Let's Find That Book!: Happy Tu B'Shvat!

If you ask any Israeli-born adult or child what is the one story they remember about Tu B'Shvat, I know they will all have the same answer. The answer is, of

course, ששה בשקיק אחד / Six in One Bag by לוין קיפניס / Levin Kipnis. Kipnis (1894-1990) is a well-known children's author and poet. In all, he wrote close to 800 songs, 600 stories and 100 books for children!

A wonderful selection of his songs and stories can be found in the book המצינים של לוין קיפניס : חגים ועונות השנה / The Best of Levin Kipnis: Holidays and Seasons of the Year. Ages 4-7.

ששה בשקיק אחד / Six in One Bag by לוין קיפניס/ Levin Kipnis is the story of six different fruits that jump into a bag one after another. An almond, a date, a carob, a fig, a banana, and an orange fill up the bag. On Tu B'Shvat morning, little Gili found the bag and ate everything inside. Ages 3-5.

מה צריך בשביל/ What Does It Take? by ג'יאני רודארי /Gianni Rodaris is translated from the Italian. We learn that to build a table you need ready made wood boards and to get wooden boards you have to plant trees.... At the end of the story, we find out that it takes a flower to build a table! The illustrations are quite special. They are made from photographs or from pieces of paper or fabric. Ages 3-5.

פלא זרע-עץ /The Seed's Wonder by יונה טפר/ Yona Tepper helps children understand the life cycle of an apple tree and the wonder of nature. After Neta eats an apple, her grandfather explains to her that hiding in the apple seeds in her hand is a beautiful, big apple tree. When Neta goes to school the next day, she tells the children about the magic seeds but they are not impressed. She's not discouraged and she plants and waters the seed. Now she waits impatiently to see what happens. Ages 3-5.

עץ בצרה/ Leaf Trouble by ג'ונתן אמט /Jonathan Emmett is a book about fall but since it's also a book about trees, I decided to include it in this post. One day Pitz the squirrel is surprised to see that all the leaves on the old oak tree are turning colors and worse than that - they are all falling off the tree. Pitz and his sister gather up all the leaves and stick them back on the tree. Soon the fall leaves fall off again. Pitz, his sister, and your children will get a lesson on the changing seasons. Ages 3-5.

As of this week , I will be posting a new blog post every Tuesday instead of every Monday.