Shabbat Shalom, the Trucks Come Home

"This cheery book will great­ly appeal to chil­dren."—Jewish Book Council

"This book is a winner. A must have." —Association of Jewish Libraries

A read-aloud for ages 2-3, this rhyming picture book matches the functions of a variety of colorful trucks and other vehicles to the many ways families prepare for Jewish Friday night sabbath celebration of Shabbat dinner.

From steam rollers to excavators to cement mixers, all the trucks come together on Shabbat night to prepare. They clean and set the table. They braid challah and light candles. And when the night is done, it's time to sleep.

"Sheri Man­del presents us with an unusu­al and high­ly cre­ative approach to the joy of Shab­bat prepa­ra­tion. Many tod­dlers are enam­ored of trucks. The trucks seem so big, so sol­id, so use­ful, and are always on the way to far-off adven­ture-filled places. But even­tu­al­ly, even these friend­ly, acces­si­ble, appeal­ing trucks have to come home to pre­pare for shab­bat. How do they do it? They load up with all the deli­cious Shab­bat neces­si­ties and trans­port them to their spe­cial Shab­bat des­ti­na­tion. The pick­up deliv­ers grape juice and oth­er del­i­ca­cies; the tanker is filled with deli­cious chick­en soup; the exca­va­tor uses its long arm to braid chal­lah; the cement mix­er del­i­cate­ly swirls choco­late into the vanil­la cake. All the ingre­di­ents for a tasty, sat­is­fy­ing, tra­di­tion­al shab­bat meal are includ­ed. They are brought to a cen­tral loca­tion by col­or­ful, smil­ing, hap­py vehi­cles who are tired after their long work week and are now ready to par­tic­i­pate in a fab­u­lous shab­bat with all the trimmings.

This cheery book will great­ly appeal to chil­dren who love both trucks and Shab­bat; it is a per­fect blend of both their inter­ests. The con­cept and the illus­tra­tions can’t help but make their adults joy­ful­ly smile when they read the book aloud.

A short note is append­ed about the joys of spend­ing Shab­bat togeth­er with fam­i­ly or com­mu­ni­ty, with each par­tic­i­pant coop­er­at­ing in a suc­cess­ful effort to pro­vide a sat­is­fy­ing, cel­e­bra­to­ry meal."

—Jewish Book Council

"Eight different trucks prepare to enjoy a Friday night Shabbat meal together, with each one contributing based on its function. The tanker brings chicken broth; the fire truck lights the candles. The book ends with them all celebrating together before going to sleep, and the firetruck holding a teddy bear.

The text is simple and rhyming, with one line per page. The illustrations are brightly colored and cartoon-like, with each truck having facial features. The final page includes a letter to the reader and short factual information about types of trucks. Truck fans will insist on hearing all the additional information.

This book is a winner. A must have for every Jewish preschool or kindergarten and any home with a truck loving Jewish child. The concept is, of course, a silly one. How are the trucks supposed to eat all this food they’ve prepared? Or for that matter, how can trucks prepare food? And, why are the ritually observant trucks shining their headlights and driving on Friday night as they “dance” after dinner? Don’t let that spoil the fun. Children as young as two will be captivated by the illustrations and able to sit still for the very short text. Older children will want to study the illustrations and read the book on their own. Highly recommended for purchase for homes, libraries, and schools."

—Association of Jewish Libraries