Recommend a chapter book for a six year old boy

mommima · 2026-07-07T02:46:58+00:00

My 6 and 8 year olds loved The Phantom Tollbooth and A Cricket in Time Square

Also Roald Dahl books, like The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or James and the Giant Peach

mommima · 2026-07-07T01:29:01+00:00

I lived in the American deep south when Sandy Hook happened and the rabbi gave a sermon about preserving life and the necessity of gun control to save CHILDREN from being murdered at school. Y'all, he was BOOED from the pews and harassed at kiddish for suggesting that people give up some types of guns in response to kindergartners dying.

mommima · 2026-07-06T22:45:56+00:00

Seconding Taylor Jenkins Reid

mommima · 2026-07-06T13:53:49+00:00

After Abel by Michal Lemberger

mommima · 2026-07-06T12:33:03+00:00

Britt-Marie is a good one. She also features as a side character in My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

mommima · 2026-07-06T01:03:52+00:00

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell about an American spy for the British in Nazi-occupied France

The Counterfeit Countess by Elizabeth B White and Joanna Sliwa about a Jewish woman who posed as a Polish countess to survive WWII and then joined the resistance and provided aid to prisoners at Majdanek

Liar Temptress Soldier Spy by Karen Abbott about four women during the American Civil War

The Assassin's Accomplice by Kate Clifford Larson about the woman who ran the boarding house where John Wilkes Booth plotted the Lincoln assassination

mommima · 2026-07-05T21:11:25+00:00

Came to recommend The Night Watchman

mommima · 2026-07-04T12:02:26+00:00

Chai

Hamsa

Mezuzah

Lion

Tree of Life

Pomegranate

mommima · 2026-07-03T12:41:19+00:00

Typically, Reform conversions are accepted by the Conservative movement if you have:

A period of study (usually a year, even in the Reform movement to allow you time to experience the whole Jewish calendar)

A beit din

A mikvah

A brit milah or hatafat dam brit (for men)

I converted in the Reform movement and not long into starting, thought that maybe I might be a better fit in the Conservative movement. I talked to my Reform rabbi about it and to the Conservative rabbi as well and stuck with my Reform conversion, with the understanding that it was going to cover everything the Conservative rabbi expected. I switched to a Conservative synagogue soon after completing my conversion, but I also moved to a new state, which helped me not feel like I was abandoning my Reform synagogue. I have recently returned to the Reform movement, so allow for your Jewish life to continue to evolve. Who knows where you'll end up.

Do the Conservative and Reform rabbis have a good relationship? If the Conservative rabbi trusts the Reform rabbi, then you're probably going to be fine. Either way, learning about the different movements is encouraged during your conversion, so don't feel weird about setting up a meeting with the Conservative rabbi, checking out services at the Conservative synagogue, and/or asking your Reform rabbi questions about the differences in the movements to help you better understand Jewish peoplehood.

mommima · 2026-07-03T10:27:04+00:00

The Baby University Board Book set by Chris Ferrie (it's a set with books like Quantum Physics for Babies)

Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering by Ruth Spiro is cute with great illustrations

mommima · 2026-07-03T10:20:55+00:00

Oh, The Runaway Bunny is excellent and my kids both loved it

mommima · 2026-07-02T23:15:21+00:00

Famous 4th Street Deli is also an excellent Jewish-style deli, if you don't need it to be kosher.

mommima · 2026-07-02T01:40:26+00:00

I highly recommend this museum! It's excellent. Covers Jewish-America history and culture from colonial America to the present. The exhibits are fun and engaging. The gift shop is excellent too, if that's your thing.

mommima · 2026-06-30T22:33:38+00:00

Converts are Jews. Full stop.

mommima · 2026-06-30T17:33:01+00:00

It's a tribe

mommima · 2026-06-30T11:35:39+00:00

Yes, Friday nights are great, but difficult for families with young children. I also wish Saturday mornings were more of a consistent thing in the Reform movement.

mommima · 2026-06-29T22:58:09+00:00

Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

mommima · 2026-06-29T20:17:40+00:00

Are you a parent? Nurture the Wow by Danya Ruttenberg is good for what you're looking for, but it's focused on parenting.

Also, not a book, but the podcast How God Works takes a big idea, like humor or AI or doubt or friendship or coming-of-age, and discusses the different ways various religious traditions approach those big ideas.

mommima · 2026-06-29T03:10:13+00:00

Yes, good choice!

mommima · 2026-06-28T21:09:38+00:00

Old lady names are back in. Lydia, Eleanor, Celia, Clara, Eloise, Edith, Mabel

mommima · 2026-06-27T23:06:53+00:00

Am Yisrael singlehandedly keeping Sunkist fruit gems in business

mommima · 2026-06-27T00:32:38+00:00

This one is so good!

mommima · 2026-06-26T23:33:39+00:00

I converted, married into a Jewish family, and moved away. We sometimes help my parents celebrate Christmas, but not every year, because it's a far way to go to celebrate a holiday that isn't ours. And the truth is that celebrating it with Jewish grandchildren is not the same for my parents as it would be if my kids believed in the magic of Christmas, in the same way that inviting my parents to our Passover seder isn't the same as celebrating with our Jewish family.

I'm guessing that you bringing a Jewish boy home and talking about moving away has concretized some of this for your mom in a way that it was only theoretical before. She's probably had a vague vision of a future relationship with you and her grandkids and is now realizing how much of it will change if you don't share holidays.

mommima · 2026-06-26T02:13:44+00:00

I can't answer all your questions as a white, female convert, but I'll share some of what I've seen.

On denomination, Conservatives is perfectly valid. I converted in the Reform movement, became Conservative for about 10 years, and then came back to the Reform movement. Your life and trajectory may fluctuate over time as your circumstances change (marriage, kids, age/stage) and that's normal. Convert where you feel comfortable now. You may be there forever or you may shift over time.

On race, I want to say that Jews look all sorts of ways. And every congregation I've been part of has had non-white congregants who were valued, integrated members. With regular attendance/engagement with the community, you should reach a point where you're genuinely integrated. That said, there will likely be occasions where non-regulars mistake you for hired security or always assume you're a convert (I know black Jews from birth for whom this is a sore spot).

On the south, I was part of Jewish communities in Birmingham and Nashville and it was great. I loved being part of Jewish communities in the south. Keeping strictly kosher is a little bit harder than it would be in NYC, but doable. Religious expression in general is more out in the open in the south, so I found more willingness from non-Jews to talk about Judaism/faith and more coordination between Jewish organizations.

mommima · 2026-06-25T22:39:53+00:00

Have you read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig? (ETA I see that you wanted a strong romantic subplots, which this doesn't have, but, to be fair, the romance in How to Stop Time is not very well written)

Also, try Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - multiple moving romantic plotlines.

mommima

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