Laila Tov Grover! by Joni Kibort Sussman with illustrations by Tom Leigh; Minneapolis, Minnesota: Kar-Ben Publishing; (c) 2025; ISBN 9781728-492865; 10 pages; $9.99.
SAN DIEGO — The famed Sesame Street character Grover relates his bedtime routine in this board book intended for children aged 4 and under.
Not only by Laila Tov [Good Night] in its title does the book connect to the Jewish religion: Grover’s mother is pictured reading him a bedtime story from a volume of “Jewish Folktales” and immediately thereafter Grover covers his eyes and pronounces the Shema.
So, Grover is Jewish! To the extent that a child identifies with the lovable Sesame Street character, the child is happy to be Jewish like Grover.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.