Chil­dren’s

Remark­able Park

Pat­ti Argoff; Bracha Goetz, illus.
  • Review
By – September 1, 2011
A young boy and girl explore a park in which chick­ens, owls, par­rots, leop­ards, giraffes, tur­tles and a cow roam free. Each ani­mal is sup­posed to teach Jew­ish midos (traits) and avo­das Hashem (wor­ship of G‑d). For exam­ple, we learn how to be calm from cows, because they give and give,” an ant teach­es chil­dren to try and try, and frogs give thanks to Hashem by croak­ing rib­bit, rib­bit. From trees we learn how to treat guests, since trees give us free juice and food. The text is unin­ter­est­ing and does not make sense in some places. Pat­ti Argoff’s attrac­tive illus­tra­tions of con­tin­u­ous­ly smil­ing chil­dren and ani­mals are well drawn and col­or­ful, although not very com­pelling. Ages 3 – 5.
Ilka Gor­don has a Mas­ters in Edu­ca­tion from Boston Uni­ver­si­ty and an M.L.I.S. from Kent State Uni­ver­si­ty. She is a librar­i­an at Sie­gal Col­lege of Juda­ic Stud­ies in Cleveland.

Discussion Questions