The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

I Can Wait written & illustrated by Rikki Benenfeld Hachai, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Chava Pinchuck Buy at Hachai A brother and sister learn to wait as they go through their weekly activities. Rhyming couplets with easy words narrate the story. On Sunday, the boy wakes up early, but refrains from drumming until everyone else wakes up. The kids wait for rides to school, wait for a doctor's appointment, wait for Mommy to finish talking on the phone, wait for their father to bring their pizza order, and wait to cross the street. On Friday, the children wait for the challah dough to rise and wait for a taste of chocolate cake. Then they don their special clothes that they have waited to wear. The book ends with the ultimate wait - "For Moshiach to come quickly B'mheira, b'yomeinu!" Rikki Benefeld writes and illustrates "The Toddler Experience Series" for Hachai, and the consistent style of illustration throughout the series will be immediat...

The Traveling Smile written and illustrated by Rikki Benenfeld Hachai Publishing Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Chava Pinchuck   Buy at Hachai.com   Rikki Benefeld is a prolific author of many books for Hachai. On the one hand, it is nice for children to recognize the style of the writing and the pictures. On the other, it looks very much like her other books. A young boy wakes up in a good mood, and his happiness is infectious. He hugs his mother, and she smiles. He gives his sister some of his muffin, and she smiles. Each person "passes" a smile onto another person, until it comes full circle when a girl smiles at an older woman, who is the grandmother of the original boy. She had brought her smile along for a visit. After these encounters, the refrain repeats, "Share a smile happy and strong. And watch those smiles travel along!" The book is dedicated in memory of a man who followed the precept of Pirkei Avos and "greeted everyone with a pleasant countena...