Green Bean Books

Lights in the Night

Take a peek inside

Written by Chris Barash
Illustrated by Maya Shleifer

Price: £10.99 / $11.99
Pages: 8
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781784386603

Book available from: November 2021

Highlights

  • Charming picture book for young children told in rhyme

  • Glow-in-the-dark book for bedtime

  • Teaches children about light and dark

  • Celebrates the different elements of Shabbat

Description

In this charming picture book for young children, the magic of Shabbat is celebrated through light.

As the sun goes down on a Friday evening and darkness descends, different sources of light welcome in the Sabbath: candles, lanterns, the moon and stars, fireflies, nightlights and then the next morning, the sunrise.

Told in gently rhythmic rhyming couplets and beautifully illustrated throughout, this is an enchanting exploration of light and dark, and a journey through the various rituals and delights of Shabbat.

Author Details

Chris Barash works for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and is a former Jewish day school teacher and principal. She is the author of more than a dozen books for children, including a series of Jewish holiday books.

Illustrator Details

Maya Shleifer is a multidisciplinary illustrator and designer. Born in the former USSR, she immigrated to Israel at the age of 16. After completing her studies at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, she worked as a designer and art director for various publications. She soon began showcasing her own editorial illustrations, and at about the same time, she started work on her first children’s books. Today her titles have wide recognition in Israel, and are exhibited in the country’s major museums.

Reviews

‘This gentle story of Shabbat is told through not only the prism of the candles we light on Friday night, but also the other sources of light that illuminate our way and comfort us, including a nightlight that comforts a child until morning. The book follows an unnamed child and his parents as they head out to a coastal Shabbat picnic. The soothing mostly gray and yellow color palette complements the rhyming text perfectly. With glow-in-the-dark ink (hold the pages under a flashlight for a bit first), this oversized board book will delight young readers.’  Rachel Fremmer, The Tablet

‘Lights in the Night, a brief, poet­ic med­i­ta­tion on Shab­bat, is per­fect for intro­duc­ing chil­dren to the week­ly seren­i­ty that is cen­tral to Jew­ish life. Alter­nat­ing between impres­sion­is­tic pic­tures of a fam­i­ly wel­com­ing the Sab­bath with black-and-white draw­ings that actu­al­ly glow when held under a light, this book is both beau­ti­ful and acces­si­ble to young read­ers. Chris Barash’s rhyming text is elo­quent, and Maya Shleifer’s pic­tures present peo­ple who are root­ed both in their home and in the greater world… Shab­bat is both a time apart from the nor­mal world and a chance to enjoy its won­ders unin­ter­rupt­ed by ordi­nary demands. Barash and Shleifer have cap­tured this para­dox per­fect­ly for chil­dren and their families.’ – Jewish Book Council

‘Told in gently rhythmic rhyming couplets and beautifully illustrated throughout, this is an enchanting exploration of light and dark, and a journey through the various rituals and delights of Shabbat.’  — Jewish Book World