It's a Mitzvah, Grover! (Sesame Street: Shalom Sesame)

Perfect gift for any Jewish school! My sons 2’s class loved this!

Grandbabe loves this story

I bought this for my 2 year old nephew. He loves Jewish books and loves Sesame Street. When my sister received the book, she said that some of the pages are out of order and the first page of the book is repeated in the middle of the book. We emailed the publisher, but never heard back.

**3.5 stars**I learn something new everyday- who knew there was a whole separate Sesame Street for Jews???[...]So here is the scoop: I am Jewish but not religious and my husband is atheist (but from a Christian family). We celebrate everything but a lot of times, the Jewish holidays and stuff get lost in the shuffle. Let's face it, compared to all of the FUN of Christian holidays, sometimes Judaism is a hard sell. So I was thinking that this book looked like a fun way to blend some Judaism with Sesame Street, which my kids love.However, I soon realized that this book is not for the general population of Sesame Street watchers. The characters are all different (apparently from the Jewish version) and you have to have some prior knowledge of them or else it is a bit confusing. Still, the message that this book teaches is a good one (about helping others, what could be wrong with that?!) and cleaning our environment.I think for the right reader this would be a home run, but it isn't quite right for my kids. I'm still giving it 4 stars because the book was very cute and did a good job teaching about Mitzvahs.**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Grover sat in his little purple chair getting ready to write to all his friends about all his friends on Israel's television show, Rechov Sumsum. It was really a lot like Sesame Street and while he was there he learned all about "tikkun alam." When Grover first heard those Hebrew words from Brosh he scratched his head when he explained, "It means `repairing the world.'" The playground they were on was a BIG mess with broken swings and all kinds of litter scattered about. There was even a sneaker on the grass. Avigail and Mahboub were all excited and wanted to help clean up everything and "paint the swings, slide, and seesaw."Brosh explained that they were "doing a `mitzvah'" when they repaired their playground. That blue finger went right back up to Grover's head to give it a little scratch because he didn't know what that Hebrew word meant either. While everyone got out the trash bags and put some paint in the wagon, Brosh explained that "It means to do something nice for others." On the way they ran into Moishe in his trash can and asked if he wanted to help with their mitzvah. "Forget it! I don't like helping, and I don't want to do a mitzvah," he claimed. Was there any way they could get that grouch to help?This is a fun story about how Grover's friends taught him all about doing a mitzvah. Grover, Brosh, Avril, and Mahboub want to make the world a better place by cleaning up the playground, but of course grumpy old Moishe had no intention of helping. In this book young children will learn the importance of a mitzvah as they see several examples of the characters helping out one another. The fun little twist at the end shows how even Moishe learns to help others. If you want to help little ones learn how Grover and his friends learned about a commandment while being nice to each other, this would be the perfect book to add to your list!This book courtesy of the publisher.

Do you think your little ones are to young to learn Hebrew? It's easier that you think with Grover of Sesame Street and some of his friends. Grover is visiting Israel and is invited to help a few friends clean up a neighborhood park after a storm. Brosh teaches him about Tikkun Olam, which means to repair the world. As a result Grover and his pals are doing a Mitzvah, which means doing something nice for others. Young readers will get a kick out of these wonderful characters. Readers will learn Hebrew, colors, shapes and even what items in the trash can be recycled. This fun colorful read introduces young readers to keep an open mind to cultures and new experiences.

Grover and his friends from Rechov Sumsum (an Israeli co-production of Sesame Street) come together to help out with tikkun olam (doing good deeds to help make the world a better place). A storm has gone through the playground and they come together to clean it up, which includes picking up debris and trash. They also have fun picking out what colors they want to paint the playground with and making new colors they can use by mixing some of those same colors together. There are examples described and illustrated throughout the story about how Grover and his friends each have done something to make the world a better place.This children's book promoted for children ages 2-6 showed that anybody can help make the better place, and that even if the project is big it can be taken on by a group of people and finished much quicker. A group project can also be looked at as working individually within a group if people are given different parts of the project to complete. Doing good deeds such as described in this book can rub off onto people who wouldn't normally want to participate in tikkun olam also. We may get dirty on the outside in the process of completing the acts of mitzvah but our hearts might often might feel cleaner when we are finished.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a free copy of this book from Kar-Ben Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.