Mod­eh Ani is a sweet book that gen­tly guides chil­dren through the morn­ing bless­ings. Start­ing sim­ply with ​“Thank you God for wak­ing me from my sleep,” author Sarah Ger­sh­man care­ful­ly choos­es con­cepts impor­tant to each prayer, then finds the per­fect words to con­vey them to her young audi­ence. The author has been pre­vi­ous­ly suc­cess­ful with her first book, the Syd­ney Tay­lor Award win­ning, Bed­time Sh’ma. While the major­i­ty of prayers are in Eng­lish, The She­ma is includ­ed in Hebrew as well, and is even translit­er­at­ed for easy read­ing. At the end of the book you’ll find longer excerpts from the Morn­ing Bless­ings, in both Eng­lish and Hebrew. Kristi­na Swarner’s gen­tle pas­tel illus­tra­tions fol­low a girl as she opens her eyes to a brand new day. As the child goes through her morn­ing we see all that she is thank­ful for: eyes that open, peo­ple that love her and an excit­ing world to explore with each new day. Many children’s books become bed­time favorites, read over and over while par­ent and child snug­gle togeth­er at the end of a busy day. Mod­eh Ani will cre­ate a spe­cial calm­ness in the begin­ning of the day, remind­ing us all to take a moment to appre­ci­ate the world around us. Preschool – Grade 1.