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Forum -> Household Management -> Budgeting & Bargains

FREE kids books

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View latest: 24h 48h 72h

gold2

Tue, May 02 2023, 11:44 am

I was once going to sign up and then already on the application page saw inappropriate stuff so I didn't

Sounds like they have an agenda

justmoved

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:03 pm

I once signed up and have since thrown out every book we received but Im not sure how to cancel. anyone wanna help me out?

May

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:19 pm

A lot of their books have shaimos in them. Be careful before you just toss.

rkay

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:23 pm

justmoved wrote:

I once signed up and have since thrown out every book we received but Im not sure how to cancel. anyone wanna help me out?

https://pjlibrary.org/pj-near-you/unsubscribe

giftedmom

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:23 pm

justmoved wrote:

I once signed up and have since thrown out every book we received but Im not sure how to cancel. anyone wanna help me out?

My kids aged out and I never renewed so that took care of that. I’ve also thrown out most of their books.

justmoved

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:25 pm

rkay wrote:

https://pjlibrary.org/pj-near-you/unsubscribe

Thank you!!

giftedmom

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:25 pm

teachkids wrote:

They're hit or miss. I throw out a few. And the rest I don't consider Jewish necessarily but they're no worse than Daniel tiger or fairy tales my kids love.
My kids are young though so they're mostly board books and we do change the words on some of them

I actually prefer secular books to those books, because I feel like they’re so confusing to kids. They mention Jewish concepts but then have the characters do secular activities, dress secular, and include things like intermarriage.

gold2

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:35 pm

giftedmom wrote:

And that's probably the whole point

realtalk

Tue, May 02 2023, 12:50 pm

PJ librarys agenda is to introduce Jewish concepts to completely unaffiliated families. It's not out to destroy yiddishkeit. It's run through the conservative movement. Sign up if you're fine either censoring or with left wing books. Don't sign up if you only buy Yiddish books.

seeker

Tue, May 02 2023, 1:23 pm

realtalk wrote:

This. They're very clear on what their agenda is and I think it is beautiful and effective. I used to live in an area with many only marginally affiliated Jewish families whose kids are already being raised woke so now at least they have some Jewish positivity mixed in. A lot of them participated in PJ Library and it was almost the only Jewish exposure many of those kids had.

For myself we did get a number of books we enjoyed and a somewhat larger number of books I threw out. Felt bad about the waste but was too hooked on getting the good ones for free and also too lazy to cancel. The good ones varied from OK to really good, including some mainstream books from frum authors.

teachkids

Tue, May 02 2023, 1:38 pm

giftedmom wrote:

Those I toss. But the ones that show animals or emotions or whatever in Hebrew, my kids love. I also have no problem with the ones that focus on the routines or rituals of shabbos and yt. Maybe as my kids get older it will get more complicated though...

New2Lakewood

Tue, May 02 2023, 6:05 pm

DON'T DO IT! I was signed up for a short time and received one per child, but books had sheimos, I also got one about 2 mommies, and many that were anti torah and outright promoted hashkafa that is pure poison. So glad to get rid of all of them and to stop the madness...

and I agree, their agenda likely is to promote confusing and anti-religious ideologies for those who are not affiliated.

scruffy

Tue, May 02 2023, 6:06 pm

I keep about 50% of the books, we've gotten some really nice ones.

The Happy Wife

Tue, May 02 2023, 6:25 pm

I had to cancel the books because most really didn't align with the values of my household. One even had a picture of santa claus in it! On the other hand, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has free books for kids 6 and under, in certain locations. I think I've only had one book every that wasn't appropriate.

pizzapie

Tue, May 02 2023, 8:52 pm

rkay wrote:

https://pjlibrary.org/pj-near-you/unsubscribe

Is this the link to unsubscribe for the younger kids books? My older kids are enrolled in pjourway and I don't want to cancel that.

zaq

Tue, May 02 2023, 9:16 pm

Most are not "highly inappropriate for Orthodox children." or "anti-Torah." Their target audience is not Orthodox families, so some of the books may show families that differ from the typical. You, as a parent, should pre-read anything your children read in any case. If a book doesn't shtim with your values, don't keep it. But not everything has to have a hechsher from Lakewood, kwim? If a book tells about a farmer whose tractor doesn't work on Shabbat (yes, I know for some of you the word "Shabbes" is holy and "Shabbat" is tref; get over it), and the farmer happens to be a woman wearing pants, so flipping what? Take a black marker and give the woman a skirt. Or if the child in the story is black or Asian, why is that a problem? You never heard of gerim? You never read The Bamboo Cradle?

I get dozens of PJ library books from various sources. Some I reject because there are two mommies or a clearly nonJewish parent or something else that doesn't shtim with my values. Some I reject because they're not much of a story and the only Jewish thing about them is the fact that it's Chanuka and they're eating latkes. It's not offensive, but with limited space I have to be selective. There are some that are very pareve from a Jewish standpoint but do show good values: kindness, politeness, conservation, etc. I don't believe that every book has to hit you over the head with Jewish-Jewish-Jewish. Your kids won't go OTD because they read a book in which the little girl sharing her doll with another child is named Marci and not Malka. It's not necessary to give the impression that we have a monopoly on goodness.

Not that I want to encourage you to join PJ Library if you're so opposed to it. They're not meant for you, anyway, and this will leave more for everyone else.

Alwaysmiling

Tue, May 02 2023, 9:59 pm

rkay wrote:

https://pjlibrary.org/pj-near-you/unsubscribe

Thanks so much.
I wanted to unsubscribe for a long time now.
These books are so wrong. The definitely have an agenda.
Thanks again and I'm happy to see the strong opposition to it on this thread.

zaq

Tue, May 02 2023, 10:17 pm

Yes, they have an agenda: to get unaffiliated Jewish families interested in Judaism. Maybe to make little children from backgrounds other than the typical New York Ashkenazi feel that their dark skin or slanty eyes or atypical families don't disqualify them from being part of the Jewish people. How dreadful!

number

Tue, May 02 2023, 10:20 pm

The Happy Wife wrote:

I wish I could get the imagination library books but they aren’t available in my area.

momofgirls2

Tue, May 02 2023, 10:50 pm

I keep about 1 out of 5-7 books and even those are not really worth the space on my shelf.

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