Savta Simcha and the Cinnamon Tree

Savta Simcha isn't really anyone's grandmother (savta), but she is a little like an Orthodox Jewish Mary Poppins (well, except that she isn't a nanny), wise, rather eccentric but with a heart of gold, and conversant with the birds. Set in an old Jerusalem neighbourhood, the stories flow nicely, incidentally teaching the reader about Jewish values and the Jewish festivals, but without a didactic preachiness common in many more recent Jewish children's books. This book is fun in its own right, whether you're interested in the educational side of the stories or not. Though written from an Orthodox perspective with many Hebrew and Yiddish terms thrown in, friends who are not Orthodox enjoyed the sweet stories too, whose themes include kindness to animals (Savta Simcha bakes birdbread to help the birds during a harsh winter) and hospitality (Savta Simcha spreads holiday cheer when she invites the street's grumpy bus driver to join her family for the Purim se'uda meal). The book is not illustrated, I assume that it's pitched for 6-10 year-olds, though my pre-K daughter was enchanted with this sweet collection of stories and loves listening to them despite the lack of pictures. A nice book for young readers.