Giveaway is over!
Congratulations to our winner – Gila! Stay tuned for our next giveaway coming up soon!
ArtScroll’s new children’s release, Making Hashem Proud features stories that teach children about the importance of behaving properly and making a Kiddush Hashem.
ArtScroll talked with the author, Mrs. Chaviva Pfeiffer, about this exciting new book.
Scroll down past the interview for a chance to WIN a copy of this book!
ArtScroll: Can you tell us how you got started writing?
Chaviva Pfeiffer: The Maggid Series, written by my father, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, is extremely popular. Adults would read the stories and often repeat them to their children. However, the children needed the stories explained. The idea was born to have the stories written especially for children.
Back then, my husband was a 6th grade Rebbe, and each week he would give his students a story that related to the weekly Parshah. The stories were taken from my father’s Maggid books, and I would rewrite them to make them easier for the boys to read. My father liked the way I wrote them, and told me about his idea to write a children’s book featuring his stories. We approached ArtScroll with the idea, and they liked it. Since then, I’ve published three books of Maggid Stories for Children.
ArtScroll: Your latest book, Making Hashem Proud, just came out, is different. Can you tell us more about it?
Chaviva Pfeiffer: Unlike my previous books, where I wrote over the Maggid stories in a kid-friendly manner, Making Hashem Proud contains stories that I researched for my topic, Kiddush Hashem.
ArtScroll: How did you choose this topic?
CP: I was approached by Rabbi Shragie Freedman, who has dedicated his life to researching and teaching about Kiddush Hashem. He asked me to write a book of stories on a children’s level. He started me off with some stories, and then I began to look for more stories on my own.
ArtScroll: Was it hard to find the stories?
Chaviva Pfeiffer: You would be surprised by how many people were involved in or witnessed a story about Kiddush Hashem. Once I put the word out that I was looking for stories on this topic, they started to come in.
The hard part is actually verifying the stories! My father is always very careful to meticulously research the origins of a story, and talk to the people involved to make sure it’s completely true. That’s what I did with these stories as well; it’s the Krohn way.
I feel that if a story isn’t true, the inspirational lesson you might learn from it just isn’t that strong. One of the stories in the book involves a class of 2nd graders who acted in a manner that was so impressive, a business owner decided to close on Shabbos because of them! It’s a beautiful story, and one to aspire to, because it’s true. If it weren’t true, would you feel as inspired?
ArtScroll: Your book features illustrations along with the stories. Can you tell us more about that?
Chaviva Pfeiffer: The illustrations are done by Chani Stern. At first, she showed us some basic sketches in pencil only. I came into the ArtScroll office and sat with Reb Avrohom Biderman to decide if the sketches fit the story. Once we approved them, they were finished and created in color.
There’s a lot that goes into choosing illustrations. For example, we like to show emotion in the characters. While a picture might look better from the back, I prefer to show the person’s face so you can see how he feels. You also have to make sure a picture doesn’t give away too much. Originally, one of the stories in Making Hashem Proud had a picture right in the beginning which gave away the end of the story, so we moved the illustration to the end instead.
ArtScroll: Who is this book intended for?
Chaviva Pfeiffer: The book is geared to children about 7-10 years old to read on their own, but you can read it to children as young as 3-4. My goal is to teach children that they have the ability to make a Kiddush Hashem, whether public or private, no matter how old they are!
GIVEAWAY!
For your chance to win a copy of Making Hashem Proud just comment below and tell us which child(ren) you would like to give or read this book to! (Your own count too!)
**Giveaway ends on Thursday, March 13th at 11:59 eastern time. Prize can be shipped within the USA. Winner will be notified via email. Valid email address must be provided to claim prize. Limit one entry per person.
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My son would love this!
My kids would love hearing these stories!
my kids all ages would enjoy this book
My grandchildren would love this book!
Whose kids wouldn’t love this book? My wife and I would love to read it to our “older” kids (3, 4, and 6) as a bedtime story, or on a long Shabbos afternoon. Kiddush Hashem is so crucial that we’d love to get ’em started ASAP!
I would give this book as present to my two little sons Michael and Samuel who love listening to bedtime stories more than anything.
My Grandchildren
my own!
my kids would love it!
I think a book like “making Hashem Prous” would be a great book for my grandchildren. They always love to hear us read them books. They are already Making Hashem Proud by their good-naturedness and cheerful disposition. They can only get better with this book.
I would love to read this book to my 5th grade students!
i wud love to read this to my son!
I would love to read this book with my six nieces and nephews. They get tired of the same old books all the time and I know that they would really enjoy learning from this one (and so would I)!
I would share the lessons in this book with kids!
My children would love this book – hearing stories of kiddush Hashem makes an impression and strengthens them to do the same.
I would like to share this book with my son!
I would like to share this book with my son. 🙂
I’m 17 years old and would still love to win this book and share with my family! Your never too “old” to learn about making a kiddush HASHEM!
Would love this book to read to my children. I am always telling them about the importance of kiddush hashem. Would love for them to hear what can happen when being careful to make a kiddush hashem at all times.
I would share it with my daughter who is 11 and my son who is 7.
My kids would love this. I hope I win.
I would use this book to teach my younger siblings the true magic and joy of Hashem’s light in this world. Every kid should hear stories of Kiddush Hashem, as the stories light up their Neshamas and allow them to light a spark in their heart and gain a stronger connection to Hashem.
My son would love it!
I would like to read/give this book to my kids. They are at an age where they are beginning to learn the importance of making a Kiddush HaShem.
I would give it to my son!
The entire wonderful book is a Kiddush Hashem and I would certainly read and share the stories in this wonderful volume with all my children so as to inform them and let them absorb what it means to be a religious Jew.
My 7 year old daughter
My little girl would love this! & of course we’d share it with her cousins too 🙂
🙂
my boys 🙂
I would read it to all of my kids!
I would give this book to my nephew who is a big fan of the Art Scroll series of books, even at an early age!
I think all my children would enjoy this 🙂
My 3-year-old; she’s very precocious and could handle it even though it’s really for older kids.
My 3-year-old, who appreciates books meant for older children
I would like to read this book to my neiece and nephew. I would also like to read this book to my future kids I”h!!!
I would give it to my son and daughter. I might read it to other kids on Shabbos party!
I would love to read this book to my son, Jameson Mordecai Osborn.
Id love to read this to my 4 yo daughter. Shes loves listening to story books and then ‘reading’ them to my 2yo. Thanks for putting out such wonderful books
I would like to give the book, Making Hashem Proud, to my son age 10, and daughter age 8. ❤ 🙂
My children world love this book!
We will fight who read it first! ( Taty, Momy, Shmuel, Mikhoel, Meir Simcha, Shneur Zalman, Chaim Yehuda Leib, Liba Leah, Menachem Mendel, Avrohom Yshay) 🙂
my kids 8,5 &3 would love this as would their parents! I find children’s books inspire me to no end.
I’d like to give it as an Afikoman present to my neighbors to read to their children ages 5, 3 and almost 2. The children enjoy reading books and they could learn a lot form this wonderful book.
Would love this book for my granddaughters!
This book looks great. My daughter would love it