“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?
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.
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.
Many books for toddlers have a recurring phrase that helps them follow the storyline and play a part in the reading. To emphasize the recurring phrase while reading this book, you can use a special voice, add a hand gesture, or change your reading pace. When the familiar phrase comes up, your toddlers will be delighted to join you. Ora Ayal [1946-2011] was a children’s writer and illustrator. She illustrated over 70 books, among them Miriam Roth’s well-known books, as well as writing some herself, such as A Girl Alone and One Dark Night.
Visits are a significant part of a toddler’s world. We visit family and friends, and sometimes, they visit us. You can discuss and ask: Who did we visit? What did we do during our visit? Who shall we invite over to our house?
At the corner of each page there is an illustration that hints at the encounter we will see on the following page. Before you turn the page, you may want to look at the illustrated clue and guess who will be waiting for you on the following page. You can even play with real-life objects: Cover an item almost entirely, and ask your toddler what is hiding under the cover – a teddy-bear? Hat? Or purse?
The final page of the book is a story in itself, containing many illustrated details. You may enjoy looking for the many details in the illustrations that you have come across throughout the book: a dog, girl, hat or flower. You can even try to identify and name the items at Grandma’s house: Where is the kettle? What is hanging on the wall?
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 be read a single page, get familiar with it until – hey – books have become their friends!
We can make interesting discoveries if we only pay a little attention. You may enjoy discussing what you see as you walk or take a drive: “Here is a red car!” “I see clouds. What do you see?” You can also share experiences with your toddler: “On my way to work today, I saw a lady walking her dog. What did you see on your way or back from daycare?”
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 can also have your own morning ritual. For example, you can encourage your toddler to say good-bye a beloved stuffed toy: “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 can 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 can 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!
How many rooms does your house have? And what do you do in each one? You may want to look around and think: What do we really need, and what could we forego? You could discuss your own home, or imaginary ones. You parents could tell your children about the house in which you lived when you were their age: What are the differences and similarities between your childhood home and the current one?
You can be builders too! You can build a house of Legos, cardboard boxes, pillows, or any other material. How about decorating the structure you’ve built, and asking your parents to help you write the name of the street it’s on. And who would you want to invite over to the house you’ve built?
You may enjoy looking at the illustrations and discovering the other houses that appear in them: Who is building a house? And who is carrying one on their back?
Look at the final illustration at the end of the book, where the main character is living in a single room: Which items does it contain? Would you have removed any of them, and brought in others in their stead? Which items found in your home would you have added to the room depicted in the illustration? You could take turns and have each family member pick an item in the illustration and decide whether or not they would leave it in the illustrated room, and if not, which item from your own home they would have placed there instead.
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.
Authoress Dvora Omer (1932–2013) wrote dozens of books and stories for infants, children, and young adults. She began writing as a child, and continued as she grew older: “When I became a teacher, I began to write for children, and have published many books since then”. Omer wrote historical books for children that centered on prominent figures in the old Yishuv, as well as adventure stories, imaginative tales, folktales, jokes, and books about the challenges faced by both children and adolescents. Dvora Omer won many literature and children’s literature awards, and in 2006 was awarded the Israel Prize for her contribution to Israeli culture.
During Chanukah, parents and children, families and friends, at home and in kindergarten, celebrate the Festival of Lights together. After candle lighting, you can talk about the way you celebrated Chanukah when you, parents, were younger, adding and sharing stories you heard told in your family, singing an old family song, or preparing your favorite food.
Would you like to have your very own mystery box? How about taking a cardboard box, decorating it, and hiding your favorite items in it? Let’s see who can guess which items you hid in it. And what did the rest of your family hide there?
Following this story, you could play hide and seek, and search for one another. You could even hide a dreidel in various places around the house, using clues, arrows or other signs to help others discover its hiding-place.
With the candles lit beside us, and the smell of doughnuts in the air, you could pretend to be dreidels yourselves. You could be a “turtle dreidel” and spin slowly, an “airplane dreidel” – spinning and spreading your arms wide, or a “bear dreidel” that trudges heavily. And what else?
Where is the solution to this riddle? – This book was designed in such a way, that one page asks the riddle, and the next, provides the answer to it. You may want to ask your child to guess the answer before turning the page: completing the rhyme could help. No idea what it could be? Let your child turn the page and find out.
Look at the last illustration together. Illustrator Ora Ayal hid the answers to all the riddles in it. Are you able to find them? Can you recall a riddle associated with one of the details in this picture? You may enjoy trying to come up with a story containing as many of the answers to the riddles as you can.
Choose an item, and use each round of the game to describe one of its characteristics. For instance: “It rolls”. Your child must discover which item you had in mind. Now switch.
You could ask your grandparents, friends, and relatives the riddles in this book. Perhaps they could even ask you some riddles, and see whether you were able to solve them.
We have prepared some cards for you, which you can print out and use in this game of riddles, called “what’s missing?”
Lay out 3 or 4 cards. Now ask one of the players to close their eyes, and remove one card. When the player whose eyes were shut opens them again, you can ask them a riddle to remind them which is the missing card.
Note – the number of cards you play with should depend on the child’s ability.
“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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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?
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?
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.
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.
A Story that Anat Especially Likes 
One Bright Morning 
A Young Boy Went to Kindergarten 
All Kinds of Animals and Me 
Why is the Zebra Wearing Pajamas? 
Hide & Seek 
There’s A Rabbit on The Train 
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… 
Elik Belik 
One Hundred Rooms 
Itamar Meets a Rabbit 
The Big Dreidel 
What’s That? What Could it be? 
If Only 
The Sixteenth Sheep 
It’s Me 
Sheluli 
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׁלּוּב הַסֵּפֶר
מִשְׂחָק
הַעֲשָׁרָה
מִשְׂחָק
קְרִיאָה
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
מִשְׂחָק
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
יְצִירָה
חֵקֶר
שִׂיחָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
יְצִירָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
הַעֲשָׁרָה
שִׂיחָה
יְצִירָה
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
מִשְׂחָק
קְרִיאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
מִשְׂחָק
מִשְׂחָק
שִׂיחָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
מִשְׂחָק
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
שֵׁמַע
בִּשּׁוּל
יְצִירָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׁלּוּב הַסֵּפֶר
סִרְטוֹנִים
שִׂיחָה
סִרְטוֹנִים
מִשְׂחָק
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
