Chil­dren’s

Hon­or­able Mentschen: A Torah Based Guide To Derech Eretz and Social Skills

Genen­del Krohn
  • Review
By – March 24, 2017

In a world where cour­tesy and good man­ners are often sad­ly lack­ing, here is a wel­come val­ues-based guide to prop­er behav­ior toward oth­ers that is sure to be help­ful and much appre­ci­at­ed by par­ents, teach­ers and thought­ful chil­dren. While clear­ly aimed at the Ortho­dox com­mu­ni­ty, the lessons, gen­tly taught, are not only appro­pri­ate to all but are nec­es­sary for peo­ple of all back­grounds to absorb and inte­grate into dai­ly life. Each les­son is linked to appro­pri­ate Torah sec­tions which rein­force Juda­ic and gen­er­al learn­ing and remind both chil­dren and adults that those are not nec­es­sar­i­ly sep­a­rate spheres; Jew­ish val­ues and gen­er­al good val­ues inte­grat­ed into an edu­ca­tion­al whole, result in con­sid­er­ate, well-behaved, well-adjust­ed chil­dren who will grow into fine adults who will be the right kinds of soci­ety mem­bers. These adults will ben­e­fit every­one who comes into con­tact with them and will be the hon­or­able mentschen” of the clever title.

A few of the top­ics addressed are: tele­phone man­ners, respond­ing to com­pli­ments, greet­ing oth­ers, being a good host, being a good guest, and many oth­ers. Much time and space is allot­ted to the impor­tant issue of bul­ly­ing which is dis­cussed from a vari­ety of angles. Each top­ic is giv­en appro­pri­ate quotes, an explana­to­ry para­graph, a col­or­ful car­toon-like illus­tra­tion, and some­times a short encap­su­la­tion or mini-quiz to increase comprehension. 

This kind of book could eas­i­ly be sac­cha­rine or over­ly preachy as it tries to instill good­ness” in young read­ers but this one walks the fine line of avoid­ing that pit­fall. The humor with­in some of the art is help­ful in this regard.

A glos­sary of Hebrew and Yid­dish terms used with­in the book is appended.

Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 5 – 10.

Michal Hoschan­der Malen is the edi­tor of Jew­ish Book Coun­cil’s young adult and children’s book reviews. A for­mer librar­i­an, she has lec­tured on top­ics relat­ing to lit­er­a­cy, run book clubs, and loves to read aloud to her grandchildren.

Discussion Questions