור. כאשר המוזיקה נעצרת על הילדים ליצור עם הגוף שלהם פסל של הירק או הפרי שמוזכר.
תוכלו להמשיך את הסיפור ולהמציא יחד מה עושה יויו בשבת? בעקבות הספר אפשר לערוך במעון קבלת שבת עם ההורים, לשיר יחד שירי שבת, לאכול מטעמים מהירקות והפירות שבסיפור, ובסוף לחלק למשפחות את עותקי הספר האישיים שלהם.
Each family has its own “special spice” that adds flavor and fragrance and distinguishes it from others. Following the story you are invited to discuss your family’s Shabbat with your children. You may prepare an “Our Family Shabbat” album of photographs and drawings, in which you note all the people and activities that make your Shabbat special.
Look at the illustrations together with your child. Can you find the horse and the goat? You can ask your child: What are they doing on each page? The animals’ facial expressions give us a sense of what the might be thinking. If the animals could talk, what do you think they would have to say about the “missing spice”?
You can draw your child’s attention to the clothes and landscape depicted in the illustrations that are characteristic of the time of the Mishna in the Land of Israel. Ask your child to compare Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi’s clothing with that of Antoninus the Roman. Using the story as inspiration, you and your child can dress up, set a festive table and act out the plot of the story.
“Spice and Spirit”: You can mix together different spices for use at Havdalah or as potpourri to add a pleasant scent to your closets. Invite your child to select the spices (for example, cinnamon, cloves, peppermint…). Carefully pour the spices into a small bag, tie the ends, decorate and take a whiff!
Do you, like Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi, welcome company on Shabbat? Many children enjoy taking part in the preparations for hosting others in their home. Young children can participate by preparing a “Welcome!” sign to be posted on the door, helping set the table, assisting in the kitchen or decorating each guest’s setting at the table with a special piece of their artwork.
Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi lived in the Galilee, in the area of Tzipori and Bet She’arim. You can learn more about these sites on the internet, show your child pictures of archaeological findings, and take a “virtual trip” to the nature reserves in these places. And if you’re lucky – you may even visit there as a family!
Talk with your children about the two protagonists in the story, Balthazar and Joseph, and compare them. Balthazar has much treasure at home but doesn’t share his wealth with others, whereas the impoverished Joseph is content with his lot in life and opens his home to guests on Shabbat.
You may want to discuss the difference between being “thrifty” and being “stingy” (both terms used in the story), and talk about the kind of generosity that doesn’t depend on having money.You might also discuss the concept of envy, and ask your children why they think Balthazar was so determined that his treasure not fall into Joseph’s hands.
Using simple props (you could make a precious “diamond” out of a crumpled ball of aluminum foil, and use a towel or scarf for a turban), you could dress up as the characters in the story and put on a family play. You could also use dolls, puppets, and stuffed animals to put on a show about this story.
Joseph’s daughter goes with him on his trip to the market. Where do you do your shopping – at a farmers’ market, or at the supermarket? A visit to a bustling farmers’ market can be an enjoyable adventure for young children. You could work together to write and illustrate ashopping list for Shabbat, and then look for them in the farmers’ stalls at the market, or at the store.
After reading the story, you can talk with your children about the way your own family celebrates Shabbat. What does your family do that is special? Who are your guests? You might work with your children to make an album of photos and drawings: “Our Shabbat,” featuring the people and things that make the Sabbath day special in your family.
Do you, like Joseph and his family, enjoy hosting or being a guest on Shabbat? Many children enjoy taking part in the preparations for entertaining guests into their home. They can make a “Welcome” sign and hang it on the front door, help set the table, help with kitchen chores, or decorate the table with special drawings for each place setting.
Many sources tell us about the unique character of Shabbat and the preparations for the day. Together, think of all the songs and stories you know about Shabbat (for example, “Who Loves Shabbat” by Ehud Manor; “Chanaleh and the Sabbath Dress” by Yitzchak Demiel; “The Missing Spice” arranged by Devorah Omer; etc.).
Do you know a different version of the “Joseph Who Treasures Shabbat” story? If you do, you can share it with your children and compare the differing versions.
The illustrations on the final pages of the book tell us, without words, what happens at the end of the story. Look at the illustrations together, and then use your ownwords to describe what happens after Joseph buys the big fish in honor of Shabbat. Notice the many figures that the illustrator added to the pictures throughout the story, and maybe invent a dialogue between these gossiping bystanders and Joseph.
It’s Challah Time! 
Why is the Zebra Wearing Pajamas? 
Shabbat in the Forest 
How about Changing Places? 
Friday with Yoyo 
The Missing Spice 
In the Market of Zhakrobat 
קְרִיאָה
בִּשּׁוּל
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
הַשְׁרָאָה
חֵקֶר
שִׂיחָה
קְרִיאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
חֵקֶר
הַמְחָשָׁה
סִרְטוֹנִים
קְרִיאָה
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
הַמְחָשָׁה
יְצִירָה
חֲגִיגָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
כְּלָלִי
הַעֲשָׁרָה
בִּשּׁוּל
שִׂיחָה
הַעֲשָׁרָה
יְצִירָה
הַמְחָשָׁה
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
יְצִירָה
בִּשּׁוּל
כְּלָלִי
כְּלָלִי
כְּלָלִי
