Listen!: Israel’s All Around By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh. Illustrated by Steve Mack

A Hoopoe Says Oop!: Animals of Israel  By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh. Illustrated by Ivana Kuman (Both from Kar-Ben Publishing, 12 pp. $5.99)

In Listen! Israel’s All Around, Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh captures the sounds of Israel—from the crunch of falafel to the “flip-flop, flop and plop-plop, pop” of falling dates. Steve Mack’s pink-cheeked children are part of the happy cacophony. In A Hoopoe Says Oop!, the author captures the “oop” of the hoopoe, Israel’s national bird, and the “meow” of artist Ivana Kumin’s big-eyed sand cats. Ages 1 to 4.

Gloria Goldreich’s newest novel is After Melanie.