Next up in my series of book lists featuring folktale picture books are these Jewish folktales for kids. These stories and folklore books are great to read anytime of year, but as May is Jewish American Heritage Month I hope you will put a few of these titles on hold at the library for reading right now.
Most of these Jewish stories and folklore for children come out of the Yiddish, or Eastern European Jewish experience. I have deliberately chosen books which are not Old Testament stories, but a few of them do mention specific religious practices, such as the Sabbath meal, or a holiday celebration.
Please do not feel that these books are not relevant to you if you are not Jewish. First of all, I firmly believe we should expose our children to the culture and traditions of all walks of life. How else will they understand their own? Secondly, all of these folktales have themes which transcend cultural and religious boundaries.
Like many folktale traditions, many of these stories and legends have a healthy dose of humor but all of them have a moral lesson, whether it's obvious or subtle. (Note: titles and covers are affiliate links.)
Jewish Picture Book Folktales for Kids
MORE: Jewish picture books that are not about the Holocaust
Do you have any Jewish folktales to recommend? Will you be reading these with your kids?
Further resources:
- Learn more about Jewish American Heritage Month.
- Jewish families can sign up for free monthly books from PJ Library.
- The Jewish magazine, Tablet, has an interesting children's book column.
Even in Australia says
Great list! I know most but not all of these. We have a Barefoot book compilation of Jewish folktales but we haven't made it through all of them. There are also lots and lots of books of Elijah stories alone. I'm partial to Elijah's Tears. Nina Jaffe and Howard Schwartz also have lots of collections of Jewish folktales although Schwartz's are more for adult readers or academics.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I don't know those so I'll have to check them out. Thanks for the suggestions.
madelynrosenberg says
Excellent list!!
boymamateachermama says
Gershon's Monster is a favorite here! Thanks for sharing at After School!
Beth Schmelzer says
My favorite Australian folktale is "The Singing Snake!" I love that you have a "comment addiction" as I do also.
Mine isn't fed very often, I am sorry to say!
Love your folktale lists. I will email you some more titles and favorite authors you may want to add to your list.
Thank you for leading me to Amy at http://www.SunLitPages.com and Carolyn at "House Full of Bookworms."
After signing up for both their blog sites, I received a free e-book with many more titles to share! Yeah!!
All these resources will help me with my own middle grade writing.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Enjoy the blogs! I'm so glad to hear you love them.
Amy Hare says
I have been looking for a different version of the traditional yiddish story about how the moon gets a coat. The typical telling is that the tailors end up making the coat. I ran across a version where the seamstresses (the women) made the coat . If anyone knows that version or can point me to it online, I would greatly appreciate knowing how it goes. Thanks for any help.
Tamara says
I highly recommend "something from nothing". I don't know who the author is, but it's a great book about a grandfather teaching a child that you can make something important out of something seemingly disposable.
Erica says
Thanks for the recommendation!
Shaina says
That was one of my favorites as a kid! The illustrations are gorgeous, and there's a little family of mice that live beneath the floorboards of the family's home and collect the scrap fabric -- I used to love watching their house fill up with new fabric items as the piece in the main story got smaller! The lesson I got from that story was also that just because something is damaged doesn't mean it's worthless; sometimes what we think is now useless is actually just a change.
Dede says
“The Spice of the Sabbath” was a wonderful story in an anthology I read to children long ago. I’d love to find it again to read to seniors who would enjoy it.
Norman Perrin says
Found this excellent site while looking up for Jewish stories suitable for 4-5 year olds.
Favorite picture books by Sheldon Oberman
The Wisdom Bird, A tale of Solomon and Sheba
The Always Prayer Shawl The journey of a prayer shawl, each part has been repaired and replaced several times over the generations, yet it is still the same prayer shawl
By the Hanukkah Light The power of story to carry light in the darkness.
Erica says
Thanks for the recommendations.
Joy says
You need to add Phoebe Gilman’s Something From Nothing to this list! It is one of the most beautiful picture books of all time, but underrecognized because it is by a non-US author.
Erica says
Thanks for sharing your recommendation!