Sweep Pj Library Edition

A lovingly told, compelling story of a young boy learning the values of caring, community and thankfulness.

When a beggar gets no help from anybody, even at the synagogue, he offers to use the buttons on his coat to make bone button borscht for everyone in the village, in a retelling of an old folktale reset in a small Jewish village.

Today is a special day: the birthday of the world, when God and all God’s creatures celebrate the beauty of life. As God asks each dear creature in turn whether it has been the best that it can be, this simple affirmation of life and goodness applauds the contribution that each and every one of us— from the mightiest elephant to the smallest child— can make. The whimsical animals in Alison Jay’s perfectly composed crackled paintings will make this a favorite book on the family shelf.

A brand-new novel by one of today's most powerful storytellers, Sweep is a heart-rending adventure about the everlasting gifts of friendship and hope. For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys"--orphans owned by chimney sweeps--to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived--and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature--a golem--made from ash and coal. This is the creature that saved her from the fire. Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a life together--saving one another in the process.

A classic tale gets a Jewish twist, when Little Red Hen asks her friends for help making Passover matzah. Before she knows it, Little Red Hen tells herself, it will be time for Passover. So she decides to plant some grain. But when she asks her friends to help, they're too busy for her. "Sorry, bub," says the Horse. "Think again," barks the dog. Oy gevalt! "Friends, shmends," she says. "I'll just do it myself." But when the wheat is grown and harvested, when the flour is milled and the matzah baked and the Seder table set-- all by Red on her own--who should come to her door but her not-so-helpful friends? Though she's tempted to turn them away, Little Red is a mensch-- and a mensch forgives. Like her Haggadah says: Let all who are hungry come and eat. But who will do all these dishes? Filled with Yiddish phrases and a healthy dose of humor, this Passover tale of hard work, friendship, and forgiveness is not to be missed. Bright cartoon illustrations add humor and detail to the story. Backmatter includes a glossary of Yiddish phrases, an author's note about the holiday, and a recipe for making your own Passover matzah.

A forgotten dragon and a magical girl set out to find Vienna’s missing dragons in this YA fantasy novel: “Extraordinary—not to be missed” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Grisha is a dragon in a world that’s forgotten how to see him. Maggie is an unusual child who thinks she’s perfectly ordinary. They’re an unlikely duo—but magic, like friendship, is funny. And it has chosen Grisha and Maggie to solve the darkest mystery in Vienna. Decades ago, when World War II broke out, someone decided that there were too many dragons for all of them to be free. As they investigate, Grisha and Maggie ask the questions everyone’s forgotten to ask: Where have the missing dragons gone? And is there a way to save them? At once richly magical and tragically historical, The Language of Spells is a novel full of adventure about remembering old stories, forging new ones, and the transformative power of friendship.

Izzy the Whiz is an amateur inventor who, right before Passover, creates a super duper machine that whirs and purrs and munches and crunches and miraculously cleans the entire house just in time for the holiday – but not without creating havoc along the way. A fun, crazy, rhyming tale a la Dr. Seuss.