ברבים מהספרים לפעוטות יש משפט חוזר שעוזר להם לעקוב אחר הסיפור ולהצטרף לקריאה. כדי להדגיש את המשפט החוזר בעת קריאת הסיפור תוכלו להקריא אותו בקול מיוחד, להוסיף תנועת ידיים או לשנות את קצב הקריאה. כשיגיע המשפט המוכּר להם ישמחו הפעוטות להצטרף אליכם.
ביקורים הם חלק משמעותי מעולמם של פעוטות. אנחנו הולכים לביקור אצל קרובי משפחה וחברים, ולפעמים באים לבקר אותנו. תוכלו לשוחח ולשאול: את מי הלכנו לבקר? מה עשינו בזמן הביקור? את מי נזמין אלינו הביתה?
בקצה כל עמוד מופיע איור שרומז לפגישה שמחכה בעמוד הבא. לפני שהופכים את הדף תוכלו להביט ברמז המאויר ולנחש מי מחכה לכם בעמוד הבא. תוכלו גם לשחק עם חפצים אמיתיים: לכסות חפץ כמעט לגמרי ולשאול את הפעוטות מה מסתתר מתחת לכיסוי – דובון, כובע ואולי תיק קטן?
העמוד האחרון של הספר הוא סיפור בפני עצמו ובו פרטים מאוירים רבים. אפשר לחפש באיור את מי שפגשתם לאורך הסיפור: כלב, ילדה, כובע או פרח. אפשר גם לנסות לזהות חפצים בבית של סבתא ולקרוא להם בשם: היכן הקומקום? מה תלוי על הקיר?
Reading books from a young age contributes greatly to toddlers’ development. Starting to read slowly and gradually is recommended. At first, toddlers may be allowed to connect to the book in their own way: Touch it, open and close it, look at the illustrations, and become curious. Later, you can read: Read a little each day, patiently and calmly. Some toddlers will prefer to read a single page, get familiar with and used to it, until – hey – books have become friends!
We can make interesting discoveries if we only pay attention. You may enjoy discussing what you see on your way as you walk or drive: “Here is a red car!” “I see clouds, and what do you see?” You could also share and exchange experiences with your toddler: “On my way to work, I saw a lady walking her dog. What did you see today on your way to daycare or back?”
Like the boy in the book, all toddlers enjoy rituals that generate a fixed routine, calm them down, and help them start their day feeling good and happy. You could also have your own morning ritual each day. For instance, you could encourage your toddler to bid a beloved stuffed toy farewell: “Teddy, Teddy, I’m going to Kindergarten, goodbye!” while you parents reply on behalf of the bear: “Goodbye! See you later! Have a safe journey!”
Many animals appear in the book. You could look at them together, and state their names, make the relevant sounds, and mimic their movements: Crow like a rooster, hop like a bunny, or gallop and neigh like a horse. You could also look at the illustrations on the final page, cover one of the animals each time, make the relevant sound or mimic its movements, and have your toddler guess which animal it is.
When reading a songbook, you can focus on one song at a time, read it several times, or sing it, if it has a tune. Try looking at the drawings together, and note where the toddler’s attention is drawn. Every so often, you can add another song from the book and see what reactions it evokes, and whether it’s fun and intriguing.
You will encounter various animals in the book. The toddlers will know some of them. Others will be new and exhilarating. Whenever you encounter animals nearby, you can draw the toddler’s attention to what’s special about the animal – “the bird has a beak”, “the ants march in a line”, or “the snail carries its house on its back”.
You can use gestures as you sing. For example, when you sing “Come, Little Butterfly”, you can invite the butterfly with a beckoning gesture, flap your hands, and tap on the toddler’s hand. Which gesture would you use for a monkey cracking up? Or a bear climbing a ladder?
A shirt? A swimsuit? Perhaps a dress? How about taking a look inside your closet, finding clothes you like, and saying when you usually wear them: Winter clothes, summer clothes, fancy clothes for special occasions, and all-time favorite clothes.
The verses of Why is the Zebra Wearing Pajamas? have been set to music and turned into a beloved children’s song. You may enjoy scanning the QR code, and proceed to sing and dance together.
The zebra’s friends feature in the book’s illustrations: You could leaf through them together, find the various friends, name the animals together, and introduce them. Next, you could say the name of an animal you know, and then look for it in among the illustrations contained in this book.
Let’s play hide and seek! We can hide our fingers in the palm of our hands, cover our nose and reveal it, hole up under a blanket, conceal ourselves behind the couch, or hide a toy behind our backs.
Reading from an early age plays a key role in toddler development; however, like anything new, the question is – how do we find the way? We suggest getting acquainted slowly and gradually; let the toddler connect to the book in their own way: Touching, opening and closing, and even “tasting” it with their mouths. Afterwards, you can read: A little each day, patiently and with pleasure. At first you could even read a single page, introducing it and getting accustomed to it, and hey presto – you have turned a book into a friend!
Hide & Seek
שְׁמִירָה
Sifriyat Pijama an opportunity to read together, at any age
Here’s the sea! Here’s a mountain! And a butterfly too! As toddlers grow, they enjoy pointing at everything they recognize in the illustrations. You could pause on each page, take a look together, and discover what your toddlers already know. You could ask them to indicate where the rabbit is, and, if they struggle, look for it together.
You could continue the journey that began in the book with a game at home, played while kneeling, saying “choo choo” and adding the hand gesture, or on the rug with some toys. You may enjoy looking out of the window together, seeing what is going on outside, and saying: “There’s a traffic light! Here’s a tree! And what else can you see?”
There’s A Rabbit on The Train
שְׁמִירָה
Some reading advice: How do voices and facial expressions help when reading?
Toddlers are fascinated by the tone of voice, facial expressions, sounds and gestures of the person who is reading to them: All of these help them follow the story, enjoy and understand it. Allow yourselves to be actors for a few minutes. You have won the best audience, who is sure to appreciate and enjoy your unique reading style.
Perhaps you would enjoy discussing and sharing the following: What do you think makes a person wise? Can you think of an incident in which someone behaved wisely? Was the fox wise, or the rooster? Perhaps they bother were? Or maybe neither one was?
Having read this book together, you, parents, may want to tell a story, and ask the others to decide whether the story you’ve told actually happened or was a work of fiction. Next, ask your children to share their own stories. This may be a good opportunity to share unusual incidents with one another, and laugh together.
What does the name Ram-Kol (Loud-Speaker) tell us about the rooster? Can you come up with names for yourselves that reflect a special, good quality that characterizes you? Perhaps the rest of your family can help!
Books of poetry tell small stories from a children’s world of imagination, emotion and experience. You can choose in which order to read the poems or not even read all of them. You can choose to read a poem because of an intriguing illustration, an interesting title, or because it suited your mood. You can decide to read just one poem at a time, or skip ahead. You may enjoy discussing the poem: Did you like it and why?
He painted Israel in bright colors and told children’s stories in words and illustrations. If you scan the QR code, you will be able to discover Nahum Gutman’s books and paintings, and take a virtual tour of the Nahum Gutman Museum in Tel Aviv.
Take turns with your family selecting a poem and acting it out without speaking. The other players will try to guess which poem it is. You can also choose one that you all like, and act it out together, or read it out loud while adding matching dance moves.
There are blank pages at the end of the book which you can use to make your own illustrations and then write stories just like artist Nahum Gutman and authoress Mira Meir did. Perhaps you and your family would enjoy writing a whole series!
Having read this book, you may enjoy a discussion about why, you think, Uncle Simha (Hebrew for joy) is named so. What about the things he does or says that make you smile?
Would you like to hear a story? Go ahead and scan the QR code to listen to the book My Uncle Simha. You may enjoy listening to it together while turning the pages whenever you like.
Which songs make you happy? Perhaps you could make a playlist of all the songs that make your family happy, and sing along together. You could even sing in funny voices – a high-pitched voice, the deepest of basses, or a whisper – adding some dance moves for greater delight.
Take turns asking a question while the other players try to come up with a “confused” response. For example: What’s your favorite drink? Tea with a touch of mustard! What do you do when it rains? Wear sunscreen! What sound do birds make? Where should we go on our next trip?
Excuse me, what is your name? You may enjoy discussing your names: Why were you, parents, named so? And what has made you choose the names you have chosen for your children? Do you have any nicknames? How did you come by them?
Yoyo jumps, sits, climbs… Each illustration depicts Yoyo in a different posture. You may want to act out what Yoyo does, and have the rest of your family members look for the page in the book that shows him in the same position. Were you able to do so? Then it’s time for another member of your family to have a go.
Are you sometimes happy and at other times sad? So is Datia, who wrote the book, and also wrote the lyrics of the well-known children’s song I’m Always Me, the music of which was composed by Uzzi Hitman. Scan the QR code and sing along!
How about getting the following – a cardboard rectangle, crayons, stickers, and some plasticine, if you like – to make a sign for your front door or bedroom door? Write your name at the center of it, color it, decorate it, and hang it on the door! And how about this idea – print out a photograph of yourselves, add it to the sign, and write your names too.
What can we do when we encounter a problem? You may want to share incidents with your children in which you, parents, have encountered a problem. Try to think back to how you felt, think of possible solutions together, and then tell them how you solved the problem.
A hoop can be a steering wheel, a plate or… Scan the QR code and watch a video about creativity? Later, you can continue to think about – What can we do with a paper roll? A kerchief? A dwarf puppet?
The dwarves planted mushrooms and sang “all the songs they knew”. You too can sing your favorite songs together. Perhaps you’ll sing about dwarves, or rain, or songs that cheer you up and make you smile.
Take turns pretending to be one of the dwarves that appear in this book: The one with the umbrella, the one planting a mushroom, or the one jumping into puddles. The other players will try to guess what the dwarf is doing and find it in the book.
I’m similar to a frog but smaller. I can be found in Israel, mostly on trees, eating insects and laying eggs in water. I am a protected species and therefore cannot be kept in a jar – only in nature.
Following this book, you may want to embark on searches together with your parents, grandparents, or other relatives: What have you found? Were you surprised? Do you enjoy searching and finding?
A game for both seekers and finders. Scan the QR code Print out, cut out and fold according to the instructions. Have you searched? Have you found? Would you like to play again?
This book contains both colorful and black and white illustrations. Can you figure out when the illustrations are in black and white, and when they are multicolored?
A game of “what’s missing?” Place several items in a row and look closely. Take turns hiding one of the items while the rest of your family members have their eyes closed. Once it has been removed and hidden, the other players can open their eyes and start searching – Which item is now missing? Where was it hidden?
I’m similar to a frog but smaller. I can be found in Israel, mostly on trees, eating insects and laying eggs in the water. I’m a protected species and therefore cannot be kept in a jar, only in nature.
Do you also have little friends visiting your home? Are they imaginary friends, or maybe a beloved doll? It is worthwhile to talk about it with the toddlers and hear what do they like doing with the little friend. You can “bring in” the little friend to join and read the story.
The story is slightly longer than usual, and in order to arouse interest and curiosity it is recommended telling it in a variety of voices: a voice for Dad, a voice for Yaeli and a different voice for Mom and for Elik Belik. You can look together at the illustrations and invite the toddlers to participate in the identification of details and repeat the words “Elik Belik”.
Where’s the doll? On the table? maybe underneath it? And where’s the ball? You can hide various objects, look for them and then say: “The ball is on the chair”, “The ball is under the bed”. You can also hide yourselves and look for each other.
Dad has big shoes, Mom’s shoes – they are less big, Yaeli has little shoes, and Elik Belik’s? Tiny shoes! Go on a journey throughout the house, collect items of the same type and arrange them from the smallest to the biggest.
Look together and let the toddler find: Where is the bird? Is it on additional pages? Who accompanies the child to kindergarten? How do we get to kindergarten – by bicycle, walking or some other way? Who wears a hat and where is the dog?
Look at the last page and ask: “What are the children in kindergarten doing? What do you like to do at the nursery?”
Ask: Where to, where to? And each time choose a different place: To… The bath, the balcony, or to… The playground? Go together to the place you’ve chosen, hug each other and then say aloud: Where to, where to? To… the next place!
Children love to play “make believe”. They enjoy pretending that they are grown up: “Driving” a car, making mud “cakes”, or playing with an imaginary friend. You can play this game with your child using a prop, such as a doll, pot, or toy car, and ask: Where are we going? What are we cooking together? What is the doll saying?
Ron sees Shluli in the puddle, but, in fact, it is his own reflection in the water. You could also play a game of “mirror” in which two players face one another and take turns pulling a face, moving their head or leg, and having the other imitate them.
Are there any puddles outside yet? How about pulling on your boots, getting dressed warmly, and heading outside to jump into puddles? If that’s not possible, you can always make a “puddle” from rope or paper, and jump in and out as much as you like.
Stories Anat Especially Likes 
One Fine Morning 
A Little Boy Went to Kindergarten 
All Kinds of Animals and Me 
Why is the Zebra Wearing Pajamas? 
The Fox Announces Peace 
The Fox Announces Peace 
I Love Drawing 
My Uncle Simha 
My Name is Yoyo 
One, Two, Three, What Can a Mushroom Be? 
I Like to Look For… 
Sheluli 
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
כְּלָלִי
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׁלּוּב הַסֵּפֶר
שִׁלּוּב הַסֵּפֶר
הַעֲשָׁרָה
מִשְׂחָק
כְּלָלִי
קִשּׁוּר
כְּלָלִי
קְרִיאָה
חֵקֶר
שִׂיחָה
קְרִיאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
קְרִיאָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
חֵקֶר
קְרִיאָה
כְּלָלִי
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
מִשְׂחָק
שִׂיחָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
הַעֲשָׁרָה
מִשְׂחָק
יְצִירָה
הַעֲשָׁרָה
שִׂיחָה
כְּלָלִי
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
מִשְׂחָק
הַעֲשָׁרָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
שֵׁמַע
סִרְטוֹנִים
הַעֲשָׁרָה
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
שֵׁמַע
מִשְׂחָק
הַעֲשָׁרָה
כְּלָלִי
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
יְצִירָה
מִשְׂחָק
שִׂיחָה
קִשּׁוּר
הַעֲשָׁרָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
קְרִיאָה
מִשְׂחָק
כְּלָלִי
קְרִיאָה
הַמְחָשָׁה
יְצִירָה
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
מִשְׂחָק
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
