Sadie and the Big Mountain

By: Jamie Korngold
Illustrated by: Julie Fortenberry
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing
Publication Date: March 2012
ISBN: 978-0761364948
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: February 2012

Nursery school was lots of fun and Sadie smiled as she filed into Temple Beth El with her friends. There were lots of things to do and she "loved the Hebrew songs they sang during music," playing with blocks, climbing on the gym, and stacking up the building blocks. The thing she loved the most was her teacher, Morah Sarah. During circle time she announced that Shavuot was coming up and told them that it was "the day the Jewish people received the Ten Commandments."

It was the big day that Moses climbed all the way up Mt. Sinai and didn't come back down for forty days. Oh, and he "was carrying two tablets with God's law." Morah Sarah told them that they'd start preparing for Shavuot and when they had completed all their activities Rabbi Jamie would guide them on their own hike up on their "own Mt. Sinai." Sadie put her hand to her mouth and started to get concerned. Mt. Sinai was a BIG mountain and there was no way she could hike up there ... besides, she couldn't stand hiking. How could she possibly get out of climbing that mountain?

Naturally many small children take things literally and Sadie was no exception. Climbing Mt. Sinai absolutely petrified her and she was positive she'd be direly ill by the end of the week, but she eventually realized that "anyone can climb high enough to reach God." I especially enjoyed seeing how Morah Sarah prepared the children for Shavuot by creating walking sticks, teaching them the Commandments, and making blintzes. The artwork meshes well with the tale and captures both the excitement of the holiday and Sadie's trepidation. This would be an excellent book to use to begin a young child's religious education or to read during circle or story time!

Quill says: This is an adorable story about Sadie, a little girl who is afraid of climbing "Mt. Sinai."