Chil­dren’s

What Do You See on Chanukah?

Bracha Goetz
  • Review
By – March 14, 2012

These two sep­a­rate titles are part of Bracha Goetz’s board book series for tod­dlers, which will not only famil­iar­ize them with every­day objects at home but with those items that deserve spe­cial atten­tion dur­ing Chanukah. Goetz also has pub­lished an edi­tion on Pesach. The stur­dy board books are easy for small hands to han­dle and have a good fin­ish, which will accept con­stant use. Pho­tographs of actu­al items, five to sev­en per page, are incor­po­rat­ed into the art­work, along with a boxed descrip­tive text ask­ing the chil­dren to explain what they see. The text is invit­ing and pro­vides for cre­ative dia­logue guid­ed by the par­ent or read­er. It also allows the child to make con­nec­tions, as to how the var­i­ous items are used in their environments. 

What Do You See? At Home leads chil­dren through a typ­i­cal day. Morn­ing brings the Mod­eh Ani. Tod­dlers are asked to iden­ti­fy com­mon items such as tooth­paste, tow­els, and cups. The pho­tos show chil­dren get­ting dressed and spe­cial clothes: yarmulkas, tzitzis, and dress­es. Goetz is able to include meals, clean­ing, play and bath time, and clos­ing the day with She­ma; all script­ed with­in a clear Ortho­dox Jew­ish lifestyle. The sec­ond title, which high­lights Chanukah, includes: latkes, a pota­to peel­er, Meno­rahs, Beis HaMik­dash, gifts, can­dles, drei­dels, and music and much more.

Chris­tine Maas­dam holds a Mas­ters in Human­i­ties, cer­ti­fi­ca­tions in Muse­um Stud­ies and Cul­tur­al Prop­er­ty Pro­tec­tion. She is cur­rent­ly com­plet­ing her M.L.I.S. Her inter­ests are phi­los­o­phy and the impact of art and tech­nol­o­gy on culture.

Discussion Questions