Continue family traditions with a little help from PJ Library

When you think back on your childhood, one of the first memories that likely pops into your head is cuddling in bed with mom and dad while they read bedtime stories to you until you doze off. It’s the moment that little ones wait for the entire day – the parent’s attention is focused on them, undivided and whole. Most of the time, it’s the parent who selects the books, subtly influencing the child’s tastes, steering him toward particular topics, authors and genres.

Often, parents deliberate the choice of book at length before deciding to share it – they know that they’ll probably be reading that same book more than once, or 10 times, to be realistic. After all, when children fall in love with a story, they want to hear it over and over, discovering novel nuances upon each reading. Sometimes, the parents learn as well, depending on how tired they are. But no matter how exhausted mom and dad are, they make time for the practice because reading to kids is their way of passing on traditions to the next generation – the same approach their parents used to instill love of reading and literature in them.

During Hanukkah, children are more attuned to rituals, so it’s particularly important to carry on the nighttime reading to your little ones. What if you didn’t have to spend the time figuring out which selections are worthy of your child? Bonding with your son or daughter might be a better way to use those minutes. Luckily, PJ Library’s latest holiday offerings are terrific. In Rhode Island, 527 children look forward to opening their mailboxes every month to discover the stories and music to fall in love with next. Some Hanukkah favorites from recent years included Maxine Rose Schur’s “The Peddler’s Gift,” which won the 1999 Sydney Taylor Award for Younger Readers, and Eric Kimmel’s “Hanukkah Bear,” a recipient of the 2013 National Jewish Book Award for Illustrated Children’s Books. This season, Barbara Brown’s “Hanukkah in Alaska,” a 2014 Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Younger Readers award recipient, steals the show.

If your children are between the ages of 6 months and six years old, and you’d like to enroll them in this Jewish literacy and engagement program, you may do so at no charge. Email Michelle Cicchitelli, director of Jewish Life at the Alliance, at MCicchitelli@JewishAllianceRI.org or call her at 401-421-4111, ext. 178. Or, you can log on to pjlibrary.org and fill out the enrollment form, making sure to select RI as your community (it includes parts of southeastern Massachusetts). Cicchitelli suggests that you also follow PJ Library Rhode Island on Facebook and subscribe to their monthly newsletter to learn about PJ Story Time happenings and family activities throughout the state.

IRINA MISSIURO is a writer and editorial consultant for The Jewish Voice.