Dalia’s little brother Yossi doesn’t believe her when she tells him there is a big yellow comforter inside the small box she made and decorated at the community center. It’s a tzedakah box, and all week Dalia puts money she earns inside it. By week’s end, she tells Yossi that the box holds a big yellow comforter, a butterfly bush, and a banana cream pie, along with kisses and wishes and hugs. Yossi wants to believe his big sister, but when he rattles the box all he hears are coins. “It’s just a bank,” he says. So Dalia takes Yossi along when she and her class combine the money in all of their tzedakah boxes and go shopping. They buy a big yellow comforter, a butterfly bush, and a banana cream pie, and give them to an elderly woman in their neighborhood, along with their companionship. Linda Heller’s lively story about the Jewish tradition of charity and caring has terrific dialogue and a wonderful sibling relationship. Stacey Dressen McQueen’s warm, colorful illustrations show a multicultural neighborhood and numerous details specific to the Jewish tradition of tzedakah. (Ages 4–7)

Is Dalia’s little blue box magic—or is the real magic the generosity that helps her fill it?
 
When Dalia learns about tzedakah, the Jewish tradition of charity and caring, she creates a tzedakah box where she can keep the money she’s saved to help those in need.  Her little brother Yossi is curious about the Hebrew letters painted on the box. "Are those letters magic?" he asks. They must be because Dalia tells him she's putting a big yellow comforter, a butterfly bush, and a banana cream pie inside of it! How ever will she do it?
 
 
Though there may be joy in receiving, Dalia’s story serves as a powerful reminder that the greatest joy of all comes from giving generously to others.