A simple children's book leads to profound discussions.

Raising their children to be bilingual in an almost totally Hebrew speaking neighborhood and with Israeli husbands who speak to them in Hebrew is a daunting task for our two Israeli-raised daughters, one of whom arrived with us at the age of two and the other who is a Sabra. We do our part by speaking to their children in English and by reading them books in English borrowed from our local Kfar Saba library.  I'm always on the lookout for used, well-written children's books. 

Recently, I chanced on an unusual book at the ESRA Raanana second-hand shop, called How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwartz, illustrated by Steven Kellogg and published in 1985 in New York.  In trying to help children conceptualize astronomical numbers, the author uses simple concepts in a very original and whimsical way.  "If one million kids climbed onto one another's shoulders, they would be…taller than the tallest buildings, higher than the highest mountains, and farther up than airplanes can fly…"

Near my home in Hod Hasharon is a large apartment complex with paths connecting the buildings. The loveliest path is named "The path of the million children who perished in the Holocaust."  I doubt whether the author thought of these murdered children when choosing objects reaching the sky, but his words made me catch my breath, reminding me once again of the enormity of this tragedy, this devastation of  entire generations.

This book is a jovial one, meant to teach and entertain.  But for us in Israel, "a million children" conjures up the children's memorial pavilion at  Yad Vashem, photos of small, terrified faces behind barbed wire and a million little, starry lights in a very dark room.

I will read this book to my young grandchildren and they will enjoy the happy pictures.  But I will also let my 12 year-old granddaughter read the book to me, and from there we will start a discussion.