Who's that Sleeping in my Sofabed?
Kindergarten-Grade 1-A story told from the Orthodox Jewish perspective. Yoni is excited about his family's new blue sofa. That very night, he realizes that he has grown too big to sleep comfortably in his own bed, so his mother allows him to sleep on the sofa bed, where he can stretch out under the gentle breeze from the ceiling fan. For the next three nights, however, different guests occupy the bed: a rabbi, a scribe, and a bridegroom. Finally, Yoni's grandmother comes to baby-sit overnight and yields the guest bed to her grandson. While stretched out on it, the child imagines his grandmother cramped in his little bed and realizes that he should give up his comfort for someone he loves. Only then do his parents decide that maybe he does need a larger bed. The illustrations are gentle, depicting Yoni's kippah and tzit-tzit. The text is peppered with Ashkenazic Hebrew references to Orthodox practice and belief. The message is a bit heavy-handed, but given the dearth of picture books showing Orthodox Jewish children in everyday life, this book might serve a purpose.Martha Link, Louisville Free Public Library, KYCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.