This title in the publisher’s Sacred Texts series exam­ines the Torah (the Pen­ta­teuch or the Five Books of Moses), which con­sti­tutes the most impor­tant sec­tion of the Hebrew Scrip­tures. The author describes the text’s ori­gin, its struc­ture and form, its phys­i­cal appear­ance, its teach­ing and rules, and its sig­nif­i­cance as the cen­tral, all-encom­pass­ing foun­da­tion of the Jew­ish faith. Cato explains how Judaism’s basic beliefs, prac­tices, tra­di­tions, cus­toms, holy days, and guide to dai­ly life are derived from the Torah. Thus the book serves as a sim­ply writ­ten but very use­ful intro­duc­tion to Judaism for young read­ers. It is no mean feat to impart this com­plex mate­r­i­al to read­ers in a book of only 30 pages but Cato suc­ceeds quite well. Includ­ed are a glos­sary, a brief index, and many col­or pho­tos depict­ing aspects of Jew­ish life. All non- Ortho­dox branch­es of Judaism should find this brief but fac­tu­al intro­duc­tion use­ful. For ages 11 – 14.