Zal­man is a young boy who walks out of the house with a clean pair of tzitz­it and a clean kip­pa on his head every day. Every day he comes home after school, or after vis­it­ing a neigh­bor or play­ing with friends, with dirty tzitz­it. Each time, his moth­er makes a disap­pointed com­ment, ​“Oh Zal­man. More tzitz­it dirt and kip­pa grime?” With­out expla­na­tion, Zal­man apol­o­gizes and goes to wash up. The read­er is privy to what the moth­er is not; he has been per­form­ing acts of chesed, help­ing oth­ers, and, through those activ­i­ties, he has got­ten dirty. For Zalman’s ninth birth­day, his moth­er plans a sur­prise par­ty and asks friends to qui­et­ly invite oth­er friends and neigh­bors. The par­ty opens his mother’s eyes to the won­der­ful chesed Zal­man has been doing and to the source of the dirt and grime.

The illus­tra­tions are bright and invit­ing. The boys wear tzitziy­ot and kipot and the women are dressed in long sleeves and skirts. The sto­ry and the pic­tures are sure to inspire young­sters to want to help oth­ers and the adult read­ers to think twice before complain­ing about dirt and mess. Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 4 – 8.