The Hardest Word

By Jacqueline Jules, Katherine Janus Kahn (illustrator),

Book cover of The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story

Book description

Loosely based on the Hasidic legend "The Tear of Repentance", The Hardest Word is a story about forgiveness.

The Ziz, a wonderful bird who lived long ago, is so big and clumsy that he can't keep from bumping into things. When a tree he knocks over destroys the children's garden,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Hardest Word as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Yom Kippur is a difficult holiday for adults. It is even more difficult and exceptionally abstract for kids.

Words like atonement and forgiveness are particularly hard to grasp. This book focuses on one idea: saying I’m sorry. As a result, it takes an idea that is taught by parents, educators, and caregivers and places it in a Jewish holiday story context that is both playful and profound. I like this book, because it takes a complicated idea and distills it in a very manageable way. 

If you love The Hardest Word...

Ad

Book cover of A Whale of a Tale: A Sabbath Summer Solstice Story

A Whale of a Tale by Kerry M. Olitzky,

This is a picture book created to help children learn how to determine Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, in countries where the summer sun remains high in the sky.

Tova travels with her mother to Alaska during the summer solstice. In the Land of the Midnight Sun, she is uncertain how…

Want books like The Hardest Word?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Hardest Word.

Browse books like The Hardest Word

Book cover of Shoshi's Shabbat
Book cover of Measuring a Year: A Rosh Hashanah Story
Book cover of The Miracle Seed

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,990

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Jewish history, Judaism, and presidential biography?

Jewish History 493 books
Judaism 92 books