Traveling to Israel

Being summer time I guess I have been thinking of traveling. Unfortunately because of my current health condition I am not able to travel. So, I am spending my summer traveling vicariously through the pages of books. What a wonderful way to visit so many different places, explore, and still be able to sleep in my own bed each night!

Sammy Spider's First Trip to Israel
by Sylvia Rouss

So today I traveled to Israel with a colorful little spider. Actually Sammy, the little spider, is a stowaway in a model airplane given to a young boy, Josh,right before he and his family leave on a family trip to Israel. As the family travels through Israel, Sammy learns the various meanings of "Shalom" (hello, goodbye, & peace). He also describes his experiences strolling along Disengoff Street, on a farm, the Western Wall, the Negev desert, the beaches of Eilat, floating in the Dead Sea, and then celebrating Shabbat at the synagogue using his five senses (I didn't realize spiders had five senses like people, but it is a fictional story, right?). When he returns home he reviews each of the senses as he describes his adventure to his mother.

The illustrations are bright and cheerful and seem to be created using cut / torn paper (solids and possibly handmade and dyed). The detail included in the illustrations is wonderful considering there are no drawn elements.The Jewish culture is depicted in a respectful manner and clearly gives a broad picture of the various areas to travel while in Israel.

The text and illustrations for this book have a copyright year of 2002. I believe the ebook version is how this book is being re-released at this point. There are ten other titles in the Sammy Spider Ebook series. Kar-Ben Publishing is a division of Lerner Publishing Group dedicated to publishing "fiction, nonfiction, and activity books reflecting the rich diversity of today's Jewish community".

I would recommend this title to be included the ebook collection of libraries serving young children. I don't believe the title should be restricted to libraries with a large Jewish population as this story can be informative not only on travel, Israel, and the Jewish culture, but also the five senses, which we all have in common.

*To comply with new guidelines introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, Kar-Ben Publishing has provided a complimentary electronic copy of this book through NetGalley.com.