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The PJ Library- Jewish Bedtime Stories & Songs for Families
 The PJ Library program in Pittsburgh supports families in their Jewish journey by sending free Jewish-content books and music on a monthly basis to children from age six months to five and half years.
Created by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, The PJ Library is a national program implemented by local communities. Many organizations in Pittsburgh offer free PJ Library programs for children and their families. Check with your synagogue or other favorite Jewish organization for information about PJ Library events near you. An events calendar will be coming to this page soon.
At this time, The PJ Library is available in more than 125 communities across the United States. The local program is partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Agency for Jewish Learning, Community Day School and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.
Thanks to our charitable contributors: anonymous local donor, The Anna L. Caplan and Irene V. Caplan Endowment Fund of the UJF Foundation, The Fine Foundation and in conjunction with a generous grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, more than 700 local families have been able to receive these gifts.
If you have children between the ages of six months to five and half years and would like to be part of the PJ Library program in Pittsburgh, please sign up now!
To Enroll Your Child: Click Here
- Download the January 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
- Download the February 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
- Download the March 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
- Download the April 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
- Download the May 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
- Download the June 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
- Download the July 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter: Click Here
For more information regarding the program, please contact Kristen Keller, PJ Library Programming Coordinator at kkeller@ajlpittsburgh.org. or 412.521.1101 x 3001.
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July 2011 PJ Parenting Newsletter
Take Us With You!
Summer is upon us and with that comes lazy days, bug bites, and family road trips! Your chid’s PJ Library books are the perfect traveling companions. Babies and toddlers are sometimes thrown out of their routines when vacation comes along and this can make bedtime difficult. When you pack your child’s favorite PJ Library bedtime stories you are bringing the comfort and routine from home on vacation with you. Not to mention that most PJ Library books are paperback,which makes them very lightweight and easy to pack!
Your slightly older children will enjoy reading the books by themselves in the car. Don’t worry that they haven’t learned to read- they know the story already! And, it is always fun to look at the pictures and to make up your own stories.
Happy Travels!
KEEP ON LISTENING!
Books on tape and CD are great traveling companions. Before your next trip look for some of these PJ favorites to listen to!
- All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
- Joseph the Tailor and Other Jewish Tales by Syd Lieberman
- One People, Many Stories produced by The Jewish Community Library of Los Angeles
Ideas to Explore at Home
 At first glance, this month’s books all seem to be very different. There is a book introducing little ones to the Hebrew alef-bet, a chicken who speaks Yiddish, a little girl who moves to Israel, among other things! Look beyond the covers however, and you will see the beautiful theme within each book... Kehillah Chesed, A Caring Community. To some children, this concept can be as simple as reading a book with a friend or showing a new friend where the bathroom is! Other children may enjoy dropping food off for a sick neighbor or walking dogs at the animal shelter.
After reading the short segment from Leviticus below, talk with your parenting partner about how your family can be part of a kehillah chesed.
- How can you explain this to your young children?
- Is your family part of a caring community?
- How can you make acts of kindness a family habit?
“The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you,
and you shall love them as yourself...”
~Leviticus 19:34 |
