Anybody get PJ Library books?

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amother

Periwinkle

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 4:25 pm

The local Jewish Family Services that my kids go to (for various therapy-related things) signed our family up for the PJ Library.

Is anyone else signed up for them? If so, are you as unhappy with their offerings as I am?

I feel so ungrateful -- I mean, free books! What else could you want!?

But when they sent me a survey, I wrote the following:

Quote:

1) PJ Library books have probably told the story of "Something from Nothing" in at least 3 different books in different ways. I guess it's a cheap way for authors to put out a new book from a public domain folk-tale, but "My Grandfather's Coat" is basically identical to "Joseph had an Overcoat" but with a different illustrator.

2) Too many books about recycling/reusing things in general. PLEASE. I don't want my children going through my garbage trying to make art projects that they then won't let me throw out. It's some hipster, mythical world where the tailor shop next door gives you some flannel to make cloth diapers for your baby, or parents in the 21st century make a crib out of an old steamer trunk?? I can appreciate the sentiment, but I'll only read that book a few times because fairies and dragons are more realistic.

3) The Judaism portrayed in most of these books is too different from the Judaism I'm raising my children with, and I need to carefully vet the books before keeping them. Some unfortunately go straight into "donate to the library" bag. I am proud that Jews come in all colors and traditions, but I personally don't want books with intermarried parents in them. I understand the need for such books, but I wish there was a way I could ask not to receive those particular books.

In general, I find the PJ Library books have a different culture than mine. I don't think that the mere mention of a "matzah ball fairy" or "a family of Jewish frogs" (what makes frogs Jewish? Apparently, names like Morris and Gertrude...) or the tortoise and the hare racing across Israel (again, cheap retelling of a public domain story with superficial Jewish trappings. I learned nothing about Israel except that they eat felafel and drink mint tea). There are no Orthodox Jews in the PJ Library books. Perhaps we are "too Jewish" and would turn off unaffiliated Jews.

I really don't mean to be super-negative I'm just rambling my gut reactions.

I visit the public library with my children and we read MANY secular books, so I have nothing against non-Jewish books.

What seems to be bothering me is that the PJ Library books claim to be Jewish and foster Jewish pride but I end up feeling kind of empty afterwards.

I checked the little box that said, "feel free to contact me for an additional phone interview" and would love to come up with some more constructive criticism in case they do call me back. I don't want to be the kvetchy (and possibly bigoted-sounding) crazy Orthodox lady.

amother

Jetblack

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 4:31 pm

We have been getting them for a few years. We donate more than half of them for inappropriate (from our perspective) content. Books feature the female Cantor or Rabbi that kind of thing. I should probably have cancelled a long time ago.
We got a few good ones (Sammy spider series) that hold me back from canceling.
It seems to me geared towards conservative, reform or unaffiliated Jews.

amother

Copper

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 4:39 pm

I agree with your discomfort with PJ library books... They're kind of neither here nor there. Not superb children's literature and not educational Jewish literature either.

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 5:13 pm

At least you donate them. I throw most of them out.

I'd rather a non Jewish book than a Jewish book that is Jewish by character name only.

finprof

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 5:36 pm

It's clear we aren't the target audience but we are BT and live OOT so they help explain why Bubby doesn't keep kosher or Shabbos. They aren't great literature but the kids like them.

rachel6543

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 5:42 pm

I unfortunately agree with much of what you said. I dislike most of the PJ library books we have received so far & most are donated. Now they are just starting chapter books, hopefully there will something my child can read from those. I also don't like they sometimes send music CDs. My personal preference is only for books.

amother

Seagreen

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 5:54 pm

We get them. Here's my breakdown:
-Some I like. Sammy the Spider is great for 2 year olds to learn about the chagim. My kid remembers sukkos when he otherwise might not actively remember sitting in the sukkah. Look and find shabbos books too.
-Some have nothing "Jewish" about them but are cute- "baby be kind" is one. Just be nice basically, share snacks and say sorry.
- Some I change the words to. My eldest can't read yet so until he can, I just add words like "make a bracha" or change the words (into the frum one- Aron instead of Ark or men get aliyos vs the parents).
And
- some I throw out. Like the one where it showed people sleeping together in Naamah in the Ark (teiva) book.
My friend told me that she once got a "Sammy has two mommies" type book so I always read it through before reading with my kids.

and some fall into two or more slots- like a Sammy the spider where I have to Change a few words.

Not sure about the one I got that used a dragon as the explanation why the Neis of Channukah happened. Still debating. Thoughts on that one? Leaning towards throw out...

Only Anon as I told this to MANY IRL when they ask about signing up for them. They are free so if I have to do a little work I will and for the ones we like, it's worth it.
I asked in the letter to not expose my kids to issues that they are too young to understand yet- marital issues etc.

amother

Rose

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:14 pm

You are not the target audience for PJ Library. They are looking for a way to reach Jewish families that are not involved in formal organized Jewish life. Obviously, that means they are not sheltered and things that are outside your acceptable limits are usually fine for them - and possibly even meaningful.

The quality of books is uneven, but as a whole, I would say they have a lot more literary merit than books for the frum market.

If a book isn't appropriate for your family, donate it.

amother

Smokey

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:29 pm

My husband tried I cancel ours, but for some reason we keep getting. My biggest frustration is that some books have actual shaimos in them. So beware if you throw some if them out. You should probably look through carefully.

One of them actually had a picture of Santa Claus in it. (Small picture, in the jacket of the book I think. But seriously?!)

I think they could find books that are respectful to most Jews if they tried, but I'm guessing that's not somethig they are looking to achieve.

ectomorph

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:31 pm

There was one with a lesbian rabbi. I mostly throw them out. The Hebrew books are better. I'm glad they stopped sending to me.

amother

Rose

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:34 pm

amother wrote:

I think they could find books that are respectful to most Jews if they tried, but I'm guessing that's not somethig they are looking to achieve.

Most Jews aren't religious. The fact that something is not appropriate for my family doesn't mean that "most Jews" won't like it.

amother

Bisque

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:35 pm

I get the hebrew ones and would love to unsubscribe but can't figure out how Sad

Amelia Bedelia

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:36 pm

One book I was really excited to receive was "Red, Blue, Yellow Yarn" by Hachai Publishers- except that I received it three times over the last few years. And "All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown," except that I happened to own it already. I don't really see the value in the Sammy the Spider books, but each to her own... My favorite books are the ones that are published by the big, non-Jewish publishers ,especially if they happen to not be Jewish themed at all, and they tie it in, with bikur cholim/hachnasas orchim/tzedaka, etc. When I receive a book from Kar-Ben Publishers, they are usually not books I like to read to my children. And yes, I've dumped several books.

Amelia Bedelia

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:40 pm

amother wrote:

I get the hebrew ones and would love to unsubscribe but can't figure out how Sad

No need to unsubscribe. I received an email that they are ending the Hebrew program and if I'd like to continue receiving the Hebrew books, I'd need to subscribe to another service which they mention.

Amelia Bedelia

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:47 pm

amother wrote:

I get the hebrew ones and would love to unsubscribe but can't figure out how Sad

Double post

Gerbera

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 7:52 pm

I work for PJ Library and the Orthodox community is not the target audience. The books may not be of the highest literary quality but these books for a large number of our subscribers are the only Jewish thing in their lives. Many lives in cities with no Jewish day schools or supplementary scools and no synagogues. There are many interfaith families where the children would otherwise not know about Jewish holidays. I read firsthand about the amazing and wonderful impact this program has on hundreds of families every month.

It is a free program for the subscriber but it costs your community $50 US per subscription so if you find you are throwing all your books out....consider cancelling your subscription so the money can be redirected elsewhere.

mummiedearest

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 8:14 pm

I like them, mostly.

there was one that my dh and I didn't really see the value of keeping. we did keep one with a female rabbi in it. it was otherwise a good book, and we didn't mind discussing different ideas with our kids. I have gotten one orthodox book (the yarn one mentioned above). we recently got "fox walked alone," which was a really nice noah's ark tale from the viewpoint of the animals. we have never received a sammy spider book, interestingly enough. some books we received were educational ("the castle on hester street" and "when mindy saved hannukah" were both nice, the former discussing life as an immigrant on the lower east side, the latter took place in the eldridge street synagogue.)

we love getting new books in the mail. don't sign up if you're looking for feldheim books. honestly, I prefer a lot of these to those.

seeker

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 12:12 am

We received them for about a year, maybe a little more, and I can't figure out how to get back in - I really liked it, on the whole. I also know what other PJ books are because we have a book swap in our large, multicultural apartment community so I see which ones have the PJ logo.

I discarded a couple of books that were very uncomfortable to me (one was about some angel involved in birth, it was just weird and not something that I viewed as part of Jewish culture at all.)

I have ZERO problem with what you're calling "open-source" stories that have been Jew-ified, as long as the values are good. My kids would be reading the regular stories anyway. I like that they can have stories with Jewish characters on our shelf. How does it benefit them if every classic story they read has non-Jewish names? Jewish kids should feel included in their own reading material.

I also think your (yes, YOUR. mine will be fine, and this might be why) kids would benefit from reading about Jewish people who are culturally different. I probably would have discarded the female rabbi book, had I received it, because that's a little too intense for me to start discussing with my preschoolers at this time, but there were others that represented people who live differently and they opened up some very important discussions. "Why yes, the mommy in this book is wearing pants... yes, it seems she is Jewish... Yes, we believe that it is tznius for Jewish mommies to wear skirts and dresses, but even if someone else's mommy doesn't she can still be Jewish and she can still have a sukkah (or whatever the story was about.)" THIS IS SO SO SO IMPORTANT for kids in insulated communities to know. They need to know that even if you don't agree with other ways of life, they do exist. I don't think it's important for preschoolers whose personal life doesn't include it to know details like of homosexuality, but things like pants or going to public school or other things that are more common in PJ library books are a nice mild introduction to this idea.

I also felt that many of the books did support nice Jewish themes and values. I am a big fan of Sammy the Spider (we received one from PJ library and others from people in our building who got them from PJ) - the kids enjoy it, it incorporates Jewish traditions and I haven't noticed any sketchy ones (like the birth angel... dunno what kind of Jewish tradition that is. But there were costumes and groggers in the purim book, menorah of course in the hannukah book, shofar in the rosh hashanah book...works for me) and they are also educationally supportive - one focuses on colors, one on shapes, etc. Very well done overall.

My kids love books and love reading, and we have soooooo much more access to non-Jewish reading. To buy our own library of Jewish books would get really expensive really fast. This way we get to have at least some Jewish content in our own personal library. My children have enjoyed these books and very few of them were even slightly questionable.

gold21

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 12:27 am

seeker wrote:

Ditto.

Volunteer

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 12:37 am

I've been getting PJ library books for a year and a half now (my son is 2). Some of the books are better than others, but I haven't had the problematic ones you describe. I realy like the PJ library, actually. Can't look a gift horse in the mouth! Maybe the age is a factor.

Offerings include:
1-2-3 Sukkot. Depicts what looks like a DL Israeli family celebrating Sukkot and counting 3 of holiday things.
Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah. Mouse family celebrates Hanukkah with candles, dreidels, latkes, so on.
Happy Happy. A couple takes home a new baby, meets family, uses common Hebrew phrases.
Baby's SHabbat Book. A baby takes part in a SHabbat dinner.
Thank You Trees. Thank you to trees and all they give us, recycling paper, planting trees for Tu BShvat.
Todah. Saying thank you for things.
Rosh Hashanah is Coming. Children prepare for RH by baking round challah, betting new clothes, pomegranates, apples in honey, praying for a sweet new year with family.
Lailah Tov. A bedtime book rewritten to include the words "Lailah Tov" instead of "Good Night."
Shabbat Shalom, Hey! The simple song, illustrated as a book with animals.
Where's the Afikomen? Toddler looks for, and ultimately finds, the Afikomen at Seder.

PJ library is not an Orthodox organization. You can't expect the books to be written from an Orthodox perspective. They are meant to appeal to Jews of all levels of observance.

Many of the books depict multi-cultural / multi-racial children and families. I think that's a very good thing, because so often Jews "of color" are not depicted in books.

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