The Story of Sarah Schenirer
Once upon a time there was a woman with a pet peeve about how stories about our leaders were written. She thought it was awful that they were either written in very childish form for little ones and totally talked down to elementary age children or they were written for that age with a vocabulary that went right over their heads. She wrung her hands and did nothing.
But someone else did.
When (Rebbetzin) Sarah Feldbrand published a short biography for children on the Baal Shem Tov (Israel Bookshop) I was very wary. I hid it in my room reading it first so that I could discern who it was appropriate for. I couldn't risk ANOTHER disappointing biography that would turn my kids off from reading that sort of book. I wanted them to love reading any book with a positive message but I felt that there was a special space for biographies and stories of our leaders. The book was fabulous in that its vocabulary kept it very age appropriate for the young elementary student. It had a few black and white illustrations throughout the book making it possible for my fourth grade twins to enjoy without feeling overwhelmed.
I read the stories aloud to my seven year old and to a five year old neighbor and they wouldn't let me stop. I knew we had a winner.
When I saw "The Story of Sarah Schenirer" by the same author (& illustrated by Racheli David) in the same format--I was so so grateful. The font is larger than many books for this age and I think that was an excellent move. It made it more reader-friendly for the heavier content.
The biography did not gloss over the hardships Sarah Schenirer experienced. In fact, I was very glad that many of those challenges were included so that the reader could appreciate how great a success each school and each enrollment was.
At the end of the book, I realized I'd learned nothing new about Sarah Schenirer that I didn't know. And I realized that to my children....almost ALL of it was new. I don't know how I never realized it before. To these yummy kids, Bais Yaakov is such a given that they never even thought "who came up with this?" I asked one of my girls that question and she said "I never thought about it. I thought it was always like this." Sure, my older ones knew more but even they knew so so little about the blood, sweat and tears that went into building a chinuch system for girls.
I honestly can't wait for the next book in this very important series! (And the price point is wonderful!)
You can purchase it here:
http://www.israelbookshoppublications.com/store/pc/The-Story-of-Sarah-Schenirer-p1206.htm