Recently, a fellow in Los Angeles sent me a copy of a children's book he wrote, titled Dream: A Jewish Bedtime Book. His letter informed me that it was the first of a line of full-color storybooks being brought out by Pigment & Hue, a West Hollywood, Calif., company that is better known for its coloring books. It was priced at $6.95.

" Hah!"  I thought.  "What do I know about children's books?"  I resolved to send the reviewer's sample immediately to Sharon Gruby, our book editor, who is far better qualified to judge such things.  She is a teacher at the Children's School at La Jolla.

While I was thinking this, I also was running my fingers over the smooth surface of the book, and admiring the bright colors of the illustrations.  My grandson, Shor, was nearby, so I lifted him onto my lap and began to read aloud.  In the pleasant cadences of author and illustrator Howard M. Kurtz, I found myself telling my grandson about the Jewish world which I love, a world filled with activity and with kindness 

Once you've said the Sh'ma, and you're ready for bed,
and the thoughts of your busy day now fill your head,
in your dreams
you can journey through time and through space
exploring experiences you might embrace.

The 24-page book went on to talk about visiting foreign places and seeing their Jewish traditions, picturing the great synagogue in Florence, Italy-which only last week was the subject of a HERITAGE story by Norman Greene. 

Then it told about some of the experiences one can have in Israel - and I thought that in a very simplified way it conveyed the mood expressed by Jan Landau, principal of the San Carlos campus of the San Diego Jewish Academy, in another recent story that appeared in HERITAGE.

In Kurtz's dreamscape, travelers to Israel could also pop over to New York's Fifth Avenue to watch a parade honoring Israel's Independence Day, or fly into space for another kind of adventure.  Of course, the latter might present a little problem, Kurtz muses.  How do you know in space when Shabbat begins and ends?

Integrated into Kurtz's illustrations were various words in Hebrew, each of which I read to Shor - although I know it won't be long before he will be confidently translating Hebrew script for me.  He is being raised bilingually.  His father, Shahar, speaks to him in Hebrew.  His mother, Sandi (aka my daughter) speaks to him in English. 

The text wove references into the travelogue about Jewish religious traditions and holidays, whetting my grandson's appetite for the joys of Shabbat, Tu B'Shevat, Torah study, posting mezuzahs on doorposts, and, best of all, for the concepts of doing mitzvot and giving tzedakah. 

You can gather 
your spare pennies,
nickels and dimes
and donate them; 
some folks
need help 
in rough times. 

Other suggested activities included sharing a meal with a hungry person; reading to one who is blind; enjoying the memories of senior citizens; visiting the sick, and donating toys to children without any.

Since that first time, I have found occasions to put Shor onto my lap many times.   Dream: A Jewish Bedtime Book has become one of our favorite books to read. I owe Sharon Gruby a big apology: I never sent the review book to her. 

Even though Shor just turned four months old, and hasn't exactly verbalized an opinion, I am quite sure he likes this book almost as much as I do.   When we read it together, he sits quietly on my lap, and sometimes runs his hand over the book's smooth pages, in obvious imitation of his grandfather.

I think he knows that when we get to the part in the book about travel in Israel, his saba will make a funny face when he reads an off-rhyme about a "moshav" and "jobs."  But then, as I explain to Shor, there really aren't many words in English that do rhyme with moshav.

I'm quite sure that Shor knows how much I enjoy the last page of the book, not because the reading session is over - we often turn the book over and start reading it again - but because he is becoming addicted to puns, and might someday decide he wants to be a Jewish newspaper editor too.

The last page, with emphasis added,  reads:

So dream of your HERITAGE,
and as you do,
all these timeless traditions
are possible for you.