In thinking about my favorite books, I recognize the limits of my attention span these days. I go from perusing my bookshelf and into the children’s room. I hope that I can foster in my own children a love for themselves and a sense of caring and responsibility for humanity. Books are my tools.

I find three books that are of my favorites. “Raisel’s Riddle”, by Erica Silvermanm Illustrated by Susan Gaber, “Bagels from Benny” by Aubrey Davis, illustrated by Dusan Petricic, and “The Keeping Quilt” by Patricia Polacco. I clutch them to my breast. I have read these books aloud many times, and with each reading, I am deeply moved.

“Raisel’s Riddle” is a Purim fable based on the Cinderella story. The fantastic illustrations sweep me off the page and into old world Poland where poor Raisel is raised merely on love and learning. When her grandfather dies, she is left to make a way for herself and finds she is at the mercy of the punishing cook of a rabbi in a large city in Poland. Despite her kind and humble efforts, Raisel feels lost and lonely. As the holiday of Purim draws near, a fantasy unravels where it is not merely Raisel’s beauty that proves her to be a jewel, but her kindness and love of learning.

In “Bagels from Benny” we find ourselves peering at the world through the eyes of a little boy. He boldly questions the workings of God and we take a journey of discovery with him. In the end, he learns that God exists in the relationships between people, in kindness and in nurturing. What better lesson is there than that?

But it is the “Keeping Quilt” that I find my heart reaches to most. Patricia Polacco tells the story of her family leaving the old country, coming to America and creating new generations connected to their heritage. Through a single object, the only portion of the illustrations that is in color, we watch a child go from feeling foreign and lost to being an American great- Grandmother. As each generation grows, the quilt is there for her. Through marriage, childbirth and ultimately death each woman finds comfort in the quilt that anchors them to one another, to family, to tradition. The message is that we are all part of community, part of one another, and we all hold a responsibility to the next generations.

These are messages I want to pass on. So I will read the books again tonight, hoping that with the readings will come a small bit of Tikkun Olam.