It's Israel's Birthday! (It's Time)

It’s Israel’s Israel

Birthda Bi thday! Ellen Dietrick photographs b y T od Cohen

IT’S ISRAEL’S BIRTHDAY!

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It’s Israel’s Israel

Birthda Bi thday! Ellen Dietrick photographs b y Tod Cohen

IT’S ISRAEL’S BIRTHDAY!

Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Da y, is celebrated annually on the 5th of the Hebre w month of Iy ar, the anniver sar y of the establishment of the State of Israel (Ma y 14, 1948). F amilies gather for public ceremonies and parades and often go on hik es and picnics.

For the children of CBI Preschool. I am honored to be a par t of your jour ney. And to m y grandparents, Carl and Rose Lifland, who taught me a lo ve of Israel. —E.D .

Text cop yright © 2008 b y Ellen Dietrick Photos cop yright © 2008 b y Tod Cohen All rights reser ved. Inter national cop yright secured. No par t of this book ma y be reproduced, stored in a retrie val system, or transmitted in an y for m or b y any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-—without the prior written per mission of Ler ner Publications Company, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged re view. Kar-Ben Publishing , Inc. A division of Ler ner Publishing Group 241 F irst A venue Nor th Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. 1-800-4-KARBEN Website address: www .karben.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dietrick, Ellen 1977– It’s Israel’ s bir thday / b y Ellen Dietrick ; illustrated b y Tod Cohen. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978–0–8225–7668–6 (lib. bdg : alk. paper) 1. Israel—Pictorial wor ks—Juvenile literature. I. Cohen, Tod. II. Title. DS107.5.D54 2008 394.262—dc22 2007011222 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – JR – 08 07 06 05 04 03

eISBN-13: 978-0-7613-4013-3

It’s Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s bir thday.

Let’s board a plane and fly to Israel to celebrate.

We’ve landed at Ben Gurion Air port. Josh is ha ving his passpor t stamped.

The tour bus has stopped at a kibbutz. The y grow oranges here.

Mmm…sw eet.

We’re in Jer usalem and w e’re stopping at the shuk, the mar ket. The fr uits and vegetables mak e us hungr y.

David is buying a kiddush cup as a Bar Mitzvah gift for his big brother .

It’s time for lunch. Here is a felafel stand.

Sophie lik es salad in her felafel. Emily lik es French fries.

The Kotel is a w all that once sur rounded the Holy Temple. Man y people come here to pra y.

Benjy is tucking his pra yer in the w all.

Much of Israel is hot, dry deser t.

Archeologists dig here to lear n about ancient people.

Now it’s time to cool off with a swim.

The Dead Sea has so much salt you can float without tr ying.

In Israeli schools, the children lear n to read and write in Hebre w.

We’re lear ning how to count in Hebre w.

We’ve come to the big city of T el A viv for Israel’ s bir thday parade.

Everyone is marching – far mers, soldier s, teachers, even the felafel man.

Time to board the plane and fly home. Shalom, chaverim. Goodb ye, new friends.

Happy Yom Ha’atzmaut! Happy Bir thday, Israel!

Israel’s Bir thday Hats What you need: Strips of colored paper , 3 inches wide Strips of colored paper , 1 inch wide White paper cut into rectangles Blue paper cut into strips and triangles Stickers Scissor s and glue Stapler or tape What you do: 1. To make the hat, staple or tape two 3-inch strips together to fit around your head lik e a crown. Add another strip across the top as shown. 2. To make zig zags, fold 1-inch strips lik e an accordion. 3. To make flags, paste the blue triangles and strips onto the white rectangles. 4. Decorate your hat with stick ers, flags, and zigzags.

Wear your hat to march in Israel’ s bir thday parade!

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Join in celebrating Israel’s birthday as these youngsters take a pretend trip to Israel. Watch them board a plane, visit a kibbutz, enjoy the shuk in Jerusalem, float in the Dead Sea, visit the Kotel, and experience Israel in many other ways. A wonderful companion to other books in the award-winning “It’s Time” series for pre-schoolers:

It’s Challah Time! It’s Seder Time! It’s Purim Time! It’s Hanukkah Time! It’s Sukkah Time! It’s Shofar Time! For more infor mation on these and other Je wish-interest titles from Kar-Ben Publishing , call 800-4KARBEN (800-452-7236) or visit www .karben.com