New York Times Opinion
What books should you read to your kids when the world is on fire? “Last May, my husband and I invited a Palestinian friend for Shabbat dinner, and when he asked what to bring, I requested a book about his homeland for our 7-year-old son,” says Miriam Udel, a professor of Yiddish language, literature and culture at Emory University. Instead of bringing just one, he brought a bagful of titles ranging from picture books to middle-grade novels. “I saw the Palestinian children’s authors of today doing something I recognize from my research on the Yiddish children’s literature of the previous century: striving to help children make sense of the world they stand to inherit while writing a better world into being,” Miriam says. She offers three books — one from a Palestinian perspective, one with an Israeli protagonist and the other about two boys, one Palestinian and one Jewish, who become friends on the soccer field. What books would you recommend to foster empathy and understanding during this conflict? #booktok #childrensbooks #israel #gaza #nytopinion
