This was such a lovely read! It’s a story of a love of reading but not just to one’s self but with one’s children. I really enjoyed this story and even though I didn’t think I’d like the biblical aspect but was happily surprised and enjoyed it quite a bit.

I really enjoyed reading Ilana Kurshan's new book where she likens children's literature to lessons she's gleaned from the Torah. As a Jew, I loved seeing the parallels she draws between modern literature and the five books of Moses. In fact, it was a nice review for me after years of neglecting this part of my education. It was a bit slow, but enjoyable, and I'm so happy to have gotten an ARC from NetGalley.

As a mom who loves to read (by myself and to my daughter), this book really resonated with me. Sometimes it is hard to balance your love of reading with being a parent as the author states. Though I am not Jewish, I appreciated the connection between sacred and secular.

Ilana Kurshan's Children of the Book is a poignant memoir that intertwines the joys and challenges of motherhood with the transformative power of literature. Living in Jerusalem with her five children, Kurshan reflects on the profound impact of reading together, drawing parallels between the narratives of the Torah and the everyday experiences of parenting.

Structured around the five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—the memoir explores themes of beginnings, journeys, and returns. Kurshan uses these biblical stories as a framework to discuss the evolution of her family's reading life, from the simplicity of early childhood books to the complexities of more mature literature. Through this lens, she delves into the intimate bond formed between parent and child during shared reading sessions.

This memoir is not just a personal account but also a curated collection of books that have shaped Kurshan's parenting journey. From classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Little Women, she offers a personal canon of literature that has expanded her children's imaginations and facilitated their growth. At the conclusion, Kurshan provides a catalog of her recommended readings, serving as a guide for other parents seeking to enrich their children's literary experiences.

All in all, Children of the Book is a celebration of the sacred act of reading and its ability to forge deep, lasting connections between generations. I found that Kurshan's memoir serves as both a personal testament and a universal invitation to embrace the transformative power of shared stories.

Reading to the young builds character. It establishes a unique relationship between parent and child. Books are adventures. They are places of escape. For American Israeli writer Kurshan, books are sites of personal growt. She selects books that are designed to “expand her children’s range of associations and broaden their imaginations” but also ones that “make it easier to parent.” She creates a personal list of such books, a at this memoir’s end, she catalogs her recommendations, from Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, from William Steig to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Books are a life­line for Kur­shan, and this mem­oir can be seen as a love let­ter to read­ing and her children. I love to read. I love all the different books. To read this book has been a delight for me.

I really liked the cover and the title was intriguing. I was interested to hear the author's thoughts about reading to her children. Reading time was something I cherished with my son. In the end, though, I don't think I was the target audience. For the most part the book reads like a devotional where she compares the books she reads to her children to something in the Torah. I am sure for some this would work better.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

I love the way Ilana Kurshan writes; she takes the Biblical story and seamlessly blends it with great children's books and tales from her family into a beautiful tapestry of words. This book includes a rich collection of Jewish thought and religion as well. A true work of art!

As a librarian and a mother, I really loved this book. Watching children in awe of stories as littles, then onto beginning to read on their own, to reading what they find a love for is one of the greatest parts of watching children grow up. Reading Ilana's recount of this journey with her five children in Jerusalem was a great reminder of the magic books can be and the bound they can create in families.

I really enjoyed this book and I am so fascinated by Ilana Kurshan, generally, and the way she writes and reads and parents. I also can’t quite figure out how this book will be received by a wider audience and if it will hold any appeal at all to someone who isn’t also a mom who loves to read and has many years of Torah learning under her belt. If St Martins decided to publish this book for a wide audience I have to assume there is some demand out there.
This is a book of reading and parenting (reading while parenting?) and studying Torah. Kurshan weaves the books she has read to her children through the years, through the lens of the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. I enjoyed learning more about her family and smiled at so many of the books mentioned here (every parent on has wondered why the animals in Sandra Boynton’s Going to Bed Book exercise after they bathe. 🤣)
Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for an advanced copy of this book.

3.5 stars - There's a lot to love about this book. I truly enjoy any books that focus on the love of reading, and Kurshan's passion really shines through. I also really loved the emphasis on how essential it is to read to your children and to reinforce an appreciation for books from a young age. The aspect of the book that left me a little disappointed was what a significant focus there was on the Bible/Torah. I loved getting to understand more about some elements of religious texts and it's always interesting to learn more about the Jewish faith. However, I found myself skimming the Bible-concentrated paragraphs so I could get back to reading about the non-secular books that Kurshan and her children were reading. I totally get that she was trying to connect the two sides of reading, but for someone who's not super religious, it just couldn't hold my attention in the same way.

I like how the author describe her family through the books they read. Although, I don't agree with her about what God wants, I do like that she allows her children to explore books outside her religion, and I like how the children enjoyed it when their mother read to them. I like that when a problem arrives with her twins, Kurshan found a series of books that help with their separation, and I also liked it whenever she has a problem she tries to find a book that will help whatever problem she currently is dealing with. Even though, there were stories in the book that I have read when I was young, (Charlotte's Web), I found it eye opening how many stories I have never heard of and how interesting they all seem to be and I love it that the books are included in the book.
I do like it when Kushan is going over the sections of the Torah, because it opens my eyes to how a different religions see the world. When the author talk about the books she's reading and compares it to her religion, I find it a bit of a stretch to compare the two and to believe absolutely that what is written is from God, but some of the stories are still nice.

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of a book about books

This author has written a remarkable book that blends her deeply personal religious experience with sharing her love of books with her 5 children. The author is Jewish and her family lives in Israel. But her writing is universal in scope. Highly recommended. Thanks to #NetGalley and #ChilfrenOfTheBook for advanced digital copy.

Children of the Book is a thoughtful and moving memoir that celebrates how reading together - whether Torah or childhood classics - creates bonds, fosters growth, and illuminates the journey of family life.

I am anti-religion. It is a vicious, coercive system meant to instill authoritarian values. It's used here for those aims...forcing children to eat is wrong.

"What the hell, old man, why are you rating this more than a single star?"

This is why: "As I tell my daughter, I know the book is not really mine, because nothing I own is truly mine. But I write in the margins because the book is part of a conversation that has been unfolding for generations. I want to add my voice to that conversation, and someday, when she is older, I hope she will, too." I think the author didn't realize it, but in that simple statement, she handed her child the key to the prison.

The reason to teach children to love reading, to love the words that show us the shape of our culture, is to give them exactly that sense of joining a conversation. It is the reason the authoritarians are working so very hard to squash our trust in cultural institutions like libraries, laboratories, and other relativistic systems of judging knowledge. It never works in their favor; they can't compete on the "strength" of their ideas; and people do not like to be ordered around. The demographics are against the religious nuts as overall "belief" is shrinking everywhere, which leads to lunacies like Bible-Belt churches being sold off (suitable for a ministorage conversion is my favorite reuse!) as congregations vanish...a thing I'd've told you was utterly impossible fifty years ago is now happening.

No wonder "They" are so determined to take control of all the structures of Authority and destroy them. "They" are losing, and they know there is only a slim chance that can be slowed down.

So look at that bolded passage above, realize the key is in your hands, and for the sake of a future worth living in, PASS IT ON.

I love books. I love books about books. I loved reading to my son when he was little. I loved listening as he read to me when he began learning to read. So, reading a book written by someone who also loved books and reading to her children. Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together is a memoir written by Ilana Kurshan, anAmerican-Israeli author, was quite enjoyable. Ilana Kurshan is a mother of five who read to her children from the time they were born. She tells how she balanced her lifetime love of literature with parenting. In this book she talks of the books she read to them and how she discussed the lessons in the books with her children. I also enjoyed how she talked about culture and how reading books such as Little Women to her children in Jerusalem was a lovely and enjoyable experience. How she knew her children would not understand what it is like to live in the New England states, the seasons, etc. But that they could relate to a book such as Little Women and how it explores sibling relationships, following your dreams, the importance of family, love, generosity, the importance of the arts and creativity.

In this book she discusses the Torah -the Five Books of Moses. She talks of storytelling, of family stories, of religious stories and practices. She talks of love of literature, love of secular and sacred reading. You do not need to be Jewish to enjoy this book. Bible readers may also be able to relate as well. One important thing I enjoyed was how she wanted her children to be open to all kinds of books - fiction, nonfiction, secular, etc.

This is a deep and thoughtful book. The author compares her reading journey with her children to the five books of Torah. There is deep reflection on the journey of Israel from the beginning of it all in Genesis to the story of Isreal wandering through the desert before entering the promised land. Through this, she gives us insights into Torah and the meaning of certain passages. But more than that, the author ties that to her reading journey with her children, from birth to their own independance as readers.

I don't normally annotate books, but there is so much I highlighted in this book for further reflection. This would be a great gift for a new parent or even grandparent about to embark on their own reading journey with a child.

Beautiful memoir that had me interested from the beginning. As a Christian, I learned so much about Jewish culture and rituals and appreciated this might be written for younger groups but was able to easily digest the story.

A deeply personal walk through the Torah, the lives of a mother and her children, and the books between them.

I loved reading this book. I can't say that I've ever read a book where I always felt like it was a relief to sink into at the end of the day. That is what it felt like, though, when at the end of the day I laid down in bed and opened my Kindle and started reading another part of this book. I loved moving through the days and years with Ilana as she raises her children, finds meaning in the space between the Torah and her life, the books and her life, COVID and her life. I loved the return to the Old Testament, which, I have to admit, I rarely read.

I felt a strong connection to the author in the times where she struggles with what the best course of action with her children are, with the times when she does or says something that she immediately regrets, or when the kids get old enough to start branching out on their own literary adventures.

She is also the mother I wish I had been. She held down a job and still found the time to go through all these books with her kids, even when she saught out those moments of "selfish" reading. I have, throughout my life, felt unbelievable and unbearable guilt for having to work and then being tired because of the time spent at work work and then the work that also has to be done outside of work. I have picked up ideas from her that maybe I can implement going forward, even though my kids are not small anymore, like maybe reading to my kids while I am making dinner or while they are eating dinner.

Then there were the books. I highlighted books in the Kindle version that I want to circle back to and add to my reading list, but I have to be honest. This is probably getting one of those coveted "will reread" spots that I am so stingy with. I will definitely reread it at least once to see if I missed any books.

This was a very good read I got a little emotional as I am sure a lot of us moms feel the same way. I am glad I have gotten my children to love reading just as much as I do. I have even gotten my best friends child to love reading. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Trust me its a good one and you need to pick it up like now please and thank you. Will be getting a physical copy the second its available.

Children of the Book is a warm and reflective memoir about how reading aloud shaped a family. Ilana Kurshan shares moments from her life in Jerusalem with her five children showing how stories created connection comfort and meaning. The book weaves together literature tradition and parenting with honesty and tenderness. It is a gentle reminder of the power of books to bring people together in both quiet and profound ways.