Drop by Drop: A Story of Rabbi Akiva

by Jacqueline Jules, Yevgenia Nayberg (Illustrator)

Overview

Akiva is just a poor shepherd living an ordinary life, until he falls in love with Rachel. Rachel thinks her husband could become a great man of learningbut Akiva can't even read! Is he too old to be a scholar or can he follow the example of the water in the nearby brook? Water is soft, yet drop by drop, it can soften the hardest stone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541513815
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD640L (what's this?)
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Yevgenia Nayberg is an award-winning illustrator, painter and stage designer. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, she graduated from The National School of Arts. Her paintings have been featured in exhibitions in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles and Moscow. She has designed sets and costumes for over 40 theatrical productions. Her childrens books include The Wren and the Sparrow by U.S. Childrens Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis. She lives in New York City.

Jacqueline Jules is an award-winning author and poet. Her many children's books include The Hardest Word (National Jewish Book Award finalist), Happy Hanukkah Lights, and Picnic at Camp Shalom. She lives in northern Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

"Author Jules, a many-time Sydney Taylor Honoree, presents a tale that is at once universally accessible and yet so vital to young Jewish readers."—Association of Jewish Libraries

From the Publisher

2017-06-05
A devoted wife is the inspiration behind a noted scholar of Judaism.Rachel, a rich man's daughter, falls in love with a poor, illiterate shepherd named Akiva who works for her father. She recognizes that a man "with such goodness in his heart, who understood so much about life, must be smart." Her father disowns her, but they marry and she encourages him to study even though he is 40. Akiva is reluctant, but one day he observes the power of water to slowly erode stone and realizes that "I can learn—just like water cuts through stone—a little bit each day." He begins attending school with children, masters Hebrew, and then leaves home for many years to study Torah. Akiva becomes the revered sage of Judaism, "a wise rabbi followed by thousands of students." His wife is never forgotten. The historical Akiva lived and studied in the first century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and worked to codify Judaism's oral laws into the Mishnah portion of the Talmud. Jules has based her warmly told narrative on legends of the sage and his wife. Nayberg's richly textured illustrations are stately and sculptural, depicting Rachel and Akiva with pale skin and red hair. Even those not familiar with Rabbi Akiva's monumental achievements will be moved by his devotion to learning and his wife's loving encouragement. (author's note) (Picture book/religion. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews