PJ Library

With support from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation of Springfield, Mass., and anonymous local donors, Dayton-area Jewish families with children ages 6 months to 5 years will receive a free Jewish children’s book each month beginning this fall.

The PJ Library Club, facilitated locally by the Jewish Federation, will also provide families with CDs for children and occasional parenting books.

All materials, selected by early childhood specialists, will come with guides to help families use the selections in their homes.

“When we found out that the Grinspoon Foundation was interested in expanding this project beyond Massachusetts, we jumped at the opportunity,” said Larry Skolnick, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation.

“If you are Jewish and live in the Miami Valley and have children up to age 5, we will help you build your Jewish library. I can’t think of a better gift we could give to our families.”

The first book all parents will receive is The Blessings of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel.

The 2006 book list for families with newborns includes:

• Jewish Family and Life by Yosef I. Abramowitz and Rabbi Susan Silverman,

• My First Shabbat Board Book by Clare Lister,

• Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah! by Susan L. Roth,

• Happy Birthday, World by Latifa Berry Kropf,

• Let’s Nosh by Amy Wilson-Sanger,

• Hooray! It’s Passover by Leslie Kimmelman,

• and Soft Shapes My Shabbat illustrated by David Brooks.

Book lists are updated each year.

To augment the PJ Library Club project, the Dayton Jewish Community Center will offer Jewish enrichment programs throughout the year for children and their families.

“We want to bring together all of the families that are sharing in the same fun, Jewish learning process and build an even stronger sense of community,” Skolnick said.

To sign children up for the PJ Library Club, send e-mails to Information@jfgd.net.