Alef-Bet
DreamyReads is heading to Israel! For two weeks. With the two little readers (and the husband). On a plane. For many hours. With a stopover. Can you tell I’m excited/ totally freaked out?
To focus on the excited part, I want to give a big shout out to one of my favorite picture books, Michelle Edwards’ Alef Bet. This book, which has been out of print for a great many years too many, is a fantastic Hebrew alphabet book. And it has just been republished and is back to being available! Hurray for New-South Books!
Why is it so fabulous? Because, like all of Michelle Edwards’ books, it is fabulously illustrated with quirky people who look much more like people I know than most books. And, because one of the kids in the book happens to be in a wheelchair. And because you can learn a whole bunch of interesting Hebrew words (the word of the Hebrew letter Alef is ahm-BAHT-yah which means bathtub and the word for Gimmel is gar-BAH-yimwhich means socks). And, most importantly, this isn’t just an alphabet book — Michelle Edwards gives you all sorts of information about the family that is pictured in the book so you can actually talk to your children about what is happening in each picture. It’s actually quite cool.
So, I’m going to take out my old copy of the book, and the re-published copy of the book, and the kids and I are going to pour over the pictures, learn some funky words and prepare for an overnight flight. Oh dear. Wish us luck!
Reading Kids Are Dreaming Kids 