There is a specific kind of magic that happens at bedtime. The lights go down, the world gets quiet, and for a few minutes, anything is possible.

I’ve loved fairy tales and fantasy adventures since I was a little girl growing up in Israel. Back then, my friends and I didn’t wait for a prince to show up. We were too busy dreaming up our own adventures in the orange groves near Petah Tikvah. But as a mom, I started to notice a gap in the stories we read. Too often, the girls were waiting to be saved while the boys were expected to be fearless alone.

I wanted something different. I wanted stories where bravery is a team sport and kindness is a superpower available to everyone.

As psychologist Bruno Bettelheim argued, stories are the primary way children make sense of the world and their place within it. They provide the internal blueprint children use to navigate life. When we change the stories, we change the possibilities children see for themselves.

A Global Mission from a Home Office

When the pandemic hit, I found a way to act on this belief. As an activist, I was invited to join UN Women’s Awake Not Sleeping project. It was a whirlwind of collaboration with women writers from Europe to Central Asia, all asking the same question: How do we reimagine these old tales for a new generation?

Our goal was simple but powerful: to show that boys and girls can be brave together. To help children develop a growth mindset through stories and reach their full potential.

From Bedtime Whispers to the Chocolate Mountains

My own contribution to this journey started years ago as a series of whispered stories for my children. Those stories eventually grew into my first book, Papimento and the Chocolate Mountains.

The main character is Papimento, a curious boy from Brooklyn whose mom is a chef. When a simple errand whisks him away to a mysterious land where mountains are made of chocolate and nothing is quite as it seems, the adventure truly begins. There he meets Emma, who is clever, kind, and brave.  Together they don’t just survive the adventure; they solve it through teamwork, compassion, and friendship. It’s a reminder that when we don’t label each other, we build much cooler things together.

Inside the book, you’ll find a discovery guide to where chocolate actually comes from, a chocolate recipe to try at home, and practical ways to bring the story’s themes into your own family.

A Step Toward a Kinder World

As we celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, I’m reminded that we aren’t just teaching kids to read — we are teaching them how to see the world. I’ve always believed that a purposeful life is built one choice at a time. This book is one of mine.

If this message of equality and friendship resonates with you, I’d love for you to join Papimento on his first journey. Papimento and the Chocolate Mountains is available on Amazon. Share it with a young dreamer in your life.

After all, the best stories aren’t just about where we’ve been. They are about who we can become.

Disclosure: While I retain full copyright, my story is available for UN Women to use for the Awake Not Sleeping: Reimagining Fairy Tales for a New Generation project.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)