This beau­ti­ful­ly illus­trat­ed book describes a Jew­ish family’s day­long out­ing to the ocean, the for­est, and the fields. While the kids explore the great out­doors, their par­ents plant saplings as an act of tikkun olam. As the day wears on, the kids get tired and the ele­ments soothe them to sleep with a song of ​“good night, laila tov.” The illus­tra­tions are gor­geous, with sub­tle indi­ca­tions of Jew­ish con­tent like a Magen David around one of the children’s necks and a meno­rah in the win­dow. The words of the book are a lilt­ing poem that is easy to read and doesn’t feel forced or contrived. 

Author Lau­rel Sny­der, a moth­er of two, is no stranger to pub­lish­ing, with two oth­er children’s books to her name as well as three nov­els. A keen wan­der­er in the nat­ur­al world, she part­nered with Cal­i­for­nia illus­tra­tor Jui Ishi­da, a par­ent whose work has also appeared in oth­er children’s books. The result, in Good Night, Laila Tov, is a sweet lul­la­by with lots of inter­est­ing, col­or­ful details on the page to hold the inter­est of kids age two through five.

Read­ing Guide

» Down­load the Good Night, Laila Tov Read­ing Guide from PJ Library