ספרים רבים מתארים אתגרים מחיי היום-יום של הפעוטות: הקושי לחלוק, הקושי להיפרד, אתגר המעבר מיום ללילה, ועוד רבים אחרים. כאשר מזהים שהפעוט מתמודד עם אתגר, כדאי לבחור ספר שעוסק בנושא ולקרוא יחד. הספר מזמין לשתף בתחושות ובחוויות.
אפשר לשוחח על הדברים שמשותפים לכל בני הבית לעומת הדברים ששייכים לכל אחד בנפרד. למשל: “לכל אחד יש מברשת שיניים משלו – איך נראית מברשת השיניים שלך?”, “הבית הוא של כולנו ביחד, מי גר בבית שלנו?”
תוכלו להמחיז את הספר בעזרת בובות של חיות וליהנות יחד: החליפו ביניכם את הבובות בהתאם לשיר, ובמשפט החוזר “אז תכף נהיה שותפים בכל הדברים היפים” תוכלו להחזיק ביחד בבובה, ולהדגים מה זו שותפות.
חתול, יונה, צב, כלבלב וגוזל – כולם בספר אחד! אפשר להתבונן באיורים, לבחור יחד חיה, לחקות את הקול שלה ולהתנהג כמוה לפי התיאור שבספר. למשל אם בוחרים בצב “עם בית שלם על הגב” – אפשר להניח כרית על הגב וללכת על ארבע. ואיך מכשכש הכלבלב עם הכתם בזנב?
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.
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!
The poems in this book present small moments in life. Every time you read together, we recommend selecting one poem, and reading it together. Does the poem remind you of something that once happened? This may be a good opportunity for you, parents, to share a childhood experience with your child, creating closeness and intimacy with them.
When did Hagit Benziman start writing? What does she write about, and why? You may want to scan this QR code to find out more about this author and her work.
You may enjoy looking at parents’ family photo albums together, searching for special childhood moments. You could also look at early childhood photographs of the children, and share information about the moments captured. Which memories do they evoke in you?
Do you have a favorite poem among those included in this book? If so, how about acting it out together, with the grownups playing the parts of the children, and vice versa.
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!
Partners 
The Fly That Got Lost 
All Kinds of Animals and Me 
Why is the Zebra Wearing Pajamas? 
I Love Drawing 
Why Do They Always Remind Me? 
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
כְּלָלִי
הַשְׁרָאָה
קִשּׁוּר
חֵקֶר
הַעֲשָׁרָה
יְצִירָה
הַמְחָשָׁה
