Judaism

Judaism Readings for Educators

Bergen, Doris, The Holocaust: A Concise History.
Robinson, George, Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs.
Scheindlin, Raymond, A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood.
Soloman, Norman, Judaism: A Very Short Introduction.

Judaism Readings for the Classroom

Below are two short religious literacy text sets sorted by grades K-3 and 4-5. These can be used in the classroom to engage students in understanding lived religions. Please note that teachers should carefully read and review texts before using them in the classroom to ensure alignment with curricular goals.

Grades K-3

Bullard, Lisa, and Holli Conger. My Religion, Your Religion. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press, 2015. This book provides a multi-perspective story on four major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.

Polacco, Patricia. Mrs. Katz and Tush. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books, 2009. Larnel gets to know Mrs. Katz and her Jewish heritage as an immigrant from Poland.

Rylant, Cynthia. Creation. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books, 2016. This book tells the story of creation from a Judeo-Christian perspective.

Wilson, Anne. Noah’s Ark. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2002. This book retells the story of Noah and the flood.

Grades 4-5

Ajmera, Maya, Magda Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon. Faith. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2009. Photographs document how children around the world celebrate their faith traditions.

Bortzer, Etan, and Robbie Marantz. What Is God? Willowdale, ON: Firefly Juvenile, 2002. This text provides a comparative introduction in text and colorful pictures to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and their sacred texts.

Buller, Laura. A Faith Like Mine: A Celebration of the World’s Religions – Seen through the Eyes of Children. London, England: DK Publication, 2006. A comprehensive informational text provides plenty of pictures that detail the major and even some of the world’s more minor faith traditions.

Glossop, Jennifer, and John Mantha. The Kids Book of World Religions. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2013. An informative text details the major faith traditions of the world.

Hamilton, Virginia, and Barry Moser. In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. Stories about the origins of life from around the world.

Marsico, Katie. Judaism. Ann Arbor, MI: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2017. This text, which is part of the Global Citizens: World Religions series, describes Judaism through text and pictures.

Osborne, Mary Pope. One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship. New York, NY: Knopf, 1996. A non-fiction story uses photographs to detail seven major faith traditions today.

Polacco, Patricia. The Trees of the Dancing Goats. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2011. Jewish and Christian families work together to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas.

__________. Christmas Tapestry. New York, NY: Philomel Books, 2002. This touching story is about two families and two faiths (Christian and Jewish) during the holiday season.