זהות אישית
סְּפָרִים
Book-Related Family Activities
Who am I?
“You mimic animals so much that you don’t know how to mimic yourself”, says Shumdi to Arik the lion. You can discuss the things that make each of you special: your voice, body movements, hobbies, favorite food – and what else?
A Story that Anat Especially Likes
Mimic & guess
Much like Shumdi and Arik, you can also take turns making animal sounds, and having your family guess which animal you were trying to mimic. You can also add the sounds made by objects, and try to mimic the sounds of rain, wind, or any mode of transportation. You can record the sounds you make too, listen to them one at a time, and try to guess which of your family members made it.
A Story that Anat Especially Likes
Favorite stories
Anat especially likes the stories told by Shumdi the rabbit. Which stories are your personal favorites? You can look for and recall stories that the kids liked when they were infants, as well as well-loved stories that you have not read in a while, put them all together, and read one of your favorite stories whenever you feel like it.
A Story that Anat Especially Likes
You can find more songs, arts & crafts and other surprises on the Sifriyat Pijama Pinterest page
A Story that Anat Especially Likes
Family reading advice
“Just me!” – Toddlers like to feel all grown-up and independent, as if they too are adults. While reading a book together, you can enjoy sharing with your toddler and strenghtening their sense of capacity: They can hold the book, point, say words they recognize, and even read the book to you or to one of their toys.
It’s Challah Time!
Challa recipe
The pictures in this book help you see the challah-making process, and understand the various stages. You too can make a dish together and photograph the process of its preparation. That way, you can be reminded of preparing it, look at the pictures together, and take pride in the delicious result.
Challa recipe
Dough:
1kg of flour
½ a cup of sugar
2 spoons of yeast
2 cups of lukewarm water
½ a cup of oil
2 eggs (optional, you can also make it without eggs)
1 spoon of salt
An egg for brushing or some oil
Method:
- Mix the flour, sugar and yeast in a large bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and knead well for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes elastic and soft.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic bag and leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in volume.
- Use the dough to make challahs. You can make them large or small. You can brush the challahs with egg or oil.
Bake in an oven set to medium heat for half an hour, until the challah turns golden. Enjoy!
It’s Challah Time!
Discussion – What is in the picture?
You can look at the pictures together and discuss the details in them. You may want to ask questions such as: Where is the girl? What are the children doing? Where is the broom? Where is the challah? You can return to an image you have already looked at from time to time, and who knows – perhaps you will discover some additional details?
It’s Challah Time!
QR code
Scan the QR code and learn about tips on ways to celebrate holidays and special events together with toddlers.
It’s Challah Time!
More arts & crafts, songs, and activities can be found on Sifriyat Pijama Library’s Pinterest page.
It’s Challah Time!
Reading poems
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.
Why Do They Always Remind Me?
Pleased to meet you – Hagit Benziman
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.
Why Do They Always Remind Me?
Looking through the family album
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?
Why Do They Always Remind Me?
Dramatizing together
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.
Why Do They Always Remind Me?
Arts & crafts, songs and other activities are available on the Sifriyat Pijama Pinterest page
Why Do They Always Remind Me?
A discussion about my name
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?
My Name is Yoyo
Moving along with Yoyo
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.
My Name is Yoyo
I’m always me – Datia Ben Dor
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!
My Name is Yoyo
Arts & crafts – A front door sign
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.
My Name is Yoyo
A discussion on our house
All houses consist of walls, a roof, doors and windows: What’s special about your house? What makes it your home? You may want to discuss special objects and items found in your home, or the things you do there together.
How to Build a House
A video – House of boxes
What can you do in a house made of boxes? Scan to QR code to get ideas for a house that’s both real and imaginary.
How to Build a House
Arts & crafts – Home building
How about making a house out of blankets, cardboard boxes, sticks and clothespins? And what else would you need? Decide on a location and workplan, gather the necessary items and accessories, and off you go!
How to Build a House
A game of house catch
Take turns announcing a topic and having all the other players try to work together to find a suitable item. For instance, when “red” is announced, all players must search the house for a red item. In the next round, another player might call out “big”, “small”, “cute”, “old”, “multicolored”, “annoying” or “wheel”, sending the other players to look for an item matching their announced topic.
How to Build a House
Reading Together
It is worth sharing the reading of the story with the toddlers: Where is the key? What do you do with the string, and what are the crumbs for? What surprise is hiding in the small pocket?
Grandpa’s Pockets – For Families
Guessing Game
Hide an object in a garment pocket and let the toddler guess what you hid with the sense of touch. You can provide clues, reveal a fraction of the object, and eventually disclose the item and demonstrate what it is used for.
Grandpa’s Pockets – For Families
Doing Things Together in the Family
Grandfather and the child are talking, sowing seeds, and feeding the rabbit. What do toddlers love to do with adults in the family? With grandparents and other family members?
Grandpa’s Pockets – For Families
What Goes with What?
“A key in order to open”; “A ticket to ride the train”; and what is a basket for? Or a spoon? You can walk around the house and choose items, then talk and check together what they are called and what they are used for. Matching Game –What Belongs to What – is waiting for you when you scan the code:
Grandpa’s Pockets – For Families
Pinterest – Crafts, songs and other activities on the “Grandpa’s Pockets” book page in Sifriyat Pijama on Pinterest
Grandpa’s Pockets – For Families
Reading together
While reading, it is useful to include the hands on each page, follow their path and imitating their movements. Parents and toddlers can do this together: “walk” the hand on fingertips, make the hand jump, knock on the door in the picture, and be active readers throughout the entire book.
A book about A hand
Hand Games
It’s so much fun to play with hands! Each and every one in turn makes a certain movement, and the rest of the participants imitate it. You can clap your hands, wave hello or goodbye, signal for “quiet” or fly!
A book about A hand
A Family of Hands
Who has a small hand? Who has a large hand? Each family member is invited to place their hand on a sheet of paper. You, the parent, will draw the contours of the hands, and the toddlers will decorate and paint. The picture of all the hands can be kept as a memento, and you can also repeat the activity year after year and see what has changed.
A book about A hand
Singing Hands
You can sing songs accompanied by hand movements, such as “I have ten fingers” or “My hat has three corners.” It’s a good idea to add hand gestures to your singing, and you can add finger movements to other favorite songs. Have fun!
“עשר אצבעות לי יש” מאת רבקה דוידית
מחרוזת שירי ידיים מאת דתיה בן דור
A book about A hand
Pinterest – Crafts, songs, and activities in the Sifriyat Pijama’s Pinterest page.
A book about A hand
We can help too!
What can toddlers do at home? Many things! They can put glasses on the dining table, sweep with a small broom, feed the pets, and… offer cookies. It is worthwhile to talk and show what the toddler is helping with at home, and what else they want and can participate in.
Who wants to taste?
Who is in the family?
The child in the story hands out cookies to other family members: grandmother, uncle, sister, cousin. Who are your family members? You can talk about family members, say their names and thier roles, such as: “Grandma Braha,” “Uncle Baruch,” use family photo, and use family photos.
Who wants to taste?
Let’s make some refreshments together!
You too can prepare refreshments together, such as chocolate balls, a plate of fruit, or a sliced cucumber. You can prepare “pretend” refreshments using play dough and offer to the dolls at home.
Who wants to taste?
Game: Grandma had cookies…
Do you know the game “Grandma made porridge”? “The child had cookies” can be played in a similar way, in which the toddler opens her, or his hand, and the parent begins to count: “The little boy/girl had cookies and gave one to Grandma (holding the thumb), and one to Uncle (holding the forefinger) etc. And so you count the fingers by allocating a family member to each one. Who will you give the last cookie to?
Who wants to taste?
Who wants to taste?
Discussion
Nuri and Grandpa spend time together, and it’s nice. You may want to discuss and discover the following with your children: What do they like doing with their grandfather, grandmother, or other family members? Is there anything that they wish to learn from them? Perhaps they have a question that they wanted to ask and were too embarrassed to do so?
Nuri’s Tunnel
Looking at the illustrations
Which treasures can be found in Grandpa’s cave? You may want to look at the illustrations and think about how they ended up being buried in the ground, and to whom they belonged. You could also imagine what might be hidden in the ground underneath your own home.
Nuri’s Tunnel
Introducing the mole
What is a mole? Moles are rodents living in underground burrows. The shape of their bodies is suitable for living in burrows as it is long and cylindrical. The moles’ touch and hearing are evolved, and they eat plants that grow in the ground. If you want to know more, please look for information on moles online.
You could also be a mole for a day!
Make a tunnel out of sofas, bed sheets or pillows, go into it carefully and crawl out. You could also turn off all the lights at home, and use a flashlight to go left, right, backwards and forwards, overcome various obstacles and… reach your destination!
Nuri’s Tunnel
What's the question?
You may enjoy playing the following game and finding out what happens when we answer before we ask: One player says an answer, and the other players try to guess what the question was. for instance, the answer “My name is Nuri” will be met with the question “What’s your name?”. Which questions match answers such as “I’m five years old” or “a purple monster”?
Nuri’s Tunnel
Nuri’s Tunnel
Discussion
Matan piles the sand up and makes his pile more sophisticated all on his own. having read this book, you may want to discuss actions with your child that they take without needing any help, and compare them with actions they had taken in the past. We recommend that you, parents, share your own similar experiences with them, from your own childhood: What is it that you wanted to accomplish, and indeed did? What does your child want to build and do? Do they need materials or help? You may want to decide on a family initiative to build, make or fix something together. Good luck!
Matan and the Great Sand Mountain
The sands of time
What can we do with sand? We could make an imprint of our feet in it, and observe our family members’ different footprints. How about using twigs to draw in the sand, or piling it up, or going outside to look at different prints left in it there?
Matan and the Great Sand Mountain
Perspective
The illustrations in this book were made from various perspectives: from above or below, from high up or far away. Looking at the world from different perspectives – high or low – allow us to discover surprising things: try looking at your room from an ant’s height; through binoculars made from toilet paper rolls; using a magnifying glass, or when standing on a chair: What can you see from that perspective that you couldn’t see from your regular angle?
Matan and the Great Sand Mountain
Imagining and building
Matan and his sandcastle could inspire you to imagine, plan, and create too: close your eyes and imagine, then share your idea with your family, look for suitable materials, and start to build together. It could be a machine made out of boxes, a car made out of sand, a flying castle made of pillows, or perhaps something else entirely.
Matan and the Great Sand Mountain
Matan and the Great Sand Mountain
Just before bedtime...
How do you get ready for bed? What helps you fall asleep? You can talk about it together and think about creating a set ritual that will engender calm, and let you share the day’s experiences and thoughts that come to mind.
One Last Thing before Bed
My notebook of thoughts
Isn’t it lucky that there’s a way we can remember our thoughts and stop them from getting away? How do we do that? Keep a notebook and pencil by your bed, and just before falling asleep, before your thoughts scatter away, draw them. You can color in your drawing in the morning, because now… is time for bed.
One Last Thing before Bed
It's lucky that... It's good that...
“It’s lucky that a pot has two handles, and not five… if it did, how would we hold it?”, “It’s good that the windshield is made out of glass, not cardboard”. What do you imagine? Which things make you happy just as they are? Each member of the family can bring a certain object and talk about it: “It’s lucky that…”, “It’s good that…”.
One Last Thing before Bed
Melodies, sounds and colors
The world is filled with melodies and sounds. Which melody do you like? Try singing a favorite melody together wile clapping your hands, moving parts of your bodies, singing, or playing instruments.
The world is also filled with diverse colors and shapes. You can draw as you listen to the music. Which shapes and colors will you choose for your drawing?
One Last Thing before Bed
One Last Thing before Bed
Discussion
“A good family is powerful … You will always find a reason to be happy” – you may want to discuss and discover what we like about our families, and what we enjoy doing together.
If Only
Getting [into] the picture
Would you like to go into one of the illustrations in the book? You could choose to be a guest at the home of one of the families described in this story, and imagine how it would feel to be next to the whale, or in the kangaroo’s pouch. What would you want to happen when you meet some of the characters depicted in the illustrations?
If Only
Complimenting your family
You may enjoy relaxing together, and starting a round of compliments in which you each say something kind to the other.
If Only
Guessing the animals
One family member can make the sound of an animal, or draw a picture of it, imitate it, or give some other kind of clue about it – and the rest can try to guess which animal they were hinting at!
Sound – imitate the sound made by this animal
Pantomime – act the animal out, walk like it or try to look like it
Picture – show or draw a small part of the animal: a tail, wing or foot.
Clue – describe some detail about the animal: where it lives, what it looks like, or the sound it makes.
Couldn’t guess? Help each other by providing additional clues.
If Only
Discussion – Parents ask "why?"
What sort of questions would you like to ask, and of whom? This may be an opportunity for both parents and children to share the questions that interest them the most. You could also raise questions that you would have liked to ask Shu the Vixen and Tut the Snail.
Why Not?
Being creative – The question box
What can we do with all the questions waiting to be answered? How about preparing a special question box, decorating it, and filling it with all the questions you find so intriguing. You could write them down on some notepaper and put them into the question box. Anytime you like, pick one, and look for the answer together.
Why Not?
Question games
Why at home? – Go around the house collecting “why?” questions about everything you encounter.
Questions about friendship – inspired by Tut and Shu’s friendship, you may enjoy asking: What do you think about Shu’s friends’ behavior? Has a friend of yours ever gone far away, or have you ever left a friend behind? Who were your parents’ friends when they were younger? What did they play or like to do together? What does your child like to do when their friends are around?
Questions about pictures – You may want to look at a picture together, and try to think of as many questions as you can to ask about it. You could then go out searching for the answers to your intriguing questions. You may even enjoy challenging yourselves, and looking for questions to an answer you already know: look at the picture (for instance: a gift, blue, moon), and instruct your child to think of a question to which this detail in the picture is the answer.
Why Not?
Songs and thoughts
The Sixteenth Sheep is an anthology of songs and stories that one can read one after the other, or select one at a time, according to the season, particular experience, or one’s mood. Could you write a song or story together about an everyday experience of yours? How about adding another verse to one of the songs found in the book?
The Sixteenth Sheep
That's happened to me too
While reading, you may want to discuss and examine the thoughts and feelings that emerge within both younger and older readers following the song. Does it remind you of experiences you have had? Parents, you may enjoy sharing your feelings and experiences nowadays and as children with your child.
The Sixteenth Sheep
When I grow up, I'm going to be a singer
Many of the poems in the book have become songs, and this may be a wonderful opportunity to listen to them, sing them together, and enjoy the tunes composed by Yoni Rechter and other musicians. You could record yourselves singing together, play along as you sing, or add a dance routine to your favorite songs.
The Sixteenth Sheep
When I grow up, I'm going to be a painter
Inspired by your favorite songs, you could be artistic in many ways: you could paint the green man using several shades of green, draw yourselves from the back, take a photo of a kindergarten when it is closed, or create the sixteenth sheep using cotton wool. When you have finished, you can show your work and ask: which song or story has inspired me to do this?
The Sixteenth Sheep
When I grow up, I'm going to be a painter
Inspired by your favorite songs, you could be artistic in many ways: you could paint the green man using several shades of green, draw yourselves from the back, take a photo of a kindergarten when it is closed, or create the sixteenth sheep using cotton wool. When you have finished, you can show your work and ask: which song or story has inspired me to do this?
The Sixteenth Sheep
Discussing – Friendship
Children yearn for friends and a sense of belonging, and the story about Arfy introduces this subject with all the complexities and heartaches that are sometimes associated with it. Yet Arfy has inner strength, and he chooses his own fate: his story allows us to hold a sensitive discussion about friendship, and the roads leading to it. You could, perhaps, ask your child what, in their opinion, is the reason for Arfy’s letters to different people. Would you have wanted to be Arfy’s frieds? Why? What would you have done in Arfy’s place?
Can I Be your Dog?
Story-telling illustrations
Many pages in this book contain text-less illustrations demonstrating Arfy’s feelings. What do these illustrations tell us? Which of them make you smile, and why? What is Arfy feeling? What is he thinking?
Can I Be your Dog?
Letter writing
You may be inspired by the letters in this book to write notes to one another. You could hide letters with encouraging or amusing messages under your pillow, in your bag, or anywhere else, and enjoy surprising your family members with them.
Can I Be your Dog?
Treating animals well
Each of us can open our eyes and hearts to the animals around us – providing them with water on a hot day, setting up shelters, or anything else that would contribute to their wellbeing, and have a positive impact on the world in which we all live.
Can I Be your Dog?
suggestions for game cards and arts & crafts can be found on the PJLibrary Pinterest page.
Can I Be your Dog?
Reading and Discussing
You may want to tell one another some riddles you know, or share how you have found solutions to problems, situations and issues. Have you ever learned something by watching someone else? Perhaps you could ask other members of your family how they cope with riddle- and problem-solving. Together, you can create a collection of family suggestions to learn about and engage in problem-solving.
The Princess and the Rock
What do the illustrations tell us?
The illustrations in this book are extremely detailed. You may enjoy taking a close look at them, and telling one another what else they convey, beyond the text: Are any characters featured in them that are not described in the story itself? Perhaps you could follow the tiger character, and tell the story from its perspective: What is the relationship between the tiger and princess? Why does it follow her, and how does it experience the events that unfold?
The Princess and the Rock
Inspired by folktales
Authoress Ruth Calderon was inspired by an ancient folktale written by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov when she wrote this book. You could try it too! Think back to your favorite folktale or fairytale, and write a similar story about a contemporary boy or girl.
The Princess and the Rock
Comfort food
Do you also have a “ma’atzube” of your own – some kind of favorite comfort food? How about making a list of comfort foods, and then cooking or baking one together?
The Princess and the Rock
Problem-solving
“… Problems are just like bread – you need to slice them”: You may want to create a collection of everyday problems, and write them on pieces of paper. In each round, pick one note, and think of solutions together. They can be incremental, broken down into stages like slices of bread. Perhaps they can lead you to more suggestions.
The Princess and the Rock
The Princess and the Rock
Discussing – What can we see out of our window?
What can you see out of your window? What can you only see in your home? Can you see it through the window? What else makes you special as a family? Do you have a favorite song, or an activity you like to do together? Is there a fixed ritual on special occasions in your family, or something that will always make you all laugh? Perhaps there is a phrase or word that you have invented, or a word with a special meaning, that only your own family members understand? What is missing from your family that you wish to add? Something that would be seen through your window – a character, object, or animal? Perhaps something on which you could play a song?
It’s Me
Playing – it's me!
Who is this child? And who is this adult? – You may want to play a family game for boys, girls, adults, and children:
In each game round, a member of your family will think of one of the participants, and describe them indirectly. For instance: “The child I have in mind likes to play ball”, or: “The person I have in mind likes to drink coffee in the afternoon”. After the participant is described, everyone has to guess who the child or adult the player is thinking of is. You could also add friends and relatives with which all participants are familiar that are not physically present.
It’s Me
suggestions for game cards and arts & crafts can be found on the PJLibrary Pinterest page.
It’s Me
Proposed Family Activities:
- You may want to read the book over together several times. You could stop on each page and ask your child: “What will George do?”. Your child could repeat the phrase “Oh no, George!” out loud.
- Perhaps you may enjoy using a stuffed animal or making a simple puppet with which to act the story out together. You could walk around the house with it, looking for various “temptations”. What will your stuffed animal or puppet do in each room? How will it behave? Will it manage to restrain itself?
- You may like to leaf through the book together, looking for various items in the illustrations, such as the cake, cat, or flowers. How many times does each of them appear in the story?
- This story describes George’s contention with the things he is not allowed to do. But surely George does some things he is allowed to do as well! You may want to think together of some of the good things George likes to do, and invent your own story, entitled Oh yes, George!
- The book ends with the question: “What will George do?”. Perhaps you might like to tack on a different ending to the story together.
Oh No, George!
Did you know where the name Sabich originated before reading this story?
What do you know about your own family members’ names? Are they biblical? Are any of you named after a relative? Perhaps, like Sabba Sabich, your name or your child’s comes from a foreign language? You may want to discuss your names, their origin and meaning together, and tell your child what made you choose their name for them. Perhaps your child would enjoy making a decorated sign with their name on it, and hang it on their bedroom door.
Sabba Sabich
Sabba Sabich came to Israel from Iraq. Where did your family come from?
How long has your family been living in Israel? Which country did it come from? Perhaps you could make a world map, and draw arrows on it denoting the path travelled by your family until their arrival in Israel. You may wish to share your own immigration stories with your child, or those of their grandparents. What did you like about the country you came from? What do you like about Israel? What sort of hardships and successes did you experience? Has any member of your family changed their name upon arrival in Israel?
Sabba Sabich
Sabba Sabich says each community brought with it "a language, songs, names, and traditions"
You may want to teach your child a few words in the language spoken by their grandparents. Together you could recollect special customs and songs, which you could teach and sing with your child. They could also read this book with older members of the family, such as uncles, aunts, or grandparents. Perhaps by doing so they will be told more family stories they had not heard before.
Sabba Sabich
Do you make Sabich for breakfast?
Pizza, falafel, kreplach, Jahnun... Which dishes are typical of your community? You may enjoy preparing a special meal together consisting of dishes typical to your family’s place of origin. You could teach your child how to make traditional food, and even create a family cookbook.
Sabba Sabich
Keren and Or in making Sabich together!
Ingredients for home-made Sabich
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Sliced, fried eggplant
- Finely chopped salad
- Pitta bread
- Hot sauce (Schug), Amchur (Amba) (optional)
- Hummus
- Tahini
Method:
Peel the eggs (ask your child to look for the description in the book!), place one pitta bread on a plate and put hummus on it, with or without hot sauce (schug) or amchur (amba). Add the eggplant, sliced egg, and salad.
Season with salt and pepper, and put a spoonful of tahini on top.
Bon Appetit!
Enjoy reading and discussing the book together!
Sabba Sabich
Proposed Family Activities
- You may want to look at the special illustrations by Gilad Soffer The book looks a little like a comic strip. How easily did you read it out loud? Did you notice that the word “Shafan” on the front cover was struck through? You could perhaps discuss this line across the word. Was it a printing error?
- Comic books are for readers of all ages! They describe the plot in words and illustrations, forming a sophisticated technique that adds another level of meaning to the written words of the story. You may enjoy picking a well-known story, or make up your own, and create a comic book out of it together using speech bubbles. You could take a look at the parts of the book that are so illustrated, and discover what facial expressions, body language, and the use of colors tell us that we couldn’t have known just by reading the words. Notice, for instance, how content the magician looks, compared to the upset look on the rabbit’s face.
- Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? How did you feel? Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts, and think together what we could do to ensure others call us by our real names.
- This book is full of humor, and appeals to readers of all ages. Did both you and your child find the same parts amusing?
- Can you differentiate between a rabbit and hyrax? An eagle and vulture? An ostrich and emeu? You may want to make a “confusing animal dictionary” in which you write and draw the animals whose names we tend to confuse. During your next visit to the zoo, you’ll be sure to get them right. You could also make a card game, with pictures and names of animals that need to be matched.
- You may also enjoy making a hyrax and rabbit out of playdough, and use them to act the story out.
- Perhaps you could look for illustrated books at home or in the library that mention hyraxes or rabbits, and check whether the illustrators drew them accurately, or got confused.
- You may also want to discuss the rabbit’s feelings throughout the book. Why is he so offended at being called “shafan”? And why do you think he remains unhappy all the way to the end of the book?
Shafan (Hyrax)
Family Activities
You don’t have to stand on your head to see the world upside down! You may want to think together with your child what makes each of us different than others, even “upside-down” in relation to others (appearance, pastimes, opinions, talents, etc.)? How do your family members’ uniqueness and various perspectives contribute to the family as a whole?
You may like to think about the various characters together, and how each one reacts when they discover Shufon’s difficulty. Perhaps you would enjoy creating a dialog between two owls in different points along the book, and discuss with your child the change undergone by the entire owl community.
Sometimes what one person finds hard, another achieves with ease. In order to experience backward reading, you may want to write a word on a piece of paper and put it against a mirror. Look at the word’s reflection. Can you figure out what it says?
Following the story, you may enjoy having a reading ball at home! Each family member can bring their favorite book to the ball, and explain why they had chosen it. You can read the books together, relish the wordplay, and even feast on special refreshments (such as letter-shaped cookies or food associated with one of the books).
Wordplay:
You could look through the book and search for the blue words. Ask your child what sets them apart from the other words in the book, and why they think they were printed in a different color.
You may want to explain to your child that words that read the same left to right and right to left are called palindromes. You may like to think of other palindromes together (such as mom, dad, eye) and enjoy some wordplay.
Some of the words in the book have different meanings when read backwards. You may want to look for these examples and think of other words that create new words when read backwards.
The Backward Owl
Proposed Family Activities
- You may enjoy looking at the illustrations together. Which toys do Noam and Elad play with? What does your child enjoy playing with – be it with their siblings, friends, or on their own?
- “Noam didn’t mean to fight with Elad, Noam didn’t mean to slap his hand”: You may want to ask your child how it is that Noam did not mean to fight and slap? Have you ever had a similar experience?
- We all make mistakes sometimes. You may want to share an incident with your child in which you felt the need to say you’re sorry. Was it difficult for you to do? How did you feel after apologizing?
- You may enjoy looking at the final illustration, and reflect together about the final lines of the story. Why are both brothers happy? Who, in your opinion, is happier?
- Noam and Elad are brothers, but they’re also best friends. Who is friends with your child? What do they enjoy doing together? After reading this story, you may want to invite a friend of your child’s over to play.
How do you say “I’m sorry”?