What is your favorite place? Is it at home? Is it nearby? Or is it far away from home? You can share with one another: What is your special place, what do you like about it, and what is special about it.
You can find good things everywhere; every place has some beauty. Take turns choosing a place, whether near or far, in Israel or elsewhere, real or imaginary, and have the other participants ask questions about it to discover what makes it so wonderful.
What is happening near your home? Go on a short walk outside, and try to discover how you can do good in your own surroundings: How about picking up litter and placing it in the recycling bin? Or offering people waiting at the bus station a drink of water? Or setting up a library on your street with your neighbors?
Your children’s favorite stuffed animals and other toy animals can also be part of the story: Add or omit one each time as you act the story out together.
The Boy Who Wouldn’t Sleep Alone
שְׁמִירָה
Playing a game of ‘Who is sleeping under the blanket?’
Ask your toddlers to close their eyes, and hide a stuffed or other toy animal under the blanket. When they open their eyes, you, parents, can give them hints as to the identity of the hidden animal, until your toddlers guess what it is. Does it bark? Does it hop around and eat carrots? You could also switch roles, letting your toddlers give you, parents, hints about who is hiding there, underneath the blanket.
We recommend reading the book on your own, before reading it together as a family. Familiarizing yourself with the book in advance will help you read it afterwards at the pace and sequence suitable for your children. Enjoy reading this book together!
Have you ever had to wait for something? Perhaps you could share that experience, and tell each other about anticipation. You could also come up with ideas together of what you could do while waiting, or tell each other what you chose to do in those instances while you waited. What happened in the end?
Look at the final illustrations in this book. Can you find any indications for the birthday party the wolf had almost missed? And which presents did the bunny get? And what was special about the wolf’s gift?
Leaf through this book and decide the order of play. Take turns looking at the illustration you have each selected and acting out the depicted wolf’s motion: Is it going up in the elevator? Or walking on all fours? The other players will have to guess what the wolf is doing.
As our children grow up, they experience various fears, but discussing them helps them to cope with them, while instilling in them a sense of security. Together you can choose to discuss what they find scary, and what helps them overcome their fears.
After reading this book, you may enjoy going to the playground together, and trying out the equipment together as well as separately. Perhaps you would like to invent a special course from the slide to the swing and so on that would bring joy to all of you.
“Hooray, Maayan!” Everyone calls out when Maayan is scared. How do you cheer one another on? Perhaps you could come up with family words of encouragement, find a motivating song, or a chant you all agree on that cheers you up and gives you strength.
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?
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.
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!
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”?
The illustrations in this book demonstrate how Itamar and the rabbit imagined one another versus what they really look like. You may want to check and compare: Do the monsters resemble the real child and rabbit? Are there any similarities between the monsters both Itamar and the rabbit had imagined?
Were you, parents, also afraid when you were younger? Perhaps you could tell your children what you were afraid of, and how you grappled with your fear. You could also listen to your children as they tell you what scares them, and together, think of ways to overcome the fear.
What does a scary monster look like? How about drawing one together, and then trying to imagine: What is the monster’s name? Who are its friends? What does it enjoy doing, and what is it afraid of? Now that you’ve gotten to know the monster, it may be worth asking yourselves whether it is still as scary as it was before.
“Jimalaya Jim! Zuzu buzu Yam Pam Puzu!” Each of the characters in this book has a magic word it uses when something scary happens. What is your magic word? You’re welcome to chose a family magic word together, and think of times when it would be appropriate to use it.
ספרי ילדים הם מראה וחלון לעולמם של ילדים. אפשר למצוא בהם את רגעי הקסם שבילדות וגם את רגעי הקושי. הקריאה בספרים שגיבורי הסיפור בהם נתקלים בשאלות ובאתגרים מאפשרת לילדים ללמוד מהם ולקבל מהם השראה ועידוד. כאשר קוראים יחד כדאי לחשוב כיצד הספר קשור לעולמם של הילדים ולשתף באירועים דומים מילדותכם. הקריאה המשותפת היא בסיס לשיחה ולחיבור ומייצרת הרגשת קִרבה, לאירועי הספר וזה לזה.
קרמר החתול אוהב לשחק במשחקים של חתולים, וגם אתם יכולים! בכל סבב אחד מבני המשפחה בוחר לקפוץ, להתגלגל, ליילל או להרים זנב, וכל השאר מצטרפים. תוכלו להביט באיורים ולקבל רעיונות חתוליים. ..
כאשר מביטים באיורים בספר מגלים כל מיני חיות: כאלה שמכירים מהסביבה הקרובה וכאלה שפוגשים פחות. חפשו את בעלי החיים באיורים; ואם יש חיה שמסקרנת אתכם, תוכלו לחפש עליה מידע במרשתת.
מאיר שלו [2023-1948] היה סופר ועיתונאי, כתב למבוגרים ולילדים. שלו נולד בנהלל וקיבל השראה לכתיבתו מהנופים, מבעלי החיים ומהאנשים של עמק יזרעאל. הושפע גם מסיפורי התנ”ך, שעליהם למד מאביו הסופר והמחנך יצחק שלו. שלו נחשב אחד הסופרים הישראלים הנקראים ביותר, למבוגרים ולילדים כאחד. מספרי הילדים האהובים שכתב הטרקטור בארגז החול ואבא עושה בושות.
יוסי אבולעפיה [נולד ב־1946] מאייר, קריקטוריסט, אנימטור וכותב ספרי ילדים. זכה בפרסים רבים על יצירותיו. אבולעפיה אייר את רוב ספריו של מאיר שלו. איוריו מרובים פרטים ועם זאת קלילים, מחויכים ואוהבי אדם וטבע.
The Bus Stop 
The Boy Who Wouldn’t Sleep Alone 
The Wolf Will not Come 
Up and Over 
Nuri’s Tunnel 
Itamar Meets a Rabbit 
Kramer the Cat Goes into the Forest 
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
סִרְטוֹנִים
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
שֵׁמַע
הַמְחָשָׁה
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
הַעֲשָׁרָה
קְרִיאָה
קְרִיאָה
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
קְרִיאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
חֵקֶר
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
יְצִירָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
הַעֲשָׁרָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
הַעֲשָׁרָה
