By
– August 6, 2012
The concept of opposites — loud/quiet, big/small, open/closed, high/low, smooth/rough, on/off, near/far, up/down, and in/out — is presented by showing children observing the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Hanukkah, Tu B’Shevat, Purim, Passover, Shavuot, and Shabbat. Familiar holiday symbols such as Jonah and the fish, the lulav and etrog, Purim masks, and searching for the afikomen help young children understand these opposites by giving them concrete, age-appropriate meaning. The illustrations are bright, pleasant, and most important, clear in depicting the opposites on each page. A companion to The Colors of My Jewish Year (1998), The Shapes of My Jewish Year (2003), and The Sounds of My Jewish Year (2003). For ages 2 – 4.
Linda R. Silver is a specialist in Jewish children’s literature. She is editor of the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Jewish Valuesfinder, www.ajljewishvalues.org, and author of Best Jewish Books for Children and Teens: A JPS Guide (The Jewish Publication Society, 2010) and The Jewish Values Finder: A Guide to Values in Jewish Children’s Literature (Neal-Schuman, 2008).
