Tonight marks the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut, the 72nd Independence Day of Israel, one of my favourite places in the whole world. While Canada is and always will be my home, this and our book club theme this month got me thinking about all the similarities and differences of "home" to people around the world every day, from the little ambient noises we're used to hearing around us, to the daily routines (albeit temporarily interrupted right now) of work and school. I love the idea of opening up the world to kids through picture books, and helping them compare and contrast life in other countries with their own. Even the youngest children get excited about the fact that animal noises may be expressed differently in another language, or breakfast foods might be totally unfamiliar! "Fast Asleep in a Little Village in Israel" (2018) by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod and Tiphanie Beeke is an absolutely gorgeous book for that. A schoolteacher wakes up in her "little village" to the sounds of morning, and as the rest of the village awakens we experience a little sample of Israeli life with her. Full of sensory delights, from animal sound effects to bits of Hebrew vocabulary (with explanation) and immersive description, and stunningly illustrated throughout, I cannot recommend this book highly enough as a welcoming peek into another culture and what "home" means in other parts of the world. For more stories of home, check out #Bookstagang_AtHome. ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ #NoodlenutsKidsBooks #FastAsleepInALittleVillageInIsrael #JenniferTziviaMacLeod #TiphanieBeeke #YomHaatzmaut #IsraelIndependenceDay #Israel #ืืืืืขืฆืืืืช #multicultural #JewishNoodlenuts #Jewish #MulticulturalLearning #CulturalUnderstanding #Diversity #LearningCultures #LearningEveryDay #LearningAtHome #Homeschool #LibrariansOfInstagram #HomeschoolFamily (at Israel in My Heart) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_iXg_1HIsG/?igshid=107q4u9wlkjul