The Book of Life

Blog Tour 2012: The Sydney Taylor Book Awards

2012-01-25T09:42:00.003-05:00

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2012 gold and silver medalists and a few selected Notables with a Blog Tour, February 5-10, 2012! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a wide variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. For those of you who have not yet experienced a Blog Tour, it's basically a virtual book tour. Instead of going to a library or bookstore to see an author or illustrator speak, you go to a website on or after the advertised date to read an author’s or illustrator's interview.

Later this spring, we'll follow up with an episode of Katie Davis's Brain Burps About Books devoted to the Sydney Taylor Book Award!

Below is the schedule for the 2012 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave them plenty of comments!

THE 2012 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2012

Susan Campbell Bartoletti, author of Naamah and the Ark at Night

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Ima On & Off the Bima

Holly Meade, illustrator of Naamah and the Ark at Night

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Into the Wardrobe

Shelley Sommer, author of Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, Baseball Pioneer

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Great Kid Books

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012

Marcia Vaughan, author of Irena's Jar of Secrets

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Shelf-Employed

Ron Mazellan, illustrator of Irena's Jar of Secrets

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at The Children's War

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Trina Robbins, author of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Bildungsroman

Anne Timmons (and possibly Mo Oh), illustrators of of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Gathering Books

Morris Gleitzman, author of Then

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at The 3 R's

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Michael Rosen, author of Chanukah Lights

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

Robert Sabuda, illustrator/paper engineer of Chanukah Lights

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Practically Paradise

Susan Goldman Rubin, author of Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Cynsations

Robert Sharenow, author of The Berlin Boxing Club

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at Jewish Books for Children

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Durga Yael Bernhard, author & illustrator of Around the World in One Shabbat

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Frume Sarah's World

Shirley Vernick, author of The Blood Lie

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at The Fourth Musketeer

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Eric Kimmel, author of The Golem's Latkes

Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and winner of the National Jewish Book Award

at Ann Koffsky's Blog

Gloria Spielman, author of Marcel Marceau, Master of Mime

Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and finalist for the National Jewish Book Award

at Shannon and the Sunshine Band

Richard Michelson, author of Lipman Pike: America's First Home Run King

Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and finalist for the National Jewish Book Award

at Blue Thread

Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up
All winners, all categories
at The Whole Megillah

Barbara Bietz's Big Reveal

2012-01-17T13:41:00.023-05:00

As Vice-President/President-Elect of the Association of Jewish Libraries, I naturally attended the midwinter council meeting of AJL in January. One of the highlights of the meeting was the moment when Barbara Bietz, chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, revealed the 2012 winners of the award! I snagged an interview with her after the meeting was over, and I hope you'll enjoy hearing about this year's selections "from the horse's mouth."

The full list of all award, honor, and notable Sydney Taylor books has been posted at bookoflifepodcast.com. I'll also post the schedule of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour as soon as it becomes available. The blog tour will take place in early February, and home base for that event will be jewishlibraries.org/blog. Also, just wanted to let you know that this podcast is being cross-posted on the Association of Jewish Libraries podcast at jewishlibraries.org/podcast.

Mazel tov to all the authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod
Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

2012 Sydney Taylor Book Awards Announced by the Association of Jewish Libraries

2012-01-17T11:33:00.002-05:00

Michael J. Rosen and Robert Sabuda, author and artist of Chanukah Lights, Susan Goldman Rubin, author of Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein, and Robert Sharenow, author of The Berlin Boxing Club, are the 2012 winners of the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award. The awards were announced at the mid-winter meeting of the School, Synagogue and Community Center Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award honors new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series. The winners will receive their awards at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Pasadena, California this June.

Rosen and Sabuda will receive the 2012 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Younger Readers Category for Chanukah Lights, published by Candlewick Press. This exquisite book celebrates Jewish history by pairing poetic prose with intricate paper cut pop-up art. Barbara Bietz, Chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, said: “From the shtetl to skyscrapers, the white pop-up scenes against a background of deep rainbow colors illuminate Jewish life for the eight nights of Chanukah. Together, children and adults will marvel at the stunning scenes that magically unfold with each turn of the page.”

The gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Older Readers Category will be presented to Susan Goldman Rubin for Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein, published by Charlesbridge Publishing. This biography shares the inspiring story of the young musician and his commitment to succeed in spite of his family’s opposition. Through hard work, determination and a spirit that won’t quit, Bernstein’s dream is realized as he takes the stage as a conductor at Carnegie Hall. Numerous photos help bring Bernstein’s journey to life. Committee member Barbara Krasner commented: “Music Was It shows the struggle between the old and new worlds - the immigrant generation and the American generation. Susan Goldman Rubin's well-researched and polished narrative was filled with tension that today's kids can relate to.”

In 2000, Goldman Rubin received the Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. Her book, The Cat with the Yellow Star: Coming of Age in Terezin, was a 2006 Sydney Taylor Honor Book.

Robert Sharenow will receive the 2012 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Teen Readers Category for The Berlin Boxing Club, published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing. This historical novel reveals the history of Nazi Germany through the eyes of Karl Stern, a typical 14-year-old German boy. Karl never gave much thought to being Jewish and had little connection with any religious life. When classmates bully Karl, he is forced to face the dangers in his own community. Given the opportunity to learn boxing from German champion Max Schmeling, Karl jumps at the chance. He grows strong and learns to defend himself. But as the Nazi’s gain power and his family is in peril, Karl questions who he can trust. Aimee Lurie, incoming Chair of the Award Committee noted: “The superb writing, meticulous research, and dramatic look into the world of boxing pack a punch that will leave teens mesmerized! Readers will be captivated and inspired by Karl's transformation from being the victim of anti-semitic violence to a strong, confident young man who is able to protect his family.”

Eight Sydney Taylor Honor Books were named for 2012. Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti with illustrations by Holly Meade (Candlewick Press) and Around the World in One Shabbat written and illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard (Jewish Lights Publishing) are recognized in the Younger Readers Category. Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Older Readers include: Lily Renee, Escape Artist: from Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer by Trina Robbins with illustrations by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh (Graphic Universe, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.), Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg: Baseball Pioneer by Shelley Sommer (Calkins Creek, an imprint Boyds Mills Press), and Irena’s Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan with illustrations by Ron Mazellan (Lee & Low Books). For teen readers, the Honor Books are Then by Morris Gleitzman (Henry Holt and Company) and The Blood Lie by Shirley Reva Vernick (Cinco Puntos Press).
In addition to the medal-winners, the Award Committee designated eighteen Notable Books of Jewish Content for 2012.

# # #

THE 2012 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS
ANNOUNCED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:
Chanukah Lights by Michael J. Rosen with artwork by Robert Sabuda
(Candlewick Press)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers:
Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin
(Charlesbridge Publishing)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers:
The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
(Harper Teen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Younger Readers:
Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti with illustrations by Holly Meade
(Candlewick Press)
Around the World in One Shabbat written and illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard
(Jewish Lights Publishing)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Older Readers:
Lily Renee, Escape Artist: from Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
by Trina Robbins with illustrations by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh
(Graphic Universe, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.)
Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg: Baseball Pioneer by Shelley Sommer
(Calkins Creek, an imprint Boyds Mills Press)
Irena’s Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan with illustrations by Ron Mazellan
(Lee & Low Books)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Teen Readers:
Then by Morris Gleitzman
(Henry Holt and Company)
The Blood Lie by Shirley Reva Vernick
(Cinco Puntos Press)

Notable Books for Younger Readers:
Picnic at Camp Shalom by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Debbie Melmon
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
The Golem’s Latkes by Eric A. Kimmel with illustrations by Aaron Jasinski
(Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books)
Joseph and the Sabbath Fish by Eric A. Kimmel with illustrations by Martina Peluso
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
Sadie’s Sukkah Breakfast by Jamie Korngold with illustrations by Julie Fortenberry
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
The Shabbat Princess by Amy Meltzer with illustrations by Martha Aviles
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King by Richard Michelson with illustrations by Zachary Pullen
(Sleeping Bear Press, an imprint of Gale)
The Littlest Mountain by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by Melanie Hall
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
I Will Come Back for You: A Family in Hiding during World War II by Marisabina Russo
(Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House)
Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime by Gloria Spielman with illustrations by Manon Gauthtier
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
One Little Chicken by Elka Weber with illustrations by Elisa Kleven
(Tricycle Press, an imprint of Random House)

Notable Books for Older Readers:
The Mishkan: Its Structure and Its Sacred Vessels by Rabbi Avrohom Biderman
(Artscroll/Mesorah Publication)
Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin
(Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House)
The Cats in the Doll Shop by Yona Zeldis McDonough with illustrations by Heather Maione
(Viking, an imprint of the Penguin Group (USA) Inc.)
When Life Gives You OJ by Erica S. Perl
(Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto by Susan Goldman Rubin
with illustrations by Bill Fransworth (Holiday House)
Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust by Ruth Thomson
(Candlewick Press)

Notable Books for Teens:
OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy
(Walker & Company)
Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul Janeczko
(Candlewick Press)

The Book of Life Moves to a Relaxed Schedule

2011-12-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

I've been podcasting here at The Book of Life since December 2005. It's been a great opportunity for me to have conversations with all sorts of fascinating people, but as you can imagine, putting the show together is a time-consuming process. That's why, as of December 2011, I'm moving the show to an "occasional" instead of a monthly schedule. When I find something too interesting to resist, I'll podcast it, but new episodes will no longer appear on a regular basis. Hopefully, this will give you the chance to catch up on listening to old episodes (six years' worth!) at bookoflifepodcast.com. If you're not yet subscribed to the show through iTunes or Facebook, I recommend that you do so now so that you'll get notified about any new episodes as they are posted. It will save you the trouble of checking The Book of Life web page.

Thanks for listening, everyone!
Heidi

David Bezmozgis and The Free World

2011-12-03T12:54:00.029-05:00

The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews author and filmmaker David Bezmogis about his development as a writer and his new novel The Free World. Learn more about David at bezmozgis.com, and more about Anne (who is a librarian and an author in her own right) at www.annedublin.ca.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Pulani

2011-11-01T16:05:00.016-04:00

Here's an interview I've had in the queue for a long time: an interview with Ruchel Louis, Jewish author of Pulani: A Memoir of Growing Up in Apartheid South Africa. I met Ruchel at Book Expo America in 2010, and had a great time interviewing her while we sat waiting for the keynote address (it was Barbara Streisand, speaking about her book on interior design). I think Ruchel was the more interesting speaker!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Write Your Own Megillah

2011-10-03T16:09:00.027-04:00

Barbara Krasner blogs at The Whole Megillah. During Jewish Book Month 2011, she is sponsoring the "Write Your Own Megillah "project to encourage Jewish children's writers a la NaNoWriMo. Write 36,000 words of a young adult novel or 18,000 words for middle grade readers between November 21-December 21, and become eligible to win 3-chapter critiques from professional children's editors Stephanie Lurie and Margery Cuyler!

Complete information about the event can be found at: http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/write-your-own-megillah-a-new-whole-megillah-event/

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Life, After

2011-09-07T16:32:00.027-04:00

Sarah Darer Littman (center) with librarians Etta Gold and Heidi Estrin
at the 2011 AJL Convention, where she received her STBA Honor Award

Sarah Darer Littman's novel Life, After, was a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book for teens. Sarah was a guest on the show in 2006 when her debut novel Confessions of a Closet Catholic won the Sydney Taylor Book Award, and it was great to meet up with her again. Her novels are always brave, taking on subjects that others might fear to talk about.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Wherever You Go

2011-08-04T09:53:00.021-04:00

Wherever You Go is a finely interwoven novel of three American lives and the unexpected ways they touch each other in the landscape of Israel. I recorded this interview with author Joan Leegant when she visited Boca Raton, Florida for a Jewish Book Network event at the Levis JCC.

For more information about the book, visit Joan's website at www.joanleegant.com/Leegant/Joan_Leegant.html.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

A Day in the Life of a Judaica Librarian

2011-07-28T16:46:00.000-04:00

This post is written for Round 7 of Library Day in the Life, a project started by librarian blogger Bobbi Newman at LibrarianByDay.net. Librarians across the world explain what they do (it's not just sitting around and reading!).To see a list of the 200+ participants (of which I am Number 69), visit http://librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com/w/page/42017739/Roun.

I am the librarian and computer teacher at Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida, where I work with the synagogue's preschool and religious school. During the school year, a typical "day in the life" includes teaching up to ten preschool classes in a row, performing storytimes or conducting lessons on computer skills. Later in the day, this may be followed by a visit with religious school classes, using the power of story to connect them with their Jewish heritage. When no students are in the room, I am typically doing lesson planning, maintaining the library's 7000+ volume collection, and working on my podcast, The Book of Life. My days often include other professional work, such as volunteering with the Association of Jewish Libraries, of which I am the Vice President / President-Elect.

Right now it's summer break, so my day is not so fast-paced. Here's what I did today:

Had a very productive meeting with my director about revamping the preschool blog.
Brainstormed for a possible new library enrichment project: preschool literacy centers, wrote up a proposal and started seeking out materials that could be used in such centers.
Checked in and shelved returned library books.
Wrote a book review for School Library Journal, to which I am a regular contributor. Also received editorial comments on an article I am currently writing for SLJ.
Got up on a stepstool and wrote the names of donors onto the artificial (but real-looking) leaves on the Tree of Knowledge that is built into the storytime corner, using a gold pen.

I'd also like to note that today the library was used by early drop-off child care, by a summer camp group who came by to read a story, and by the bar mitzvah tutor who worked with two different students, helping them to practice chanting their Torah portions.

Noah's Swim-a-thon

2011-07-06T17:43:00.020-04:00

Author Ann Koffsky talks about her newest picture book, Noah's Swim-a-thon, about lifeguarding at camp, and about the nutty things adults say to get kids to put their faces in the water.

For more info about the book, visit URJ Books & Music at http://urjbooksandmusic.com/product.php?productid=12179.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel

Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries

Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band

Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast

Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The Jewish Book Carnival: June 2011

2011-06-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts. The posts are hosted on one of the participant’s sites on the 15th of each month.

For the month of June, 2011, our host is Erika Dreifus at My Machberet (Hebrew for "notebook"). She's got a great round-up of posts from all over the blogosphere. You'll find author interviews, book reviews, suggested reading lists, reflections on Jewish Book Network experiences, and various Shavuot-themed posts.

Visit My Machberet for the June Jewish Book Carnival!

Enjoy, and please leave comments for the bloggers - they love feedback!

_____________________________

Double Dip: Rona Arato

2011-06-11T13:31:00.018-04:00

A double dip of interviews with Rona Arato, author of Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall & Matzo Ball Emporium.

Heidi Estrin interviews Rona at Book Expo America
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews Rona at home in Toronto

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel

Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries

Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band

Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast

Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Tropical Secrets

2011-05-01T19:48:00.042-04:00

Cuban-American, half-Jewish author Margarita Engle won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Teen Reader category for Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. It's a free verse novel in several voices, about a Jewish teen who escapes Europe during World War II and flees to Cuba - but will Cuba take him in?

I had the honor of interviewing Margarita at the 2010 Association of Jewish Libraries convention, where she received her award. She is no stranger to awards, having won the Pura Belpre Medal several times for her depiction of Latino culture, among other prizes.

For another interview with Margarita, check out her stop on the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel

Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries

Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band

Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast

Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

April's Jewish Book Carnival

2011-04-15T10:44:00.000-04:00

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts. The posts are hosted on one of the participant’s sites on the 15th of each month. For April 2011, our host is the Jewish Book Council blog at http://jewishbooks.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/jewish-book-carnival-april. There you will find links to Jewish book reviews, author interviews, and other booky Jewishy goodness (including a link back to The Book of Life's interview with Ann Redisch Stampler on The Rooster Prince of Breslov).

Please visit the Carnival, comment on the posts, and if you'd like to play next time, send a booky Jewishy link from your own blog to our May host, The Whole Megillah, at BarbaraKrasner@att.net.

Yuvi's Candy Tree

2011-04-12T21:55:00.042-04:00

Author Lesley Simpson offered to interview herself, and I couldn't pass that up! She talks about Yuvi's Candy Tree (Kar-Ben, 2011), a picture book on Ethiopian Jews fleeing to Israel based on the true story of Yuvi Tashome. With its strong Exodus themes, it makes a great tie-in to Passover; it's also a universal immigration story and a good illustration of the diversity of the Jewish family.

Yuvi's Candy Tree is a PJ Library selection for ages 8 and up. You can take a look at their reading guide here.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

The Rooster Prince of Breslov

2011-04-03T19:02:00.009-04:00

I bumped into Ann Redisch Stampler at Book Expo 2010. Ann is the author of the Jewish folktale picture book The Rooster Prince of Breslov, which (a while after our interview) was named winner of the National Jewish Book Award's 2010 Louis Posner Memorial Award for illustrated children's books. It was also named a 2011 Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee.

Ann was a guest on The Book of Life in 2007 when she won the Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Shlemazel and the Remarkable Spoon of Pohost.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Defying Gravity

2011-03-01T15:16:00.006-05:00

One of the many interesting people I met at last year's Book Expo America was Carol de Giere, author of a biography of Jewish superstar composer Stephen Schwartz. Her book is entitled Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked. Carol shared interesting tidbits about her time backstage on Wicked and about the Jewish influences on Schwartz's work. Check out her website at caroldegiere.com and check out her book's website at defyinggravitythebook.com.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

VIDEO:
The song "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, as performed at the Tony Awards.

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour: Interview with Jaime Zollars

2011-02-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Jaime Zollars is the illustrator for the 2010 reissue of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin. This title was named a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries. In celebration of this honor, AJL is sponsoring a Blog Tour with all gold and silver medalists. Today I am so pleased to participate in the blog tour and have Jaime Zollars here on The Book of Life!

Welcome, Jaime! Cakes and Miracles was originally published in 1991 with illustrations by Erika Weihs. Did you refer to the original illustrations in any way as you worked on this book, or did you start completely fresh? How was re-illustrating an old book different from illustrating a new book?

I started completely fresh on this title. My first instinct was to look at the original book first, but then I decided that it would only limit my thinking if I peeked too early in the process. Once I had my sketches in, I did order the book to see how it was first illustrated. For me, re-illustarting an old book was exactly the same as illustrating a new one. I treated it as if it had never been published. The text for this edition was also edited to make it a shorter story. This change allowed for more full spreads and room for art, which was great for me!

The main character of the book, Hershel, is blind, yet you've shown him with very compelling eyes, and in most scenes his eyes are open if a little unfocused. Can you talk about how you decided what his eyes should look like and how you achieved that effect?

Hershel's blindness was one of the most immediate challenges for this book. I thought a long while about how I would portray his eyes. One of my major concerns is how much we all relate to characters in picture books through their eyes. If Hershel's eyes were rendered lifeless, it would have been much harder for readers to connect with him.

I went on to research images of blind people to discover that there is a wide range of physical evidence of blindness in people. Besides Hershel's gaze being unfocused at times and him closing his eyes often to "see", I decided to keep his eyes relatively normal in appearance. My decision to treat them this way came from considering what this story is actually about. Yes, Cakes and Miracles is about a boy who overcomes the perceived limitations of his blindness and discovers that he can see in a unique way. But I see this tale as not just about one little blind boy. It is about the spirit's triumph over a physical reality. Too much emphasis on physical disfigurement could have distracted from a more universal message. I'm hoping this title can get even the youngest readers to connect to Hershel and understand how this story is also about them and overcoming their own obstacles in life.

On a technical level, I averted Hershel's gaze and then brushed a light coating of transparent white ink over his eyes in many cases so they appear a bit unfocused.

Can you give us any insider knowledge about Cakes and Miracles or talk a little about the process of writing the book?

Although this book went very smoothly and I don't have many insider anecdotes to share, the process was an adventure for me. It involved some research on my part. I am not Jewish, nor have I ever worked on a Jewish book before. My art must harken something relevant though, as I'd been offered three other Jewish books before Cakes and Miracles came my way, and I'm working on another Jewish title now!

I have enjoyed the process of learning something about Jewish history and culture. I aimed to make sure that my imagery was as accurate as possible without losing the story's spirit in too much technical reference. This experience was richer for me than illustrating previous books because of all the preliminary reading and work I got to do first to better understand the tale.

I've heard that your work is influenced by Flemish painters. Can you tell us more about that?

I've always loved the Flemish painters of the 15th-16th century. Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Breughel are among my influences. Brueghel seems like an appropriate reference for this story. He was best known for painting pictures of real working people, the peasant class, while other painters were most absorbed with painting royal life. I love these painters because of their attention to detail, sophisticated palettes, and the ability to capture the atmosphere of a time and a place very affectively. I am also a fan of proverbs and folk tales, so Brueghel's Proverbs piece (link here) is one of his most memorable images for me.

You are a designer as well as an illustrator. Can you tell us a little about the various art forms you work with?

While I'd call myself and illustrator first, there are many things I do as a freelance artist. I create paintings for galleries, and commercial paintings for books, ad campaigns, and magazines. I have designed characters and branding for various art and craft companies, and I enjoy printmaking as well. As far as technique is concerned, the variety in jobs that come up allows me to use acrylic paint, collage, Photoshop, and screen printing to achieve my desired affect.

On top of the my art assignments, I also get to teach art to the talented students at MICA here in Baltimore. Teaching actually exposes me to many new ideas and techniques that I would not have explored otherwise, and has led to my own experiments and a willingness to continue learning new things myself!

Have you ever made hamantaschen? What's your favorite hamantaschen filling?

I have not tried to make hamantaschen, (I'm more of a cook than a baker) but that is sounding like a great idea right now! The coffee shop I frequent here in Baltimore keeps theirs well-stocked, and I can thank this book for trying my first (and getting somewhat addicted). Raspberry has proven to be a consistent favorite.

The Year of Goodbyes

2011-02-01T18:20:00.008-05:00

I still have a number of interviews from Book Expo America 2010 in the queue, but I decided to post the interview with Debbie Levy today because it is her birthday! Thanks to Facebook for letting me know. Happy Birthday, Debbie!

I met Debbie Levy and her mother Jutta at Book Expo America 2010, where we sat down in the cafe for an interview. Debbie is the author and Jutta is the subject of The Year of Goodbyes: A True Story of Friendship, Family and Farewells, based on Jutta's poesiealbum from the 1940's. A poesiealbum is a poetry album or autograph album, in which friends write each other little notes and poems. Debbie was touched by the writings of her mother as a young girl, and her mother's friends. To encourage readers to experience the poesiealbum tradition, she has created a participatory blog where people can submit their own entries to an online poesiealbum at theyearofgoodbyes.blogspot.com.

The Year of Goodbyes was named a 2011 Notable Book of Jewish Content in the Older Readers Category by the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The 2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

2011-01-26T09:25:00.003-05:00

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2011 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 6-11, 2011! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a wide variety of Jewish, kidlit, and family-interest blogs. For those of you who have not yet experienced a Blog Tour, it's basically a virtual book tour. Instead of going to a library or bookstore to see an author or illustrator speak, you go to a website on or after the advertised date to read an author’s or illustrator's interview.

Below is the schedule for the 2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave plenty of comments!

The Book of Life will be participating on Tuesday, February 8, hosting an interview with Jaime Zollars, illustrator of the Sydney Taylor Honor Book Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin.

For the full list of this year's winners, honors, and notable books, please visit the Association of Jewish Libraries website.

THE 2011 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2011

Carla Jablonski, author of Resistance
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Jewish Comics

Leland Purvis, illustrator of Resistance
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Shelf-Employed

Sarah Gershman, author of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Biblio File

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Linda Glaser, author of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at ASHarmony

Claire Nivola, illustrator of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Lori Calabrese

Evelyn Krieger, author of One Is Not a Lonely Number
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Ima On and Off the Bima

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011

Barbara Diamond Goldin, author of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Great Kid Books

Jaime Zollars, illustrator of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at The Book of Life

Susan Lynn Meyer, author of Black Radishes
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at The 3 Rs – Reading, ‘Riting & Research

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Howard Schwartz, author of Gathering Sparks
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Boston Bibliophile

Barry Deutsch, author and illustrator of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at BewilderBlog

Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Kristina Swarner, illustrator of Gathering Sparks
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
And illustrator of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Market Blog

Sarah Darer Littman, author of Life, After
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe

Eishes Chayil, author of Hush
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Frume Sarah’s World

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Morris Gleitzman, author of Once
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Fourth Musketeer

Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up
All winners, all categories
at The Whole Megillah

2011 Sydney Taylor Book Awards Announced by the Association of Jewish Libraries

2011-01-10T10:00:00.004-05:00

Here is a press release from the Association of Jewish Libraries about the newest winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award! Please note that The Book of Life has an interview with Barry Deutsch, winner in the Older Readers Category for Hereville, posted below. Interviews with some of the other recognized authors were recorded in 2010 and are in the queue to be released on the podcast in the coming year.

~~~

Music: "Conflict in the Middle Table" by Michael Stampler.

Howard Schwartz and Kristina Swarner, author and illustrator of Gathering Sparks, Barry Deutsch, author and illustrator of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, and Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows are the 2011 winners of the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award honors new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series. The winners will receive their awards at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Montreal this June.

Schwartz and Swarner will receive the 2011 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Younger Readers Category for Gathering Sparks, published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing. Both are second time winners. In 1992, Schwartz received the Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales from Around the World. Swarner earned the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Award for her illustrations in The Bedtime Sh’ma: A Goodnight Book by Sarah Gershman.

Gathering Sparks is based on a sixteenth century teaching of “tikkun olam,” or “repairing the world.” Committee member Debbie Colodny commented, “Schwartz spins a calming tale that suggests that the way to bring peace and well-being to our world is by doing good deeds and loving one another... Swarner’s art and Schwartz’s poetic words interpret the concept of the vessel as a fleet of ships outlined in the night sky by millions of starry points of light.”

Deutsch will receive the 2011 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Older Readers Category for Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books. This is the first graphic novel to win the Award. Committee member Aimee Lurie noted, “Mirka is a clever, headstrong and imaginative heroine who will appeal to a wide audience. Teens who feel like they don’t fit in will have no trouble relating to her balancing what is best for her family versus her desire to fight dragons. Grounded in her religious beliefs, she is willing to put her fantasies aside to celebrate Shabbat. The illustrations strike the perfect balance of showing a realistic Orthodox community, while creating the perfect backdrop for a fairytale.”

Reinhardt will receive the 2011 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Teen Readers Category for The Things a Brother Knows, published by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. Levi’s older brother Boaz is a military hero, and Levi has always lived in his shadow. Now Boaz is returning from war and it seems everyone thinks Levi is the luckiest boy in town. When Boaz refuses to engage with his family and barely leaves his room, Levi wonders if his brother will ever be normal. Committee member Rita Soltan said, “Reinhardt creates a moving portrayal of teen characters … She provides balance through Levi and Boaz’s Israeli grandfather, who served in Israel and has experienced war and suicide bombings. Realistic and subtle, her story unfolds with enough suspense, sardonic humor and pathos to keep readers focused until a conclusion that leaves room for pondering interpretation.” In 2007, Reinhardt earned a Sydney Taylor Honor Award for A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life.

Nine Sydney Taylor Honor Books were named for 2011. For Younger Readers, the Honor Award Winners are: Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book by Sarah Gershman with illustrations by Kristina Swarner (EKS Publishing), Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser with illustrations by Claire A. Nivola (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children), and Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin with illustrations by Jaime Zollars (Marshall Cavendish Children). Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners for Older Readers include: Resistance by Carla Jablonski with art by Leland Purvis (First Second, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group), One Is Not a Lonely Number by Evelyn Krieger (YM Books, an imprint of YALDAH Media, Inc.), and Black Radishes by Susan Lynn Meyer (Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books). For Teen readers, the Honor Award Winners are: Hush by Eishes Chayil (Walker & Company, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing), Once by Morris Gleitzman (Henry Holt and Company), and Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.).

In addition to the medal-winners, the Award Committee designated twenty-seven Notable Books of Jewish Content for 2011: thirteen in the Younger Readers Category, seven in the Older Readers Category, and seven for Teens. Notable titles, and more information about the Sydney Taylor Book Award, may be found online at www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.org.

A blog tour, featuring interviews with winning authors and illustrators, will take place in early February, with participation from a wide range of children's literature, family interest, and Jewish blogs. The blog tour schedule will appear on the Association of Jewish Libraries' blog "People of the Books" at JewishLibraries.org/blog.

# # #

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:
Gathering Sparks by Howard Schwartz with illustrations by Kristina Swarner
(Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers:
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch
(Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers:
The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt
(Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners for Younger Readers:
Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book by Sarah Gershman with illustrations by Kristina Swarner
(EKS Publishing)
Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser with illustrations by Claire A. Nivola
(Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)
Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin with illustrations by Jaime Zollars
(Marshall Cavendish Children)

Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners for Older Readers:
Resistance by Carla Jablonski with illustrations by Leland Purvis
(First Second, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
One Is Not a Lonely Number by Evelyn Krieger
(YM Books, an imprint of YALDAH Media, Inc.)
Black Radishes by Susan Lynn Meyer
(Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners for Teen Readers:
Hush by Eishes Chayil
(Walker & Company, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing)
Once by Morris Gleitzman
(Henry Holt and Company)
Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman
(Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.)

Notable Books for Younger Readers:
Engineer Ari and the Sukkah Express by Deborah Bodin Cohen with illustrations by Shahar Kober
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Feivel's Flying Horses by Heidi Smith Hyde with illustrations by Johanna van der Sterre
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Miriam in the Desert by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Natascia Ugliano
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah by Leslie Kimmelman with illustrations by Paul Meisel
(Holiday House)
Say Hello, Lily by Deborah Lakritz with illustrations by Martha Aviles
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Beautiful Yetta, The Yiddish Chicken by Daniel Pinkwater with illustrations by Jill Pinkwater
(Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
A Tale of Two Seders by Mindy Avra Portnoy with illustrations by Valeria Cis
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Jackie's Gift by Sharon Robinson with illustrations by E.B. Lewis
(The Viking Press, an imprint of Penguin)
Zishe the Strong Man by Robert Rubenstein with illustrations by Woody Miller
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Sara Finds a Mitzva by Rebeka Simhaee with illustrations by Michael Weber
(Hachai Publishing)
Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher by Laurel Snyder with illustrations by David Goldin
(Tricycle Press, an imprint of The Crown Trade Group/Random House)
The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Ann Stampler with illustrations by Eugene Yelchin
(Clarion, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Dear Tree by Doba Rivka Weber with illustrations by Phyllis Saroff
(Hachai Publishing)

Notable Books for Older Readers:
Is It Night or Day? by Fern Schumer Chapman
(Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
Kings and Carpenters: One Hundred Bible Land Jobs You Might Have Praised or Panned
by Laurie Coulter with illustrations by Mary Newbigging
(Annick Press)
Hot Pursuit: Murder in Mississippi by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon with illustrations by Craig Orback
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
The Orphan Rescue by Anne Dublin with illustrations by Qin Leng
(Second Story Press)
The Year of Goodbyes by Debbie Levy
(Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
Sharing Our Homeland: Palestinian and Jewish Children at Summer Peace Camp by Trisha Marx with photographs by Cindy Karp
(Lee & Low Books)
Mitzvah the Mutt by Sylvia Rouss with illustrations by Martha Rast
(Yaldah Publishing)

Notable Books for Teen Readers:
An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank by Elaine Marie Alphin
(Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner)
Annexed by Sharon Dogar
(Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)
Inconvenient by Margie Gelbwasser
(Flux, an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.)
Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
(Hill and Wang)
Queen of Secrets by Jenny Meyerhoff
(Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan)
Under a Red Sky: Memoir of a Childhood in Communist Romania by Haya Leah Molnar
(Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan)
Cry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron
(Annick Press)

Here's Hereville

2011-01-10T09:00:00.002-05:00

I met Barry Deutsch, author of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, at Miami Book Fair International in November, 2010. Hereville is the 2011 winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers Category, the first graphic novel ever to win this prestigious literary prize. For the full list of 2011 prize winners, visit the Association of Jewish Libraries' blog "People of the Books."

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Hark (formerly Entertonement). Click the link below the player to find the embed code.
(Link)
VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

December's Jewish Book Carnival

2010-12-15T12:44:00.003-05:00

The December Jewish Book Carnival is hosted by Erika Dreifus at her blog, My Machberet. It's a round-up of links from a wide variety of Jewish book blogs. You'll hear from authors and librarians, find essays and book reviews, and you'll even see a submission from The Book of Life! Please check it out, and don't forget to leave comments at the blogs you visit!

3,548 Library Lovers Celebrate Jewish Library Snapshot Day

2010-12-06T15:19:00.002-05:00

Library Snapshot Day 2010

The People of the Book really do love libraries! In November 2010, during Jewish Book Month, 30 Jewish libraries participated in Library Snapshot Day. The event, sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries, was created to let all types of Judaic libraries record what happens in a day in the life of a library. Across North America, libraries in synagogues, day schools, community centers and universities picked one day during the first two weeks of November to hold the event. Collectively, participating libraries served 3,548 patrons on Library Snapshot Day.

The Activities

From Jewish hubs like Chicago, IL to smaller Jewish communities like Tulsa, OK, from sunny Miami, FL to chilly Montreal, Quebec, Jewish libraries held author visits, study groups, literary and computer quizzes, artist receptions, book discussions, book sales, scavenger hunts, craft projects, parenting programs, charity drives, and children’s story times. Eleven of the participating libraries shared their circulation statistics, revealing that at least 745 books were checked out during Library Snapshot Day.

The Feedback

Every participating library reported overwhelmingly positive feedback from its community. Common themes included praise for the library as a quiet, peaceful environment in which to read and work, kudos for the hard work of librarians (many of whom, apparently, “rock”), and appreciation for the many print and digital resources provided. A patron at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck, NY said “The library is a great place to study and clear your head. I always feel relaxed and very welcomed when I come to the library, and I love the librarian.” A sixth-grader at the Sheila Sporn Library at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, CA said “Libraries are important because they let people who don’t have enough money get books to read.” A patron of the Brenner Library at Temple Emanuel in Denver, CO drives 150 miles from the mountains to make use of the facilities. Perhaps the general sentiments of library users are best summed up by a patron at the Feldman Library at Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton, FL, who said “The library helps us to continue to be the People of the Book!”

What It All Means

Library Snapshot Day captured the diversity of services offered by Jewish libraries and underscored the importance of libraries in Jewish life. “Libraries and librarians often fly under the radar in their communities,” said Association of Jewish Libraries Vice-President, Heidi Estrin. “We are thrilled that, on Library Snapshot Day, over three thousand people expressed their love of Jewish libraries. We hope that the event will encourage even more people to use these amazing resources year-round.” A slide show of selected photographs submitted by participants may be viewed above and on AJL’s blog “People of the Books” at jewishlibraries.org/blog.

The concept of Library Snapshot Day originated with the American Library Association, of which AJL is an affiliate. Click here for more information on ALA’s Library Snapshot Day.

Please feel free to share this article and/or video on your site or via social networking. You can find AJL online at jewishlibraries.org, at facebook.com/jewishlibraries, and on Twitter @jewishlibraries.

Shalom Sesame

2010-12-01T10:39:00.009-05:00

Shalom Sesame is a program that combines elements of the American TV show Sesame Street with its Israeli counterpart Rehov Sumsum. The program was originally produced in the 1980's, and has just been revamped and reissued on DVD. The Chanukah episode, "The Missing Menorah," will be airing on many PBS stations during December, 2010, so check your local listings. This interview with Veronica Wulff, Director of Global Production at Sesame Workshop, gives us some insight into the creation of the series. For more Shalom Sesame fun, visit shalomsesame.org.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Shalom Sesame sound clip

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

"Shalom Sesame Theme" used in this episode courtesy of Sesame Workshop (New York, NY).

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The 2010 Canadian Jewish Book Awards

2010-11-03T18:52:00.007-04:00

The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews winners of the 2010 Helen & Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards at the gala ceremony in Toronto. For the full list of 2010 winners, click here.

Anne spoke with:

Eva Wiseman, author of Puppet (Youth Literature category)
Goldie Sigal, author of Stingy Buzi and King Solomon / Der karger Buzi un Shloymeh Hameylekh (Yiddish category)
Robin McGrath, author of The Winterhouse (Fiction category)
Mystery writer Howard Engel (Special Achievement Award)

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

2010 Canadian Jewish Book Awards sound clip

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Shooting My Mouth Off with Laurel Snyder

2010-10-20T16:38:00.002-04:00

So my friend Laurel Snyder (who was on The Book of Life in August, 2008, and whose book Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher was mentioned in the BEA09 episode) made the mistake of giving me a soapbox upon which to climb. She's one of the bloggers at From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors, and she wanted to do a piece on Jewish middle-grade books so she emailed me a bunch of questions. Took me all day, but I wrote up some ideas and suggestions, which you can read here at the interview, (Sometimes-Not-So) All-of-a-Kind Families. There's an interesting discussion going in the comments section, too -- feel welcome to join in!

Papernick the Book Peddler

2010-10-10T09:55:00.011-04:00

Jonathan Papernick is the author of Who by Fire, Who by Blood and The Ascent of Eli Israel. His new book of short stories is entitled There Is No Other: Stories of Faith, Love and Heartache. Jon kindly agreed to answer some questions for us about his new book. Please enjoy this interview and video, and be sure to check out his website at jonpapernick.com.

Jon, please give us a brief overview of your book of short stories, There Is No Other.

The stories in my new collection are set in Brooklyn, Israel, and Massachusetts and deal with issues of love, faith, relationships and God.

Most of the stories deal explicitly with Jewish themes while others deal with the complications of modern relationships. The characters in each of the stories are searching for that other in their life, whether spiritual or physical -- sometimes finding that other, sometimes failing to. The younger characters in my collection tend to struggle with tradition and faith and grapple with Judaism and how to fit it in his traditions of their lives, while the older characters tend to struggle with the idea of tikkun olam, fixing the world and making it a better place.

What compels you “write Jewish”? Is it a conscious choice? Would you call There Is No Other a Jewish book?

I don't think it is a conscious choice for me to "write Jewish" but I find that much of my religious education comes to the writing of my stories, and I work out my own questions through the writing of my stories. I would call There Is No Other a Jewish book, but also a universal book that deals with how we all struggle with faith and relationships, which of course is not strictly Jewish. I write through the lens that compels me, so I couldn't write a Catholic book, or an African-American book, but I think all good books are universal and shed light on the mystery of what it means to be human.

You live in Boston but you’re originally from Toronto. Does location influence your work? Would you say your stories have any kind of Canadian sensibility?

Location very much influences my work. I'm a strong believer in the power of the spirit of place. My entire first book The Ascent of Eli Israel was set in Jerusalem, and in many ways Jerusalem itself is a character in my collection. The history, the smells, sounds, the streets all add up to something powerful that influences the way each of my characters act and react within each story. My first novel Who by Fire, Who by Blood was set entirely in Brooklyn, and again, I believe that Brooklyn itself becomes a character and my flesh and blood characters are influenced profoundly by the setting. There Is No Other is set in various locales, and for the first time, I've actually written a story is not explicitly set in any recognizable place other than a suburban basement somewhere in the Northeast. As far as I can tell my stories do not have any sort of Canadian sensibility. Most of the Canadian books that were forced upon me in school were precious and overwritten and quite dull, and I think I strive for the exact opposite. As somebody who has lived in Israel and New York, I don't think I have a lot of the reticence and politeness that many Canadian writers bring to their work.

I have to admit that I found these stories difficult to process because there was a lot of harsh behavior from the characters. What would you tell readers like me (fans of happy endings) to help us better appreciate this sort of literature?

I think there are at least three of the nine stories in my collection that certainly do have happy endings. I love the idea of happy endings, but as a writer it is my job to figure out how human beings tick, and as I write my characters, I listen to them as they make their poor decisions and follow where they lead me. I try to write about the human experience and it is not always happy. My characters often face fierce internal struggles that threaten to overwhelm them. I believe the job of literature is to make the reader understand what it is like to be somebody else, to live in another's mind for a while in a moment of crisis, a time when change is eminently possible. I want my characters to win, but sometimes a happy ending would be entirely artificial and unearned. That said, I believe there's a lot of humor in my stories, which leavens some of the pain that we all feel every day of our lives.

Please tell us about your unique marketing style, in your guise of Papernick the Book Peddler.

After my first collection of stories came out in 2002 receiving a lot of critical acclaim, I was surprised to learn that new books for the most part disappeared from bookshelves after 3 to 6 months and new books are brought in to replace them. Within a few months, most of my books were gone from the stores only to be found online. I was frustrated to learn of such a short shelf life. When my new book came out I decided that I would take matters into my own hands, and bring my books directly to the people by selling my books via makeshift pushcart at farmers markets in New England and New York.

It was really amazing how people reacted to me, very positive, excited to meet and support a local artist. One week I sold 25 copies of my three titles at my local farmers market in just 3 1/2 hours. I received an e-mail from a woman who missed me at a farmers market who ended up buying six copies of my books. I felt that taking an active approach to selling my books would be much more effective than simply obsessing over my Amazon.com ratings or hoping that people would discover my book among tens of thousands of books in bookstores. In just a few weeks, I sold over 100 books, met some interesting people and really enjoyed the late summer weather. This past weekend [October 2, 2010] I walked from Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn 10 miles to the Upper West Side in Manhattan with my pushcart and a team of my former students selling books and T-shirts. We had a lot of fun, had a reading at the end with Melvin Jules Bukiet, Aryeh Lev Stollman and Janice Eidus. I'll never become a bestseller from the back of my pushcart, but I will sell more books I would've sold if it didn't do anything. It was a good season, and I plan on reprising my role as Papernick the Book Peddler next spring.

Jon Papernick, thanks for speaking with us and best of luck to you!

Book Expo 2010: Jewish Presses

2010-10-02T16:11:00.012-04:00

Machers in Jewish Kidlit
L-R: Ann Stampler, Joni Sussman, Heidi Estrin, Lisa Silverman, Etta Gold, Susan Dubin
(Please ignore the 2008 datestamp, the camera was set wrong; the picture is from BEA 2010)

Forthcoming books of from Judaic publishers discovered at Book Expo America 2010 in NYC!

The Crown of Aleppo: The Mystery of the Oldest Hebrew Bible Codex by Hayim Tawil & Bernard Schneider, JPS
Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series by JPS
Sara Finds a Mitzva by Rebeka Simhaee, Hachai
The Aleph-Bais Trip on the Aleph-Bais Ship by Chani Altein, Hachai
I'm God; You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion and Other Disguises of the Ego by Lawrence Kushner, Jewish Lights
Sacred Treasure--The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic by Rabbi Mark Glickman, Jewish Lights
Confronting Scandel: How Jews Can Respond When Jews Do Bad Things by Dr. Erica Brown, Jewish Lights
Communities of Purpose, Lives of Meaning: Shaping American Judaism and Jewish Identity in the 21st Century by Barry Shrage, Jewish Lights
How to Be a Perfect Stranger, 4th Edition: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook edited by Stuart M. Matlins & Arthur J. Magida
Around the World in One Shabbat: Jewish People Celebrate the Sabbath Together by Durga Bernhard, Jewish Lights
Maccabee! The Story of Hanukkah by Tilda Balsley, Kar-Ben
Happy Hanukkah Lights by Jacqueline Jules, Kar-Ben
Tashlich at Turtle Rock by Susan Schnur, Kar-Ben
Engineer Ari and the Sukkah Express by Deborah Bodin Cohen, Kar-Ben
Zishe the Strongman by Robert Rubinstein, Kar-Ben
Feivel's Flying Horses by Heidi Smith Hyde, Kar-Ben
A Tale of Two Seders by Mindy Avra Portnoy, Kar-Ben
The Tower of Babel by A.S. Godot
Sammy Spider's First Simchat Torah by Sylvia Rouss, Kar-Ben
CCAR Press's e-book site on responsa

Book Expo: Jewish Presses sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The Jewish Book Carnival

2010-09-16T11:16:00.003-04:00

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly blogging event which rounds up links of Jewishlit interest and builds community among Jewishlit bloggers. I came up with the idea along with Marie Cloutier, AJL consultant and host of The Boston Bibliophile, and we started seeking out other bloggers who share our passion for Judaic literature. The sponsoring organization for the Jewish Book Carnival is the Association of Jewish Libraries. If YOU would like to participate in a future carnival, email Marie at mcloutier at jewishlibraries dot org!

The September 2010 Jewish Book Carnival is being hosted by the Jewish Publication Society Blog at http://jpsblog.org/blog/2010/09/15/jewish-book-carnival. There are terrific links from seventeen different blogs, offering book reviews, philosophical essays, interviews, and more. This month's carnival includes a link from The Book of Life, to our recent episode on Jewish kidlit at Book Expo America!

Upcoming carnivals will be held at:

October 15, 2010: Jewish Book Council
(Email naomi @ jewishbooks.org by October 13, 2010 to participate)

November 15, 2010: Jewish Boston

December 15, 2010: ErikaDreifus.com

January 15, 2011: Ima On and Off the Bima

February 15, 2011: JewWishes

Book Expo 2010: Kids & Teens

2010-09-02T16:25:00.026-04:00

Recent and forthcoming children's and teen books of Jewish interest discovered at Book Expo America 2010 in NYC!

Cry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron, Annick Press
Hanukkah puzzles, and One Red Apple by Harriet Ziefert, Blue Apple Books
Annexed by Sharon Dogar, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Anne Redisch Stampler, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden (reprint), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Grand Mosque of Paris by Karen Gray Ruelle, Holiday House
The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah by Leslie Kimmelman, Holiday House
The Story of Esther, A Purim Tale by Eric Kimmel, Holiday House (spring 2011)
Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin (reissue, new illustrations), Marshall Cavendish
Restitution by Kathy Kacer, Second Story Press
A Chanukah Noel by Sharon Jennings, Second Story Press
Teaching guides for Holocaust Remembrance Series, Second Story Press
First Rain by Charlotte Herman, Albert Whitman & Co.
The Hanukkah Trike by Michelle Edwards, Albert Whitman & Co.
The Book of Trees by Leanne Lieberman, Orca Books
Room Enough for Daisy by Debby Waldman (spring 2011), Orca Books
Kishka for Koppel by Aubrey Davis based on the film "The Three Wishes" by Sheldon Cohen (spring 2011), Orca Books
The Amazing Menorah of Mazeltown by Joy Fate and Harold Dresner, Red Rock Press
Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium by Rona Arato, Tundra Books
Puppet by Eva Wiseman, Tundra Books
Irene Watts' trilogy and No Moon by Irene Watts, Tundra Books
The Secret Fiend by Shane Peacock, Tundra Books

Book Expo: Kids sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Book Expo 2010: Adults

2010-08-04T16:20:00.012-04:00

Forthcoming adult books of Jewish interest discovered at Book Expo America 2010 in NYC!

Jews and Money: The Story of a Stereotype by Abraham Foxman, Palgrave Macmillan
The Moses Expedition by Juan Gomez-Jurado, Atria Books
I'd Bark But You Never Listen: An Illustrated Guide to the Jewish Dog by Harold Kimmel, Red Rock Press
The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern, Algonquin Books
Peep Show by Josh Braff, Algonquin Books
A Curable Romantic by Joseph Skibell, Algonquin Books
Muslim, Christian and Jew: Finding a Path to Peace Our Faiths Can Share by Dr. David Liepert, Faith of Life Publishing
Unifying Truths of the World's Religions by C. David Lundberg, Heavenlight Press
Living Fully, Dying Well: Reflecting on Death to Find Your Life's Meaning by Edward W. Bastian & Tina L. Staley, Sounds True
Hebrew Illuminations by Adam Rhine, Sounds True
America's Great Delis: Recipes and Traditions from Coast to Coast by Sheryll Bellman, Sellers Publishing

Book Expo 2010: Adults sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-07-28T18:31:00.021-04:00

The Book of Life just received a Beautiful Blogger Award from the lovely folks at the Jewish Publication Society Blog over at JPSblog.org! Thanks, JPS!

To claim the award, I have to share seven little-known facts about The Book of Life and pass the award on to seven other blogs.

Seven Little-Known Facts. (Actually, if you've been paying dorkily close attention you might already know some of these.)

1. The Book of Life was once used as a vehicle for two 3rd grade girls to get credit for a book report on Marc Chagall! Rather than present to the class, they presented their book report on the podcast.

2. Coolest audio project I've participated in: being one of the five voices in the librarian episode of the QN Podcast.

3. Favorite gig I got as a result of being a podcaster: getting to introduce Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, when he spoke at our local indie, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida. (You can hear his talk in the episode Meet Markus.)

4. Episode that was the most tsuris to put together: Funny, That Book Doesn't Look Jewish. I used TalkShoe to do a live call-in show in which we discussed Pamela Ehrenberg's Ethan, Suspended and whether it could be called a Jewish book. I spent weeks recruiting people and making them promise to call in, and I was so nervous the whole time that I couldn't properly participate in the conversation.

5. The device with which I record live interviews is an Olympus LS10 digital voice recorder, which I absolutely love for its portability, expandable memory, and sound quality, and for its cute little Mickey Mouse ears.

6. Episode that had most real-world impact (well, in the world of publishing, anyway): 2 Jews, 3 Opinions. The 2 I interviewed were Kathy Bloomfield (ForWords) and author Laurel Snyder. Laurel later told me "you were the person who asked me why I *wasn't* writing Jewish books. I changed the name of the Any Which Wall kids to Levy after that." And then she went on to publish Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted To Be Kosher.

7. When I started The Book of Life, I used the tagline "a show about Jewish people and the books we read" because I thought I'd be interviewing people at Congregation B'nai Israel (where I am the librarian) about their reading lives. However, it quickly became clear that most people would rather be set upon by bears than be interviewed. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since it forced me to start interviewing famous authors, musicians, and other movers&shakers instead.

Seven Blogs that Deserve the Beautiful Blogger Award. (Disclaimer: many of these bloggers are friends of mine, but I'm not nominating them to be nice or flatter them. I'm nominating them because I think their blogs are truly worthwhile, and I hope you'll follow the links to see why!)

1. Chasing Ray
Colleen Mondor named her blog after of Ray Bradbury. It's a good fit because, like Bradbury, Colleen is an outside-the-box thinker. She's a fiction writer and reviews books for a number of magazines, so she has a wide variety of bookish thoughts to share. I first noticed her blog because of her series, "What a Girl Wants," in which she invites lots of interesting people to her blog to discuss topics like girl detectives in fiction, female role models, and the "bad girl" label.

2. I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read?
Lee Wind blogs about GLBTQ books for youth, which I think provides an important public service. I like his cheerful, positive attitude and his snappy book summaries. I'm intrigued by the description of his own work-in-progress, which has some Jewish content; he says "Over God: A week before his Bar Mitzvah and the celebration of his 13th birthday, Adam comes out as an Atheist. Now he has to figure out what he's going to do...." Lee also has a helpful site for other bloggers called The Zen of Blogging.

3. Books on the Nightstand
Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness (what a great surname, eh?) co-host this blog and podcast for general-interest book lovers. Their enthusiasm is infectious, which is probably the reason they get such great reader/listener response. Fans call in to leave book suggestions, to respond to questions like "Have you ever encountered an author 'in the wild?'" and to sign up for the Books on the Nightstand Weekend Retreat (April 8-10, 2011 in Vermont, if you're wondering). My favorite feature of the show is "Two Books We Can't Wait for You to Read."

4. The Boston Bibliophile
Marie Cloutier blogs about literary fiction, graphic novels, Jewish lit, book-related events, authors, "and whatever else I feel like!" What draws me to her blog is how she shares her own reading life, discussing things like the weeding/restocking of her home library, a book-making class she's taking, and how her own and her husband's reading tastes affect their relationship. I also get a kick out of the many meme's in which she participates, and I respect her diligence in posting multiple times per week.

5. Mark Blevis
Mark and his wife Andrea used to have this amazing blog/podcast called Just One More Book that was a true celebration of children's literature. I would have liked to nominate JOMB for a Beautiful Blogger Award, but it's on an extended hiatus these days. However, Mark's personal blog is also worthy of an award, so I'll nominate that instead. He's a digital public affairs strategist and a podcasting pioneer, so his musings on digital communication and social media are always fascinating.

6. forwordsbooks: kids books that matter
Kathy Bloomfield is well known in the Jewish kidlit world as a former book fair operator and member of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee. In her blog she shares her passion for secular children's books that reinforce Jewish values. Her posts are always thoughtful and thorough and she pulls no punches!

7. I have to split this nomination between two Barbara's who, between them, are doing a really comprehensive job of blogging the Jewish kidlit scene:

7a. Jewish Books for Children with Author Barbara Bietz
Barbara Bietz blogs interviews with authors of Jewish kidlit, and even with an occasional foray into other genres, this is the only blog I know of with this specific, tight focus. She's a Jewish kidlit author herself, and the current chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee. She really enjoys doing these interviews, and it shows!

7b. The Whole Megillah
The tagline on Barbara Krasner's blog is "The Writer's Resource for Jewish-themed Children's Books." She should know, as she's a writer herself, and one of the organizers behind the annual Jewish children's writer/illustrator conference (formerly held at 92Y). She blogs about literary events, she interviews all sorts of bookpeople from authors to editors, librarians, and agents, and (my favorite) she writes these great, clearly laid-out reviews in which she lists "the good things" and "the not-so-good things."

2010 AJL Convention Session: Everyone's A Critic

2010-07-04T10:37:00.000-04:00

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2010 Convention, I organized a panel presentation on book reviewing with Ellen Cole, Kathe Pinchuck, Lisa Silverman, and Rita Soltan.

This post is our online handout, and a record of our presentation. Rita was not able to join us in person, but sent in a Powerpoint to share her thoughts on the difference between writing a review versus an article.

AJL Reviewing Panel

FOR FUN

The Top 20 Most Annoying Book Reviewer Phrases and How to Use Them All in One Meaningless Review

Book Review BINGO

MORE SERIOUS RESOURCES

Suggested Resources for Jewish Children's Book Reviewers, a bibliography/webliography by Kathe Pinchuck

Excellence in Jewish Children's Literature: A Guide for Book Selectors, Reviewers, and Award Judges (AJL Publication)

From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books by K.T. Horning (HarperCollins, 2010 revised edition)

Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America by Gail Pool (University of Missouri Press, 2007)

Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors, posted "Reviewing 101" by John Updike in 2006:

Thirty-one years ago, in the introduction to "Picked Up Pieces," his second collection of assorted prose, John Updike laid down his own six rules for reviewing. They are still the single best guide to fairness today:

"My rules," he writes, "shaped intaglio-fashion by youthful traumas at the receiving end of critical opinion, were and are:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending. (How astounded and indignant was I, when innocent, to find reviewers blabbing, and with the sublime inaccuracy of drunken lords reporting on a peasants' revolt, all the turns of my suspenseful and surpriseful narrative! Most ironically, the only readers who approach a book as the author intends, unpolluted by pre-knowledge of the plot, are the detested reviewers themselves. And then, years later, the blessed fool who picks the volume at random from a library shelf.)

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's ouevre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser. Do not accept for review a book you are predisposed to dislike, or committed by friendship to like. Do not imagine yourself a caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in an idealogical battle, a corrections officer of any kind. Never, never (John Aldridge, Norman Podhoretz) try to put the author "in his place," making him a pawn in a contest with other reviewers. Review the book, not the reputation. Submit to whatever spell, weak or strong, is being cast. Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end."

2010 AJL Convention Session: AJL & Social Media

2010-07-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2010 Convention, I co-presented a session on AJL & Social Media with Diane Romm. This post is our online handout, and a record of our presentation.

Also relevant is the four-part series "Why Be Social?" that appeared on The Book of Life podcast in 2009. You can listen to all four parts here: http://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-be-social-whole-megillah.html.

AJL & Social Media, Part 1

LINKS mentioned in Part 1:

Association of Jewish Libraries: http://www.jewishlibraries.org

AJL Wiki:
http://ajlwiki.pbworks.com

Past AJL Conventions:
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/conventions.htm

Sydney Taylor Book Award:
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/awards/stba/index.htm

Convention Stipends:
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/scholarships/convention_stipend.htm

AJL Newsletter:
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/publications/newsletter.htm

Bibliography Bank:
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/resources/bib_bank.htm

Jewish Values Finder:
http://www.ajljewishvalues.org

Links to AJL Members' Catalogs: http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/resources/catlinks.htm

AJL & Social Media Part 2

LINKS mentioned in Part 2:

The AJL Blog:
http://jewishlibraries.org/blog

The AJL Podcast:
http://jewishlibraries.org/podcast

AJL on Facebook:
http://facebook.com/jewishlibraries

Jewish Values Finder on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jewish-Valuesfinder/371902710645?ref=mf

Book of Life Podcast on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Bookoflifepodcast

AJL on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/jewishlibraries

Forwords Books:
http://forwordsbooks.com

Jewish Books for Children with Author Barbara Bietz:
http://barbarabbookblog.blogspot.com

Tablet & Vox Tablet:
http://tabletmag.org

The Jewish Book Council Blog:
http://jewishbooks.wordpress.com

The Whole Megillah:
http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com

The Jewish Publication Society Blog:
http://jpsblog.org

Mitali's Fire Escape (post about Ethnic Book Awards):
http://www.mitaliblog.com/2007/01/ethnic-book-awards-discriminatory-or.html

Hereville
http://www.hereville.com/

Amazon Book Reviews (a how-to):
http://www.ehow.com/how_2000916_write-book-review-on-amazon.html

AJL on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Jewish_Libraries

Bonus Link: Kathe Pinchuck's new blog, Life is Like a Library:
http://lifelibrary-ksp.blogspot.com/

Kathy Kacer

2010-06-29T10:14:00.006-04:00

The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondant, Anne Dublin, interviews author Kathy Kacer. Kathy has written many, many Holocaust novels for young people, including The Diary of Laura's Twin, which won a National Jewish Book Award and a Canadian Jewish Book Award.

For the impressive list of Kathy's works, click here.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Kathy Kacer sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Queen of Secrets: An Interview with Jenny Meyerhoff

2010-06-08T10:53:00.004-04:00

Back in February I interviewed Debra Spark, author of Good for the Jews, an adult novel based on the story of Purim. The Megillah inspires a lot of modern writing, apparently! Today I've got an interview for you with Jenny Meyerhoff, author of a young adult novel based on the Megillah, called Queen of Secrets. When I met Jenny last summer at the Planet Esme Reading Room, she told me this book was in the works. I am pleased to say that this very interesting novel will be released this summer!

Jenny, where did the idea come from to write a modern novel based on the story of Queen Esther?

Growing up, always loved the story of Esther, probably because it was one of the few stories I remember learning in Sunday school that featured a female as the main character. One spring a few years ago, I was thinking about the story again, and it occurred to me that Esther most likely would have been a teenager. I began to wonder what her story would be like if it were occurring today. How would it be the same and how would it be different?

What about Queen Esther's story in the megillah is particularly compelling to you?

As I already mentioned, I’ve always loved biblical stories about strong women. As a young girl I had a comic book bible and I read several stories over and over, particular the story of Rachel and Leah. Beyond the fact that Esther was a strong heroine, the other Sunday school lesson that always stuck with me about The Book of Esther is that there is no mention of G-d in the story. I found that fascinating. If it’s in the bible, but it’s not about G-d, then what is it about?
Later, when I started thinking about writing QUEEN OF SECRETS, I reread The Book of Esther. What struck me upon that first rereading, was that there is almost no characterization at all. Everything I remembered about the story, about why each character did what they did and what kind of people they were like all came from commentaries. In the actual text, what we get is mainly a cataloging of events. This freed me to come up with my own motivations and back stories for these characters.

The original story and your retelling both include issues of hiding your identity and trying to fit in. How do you think those issues are different now than in Queen Esther's time (if you do think so)?

Well certainly in Queen Esther’s time (and story) we are dealing with the threat of actual death, possibly, when Esther’s identity is finally revealed—both death for the Jewish people, through the edict sanctioning their slaughter, and for Esther, if she approaches the king to intercede and he is angry that she lied or that she is a Jew. In QUEEN OF SECRETS, the death I’m dealing with is metaphorical, Social Death, which is clearly not as big a threat. But as adults, I think sometimes we tend to minimize something like Social Death because, well, at least you still have your health. But to a teenager, very few things are as painful as being ostracized and then having to face those who’ve made you an outcast on a daily basis. I think most of us would go to great lengths to avoid facing that situation. Jewish teens today, especially those attending high schools with very small Jewish populations, can still feel very much “other.”

I see this as a coming of age story, in which Essie learns to stand up for herself, stand by her friends, and do what's right. She's brave, as was Queen Esther. But would you say the original is a "coming of age" story too?

That’s a really interesting question and a hard one to answer because of the issue that I mentioned before about very little being revealed about the inner workings of the characters in the actual text of the story. We don’t know how Esther felt being drafted into the king’s harem. We don’t know what she thought of Mordecai’s advice to keep her religion a secret. However, she certainly goes from a girl who does whatever she’s told to a girl who must speak her truth.

Before I wrote QUEEN OF SECRETS I did a lot of thinking about what kind of story The Book of Esther is. Is it a coming of age story, is it a love story, is it a family story? Ultimately, the part of the story that spoke most strongly to me, the way I decided to read the story for this retelling is that it is a story about living in the Diaspora. So while QUEEN OF SECRETS absolutely is a coming of age story, for me it’s also an exploration about what it is to be a Jewish teen in America right now, in a time when (in many places) Jewish people aren’t really considered a minority any more, in a time when, while overt anti-Semitism does exist, most Jews are much more likely to encounter something far more subtle.

In my life, I’ve been in many situations where I haven’t felt quite comfortable admitting that I was Jewish. Usually that’s following someone else’s assumption that I’m not, and this vague sense that I get that our whole relationship dynamic would change if that truth about me were revealed. This is compounded by the fact, that most people would tell me that I was paranoid if I expressed this hesitancy. A lot of people believe that anti-Semitism isn’t something that exists in America anymore. It’s not relevant. I definitely got this response when I was agent shopping this story. But now that the book is out there, I’ve heard from many more people who tell me this is real. This is still happening.

Please talk a little about the issue of Jewish identity in your book. Micah's family is observant and Essie's is not, so she struggles with "how Jewish" to be. Was this an issue for Queen Esther or is this a totally modern addition to the story?

Hmmm. Again, this is a hard question to answer because we don’t get many clues into Queen Esther’s mind in the megillah, but yes, I suppose this was an issue I added to the story because it’s one I think about in my own life and have thought about since I was a teen. I really think there are two parts to this question, an internal and an external. One the one hand Essie is looking to discover a connection to her religion and a level of religious practice that feels real and meaningful to her, and that I think is wonderful. But sometimes it’s hard to avoid outside influences in that decision, for example, Essie finds comforts in rituals like lighting Sabbath candles but it takes a long time for her to incorporate them into her life because of what others, including her grandparents, would think. In an ideal world, all of us would base our religious and spiritual practices from a place of inner truth.

As in most modern fiction, Queen of Secrets presents us with the villain's personal history and challenges so that we understand the source of his "evil" and feel some sympathy. I notice that we never do learn the fate of Harrison (Haman) after he toilet-papered the house of Micah (Mordicai). Is it too hard to punish a villain that you feel sorry for?

No, I don’t think it’s hard to punish the villain. I think of punishments as the natural consequences of one’s actions, especially in fiction, and while I understand why Harrison was such an angry young man, I think he made really poor choices and deserves whatever consequences he gets. As to why those consequences aren’t in the book, I think that’s more to do with a storytelling choice. This is Essie’s story. Her journey, the one we are following in the book, comes to fruition whether or not we know precisely how Harrison was punished. She’s coming forward and pointing the finger at Harrison. She has convinced Austin to do the same. I feel pretty certain that Aunt Shelli and Uncle Steve will press charges, but it all feels like part of some other story.

How was writing this book different from writing a story that is NOT based on some other source story?

Well, at first I think it was a lot easier because I didn’t have to fabricate an entire plot out of thin air. The story was all set out for me. But when it came to revising, it was a lot more challenging because I wanted to stay as close to the original story as I could, but ultimately, the book had to work on its own, as its own story. Normally when I’m revising, if a plot element doesn’t work, I can easily eliminate it. Here, more often than not, I had to try to figure out a way to make it work. But that actually became kind of satisfying, like a really intricate logic problem.

Jenny, thanks for speaking with us and good luck with your new novel!

When the Hurricane Came to New Orleans

2010-06-01T09:23:00.007-04:00

I'm just back from the 2010 Book Expo America trade show in NYC, where I recorded lots of interesting interviews. It will take me a while to edit them, but lucky for you guys I still have several recordings from last summer to post in the meantime.

This interview turns out to be unfortunately timely, with Louisiana so much in the spotlight right now due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Last summer, when we all thought Hurricane Katrina was the worst thing that could happen to New Orleans, I interviewed Nachama Liss-Levinson, author of the 2009 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award winning title When the Hurricane Came to New Orleans. Being unpublished (thus a "Manuscript Award" winner), you can't read it yet. But I'm sure after hearing from awards chair Aileen Grossberg and from Nechama herself, you will want to! (Sorry for any angst caused by this situation!)

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

When the Hurricane Came to New Orleans sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

A New Blog: The Whole Megillah

2010-05-19T12:22:00.003-04:00

I've just added a new site to my list of Links (see the right-hand sidebar on The Book of Life blog) and I wanted to make sure you noticed it. The site is The Whole Megillah: The Writer's Resource for Jewish-themed Children's Books at thewholemegillah.wordpress.com. There are few blogs that focus on Jewish kidlit, and as far as I know, this is the first that emphasizes the perspective of authors rather than readers.

Blogger Barbara Krasner is well-known in the Jewish kidlit world as the force behind the annual Jewish Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference, held until recently at New York's 92nd Street Y, so she's definitely in the know. I'm excited about The Whole Megillah (and I love the name)! Welcome to the blogosphere, Barbara!

Live from Israel, It's Anna Levine!

2010-05-04T17:31:00.008-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

I met up with author Anna Levine last year at the 2009 Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago, IL, where she was a guest presenter and an award-winner! During a late night gathering of book lovers, I pulled her aside to discuss her YA novel Freefall and her picture book Jodie's Hanukkah Dig, both set in Israel. Both books received recognition from the Association of Jewish Libraries in 2009, Freefall as a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Jodie's Hanukkah Dig as a Notable Book.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Live from Israel, It's Anna Levine! sound bite

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

So Punk Rock

2010-04-06T18:11:00.009-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

An interview with Micol Ostow, author of So Punk Rock (And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), a 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book in the Teen Readers category. This very cool novel with graphic elements was illustrated by Micol's brother David Ostow. The interview was recorded in a busy Manhattan bar, so please consider the loud background noise to be atmosphere for this story of a teen garage band!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

So Punk Rock sound bite

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Friday Finds: Queen of Secrets & The Pillow Book

2010-03-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

The "Friday Finds" meme is hosted by MizB at the Should Be Reading blog. She asks "What great books did you hear about / discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!"

This week I received two review copies of new Jewish-interest YA novels from the publicists at Blue Slip Media, and they look like they'll be a lot of fun to read:

Lotus Lowenstein's life is merde. She dreams of moving to Paris and becoming an existentialist. Yet here she is trapped in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with a New-Agey mom, an out-of-work dad, and a chess champion brother who dreams of being a rock star. Merci à Dieu for Lotus’s best friend, Joni, who loves French culture enough to cofound their high school’s first French Club with Lotus. At the first meeting, the cutest boy in the world walks in. His name is Sean, and he too loves French culture and worships Jean-Paul Sartre.
Queen of Secrets by Jenny Meyerhoff (FSG, 2010). I interviewed this author briefly at a party at the Planet Esme Reading Room last summer; you can hear the interview in the episode Planet Esme! The key thing I recall from this interview is that the story is loosely based on The Book of Esther, as was recent adult novel Good for the Jews. A new trend, perhaps?

Here's how the publisher describes Queen of Secrets:

This year, Essie Green’s life is going to be different. She’s made the cheerleading squad and caught the eye of the captain of the football team. However, she didn't expect her estranged cousin to join the football team. Micah is instantly branded a freak for praying during games, and Essie doesn’t want anything to do with him. As the football team’s teasing of Micah shifts into hazing, Essie is forced to make a choice between the boy she might love and the cousin she barely knows.

The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein by Libby Schmais (Delacorte, 2010). Here's how the publisher describes the book:

At first, Lotus thinks Sean is the best thing to happen to her in years. He’s smart, cultured, and adorable. Unfortunately, though, Joni feels the same way. And having an existentialist view of love, Sean sees nothing wrong with enjoying both girls’ affections. Things come to a head when all three depart for Montreal with their teacher, Ms. G, on the French Club’s first official field trip. Will Sean choose Joni over Lotus? And will Lotus and Joni’s friendship ever recover?

And for your viewing pleasure, a book trailer for Pillow Book:

The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah

2010-03-24T10:40:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be seasonally appropriate to share with you the starred review I wrote about The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah for School Library Journal. This is a delightful new Passover story, that I used successfully with several Kindergarten and first grade classes in our religious school recently. For more info about author Leslie Kimmelman and her books, see www.lesliekimmelman.net.

KIMMELMAN, Leslie. The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah. illus. by Paul Meisel. unpaged. glossary. CIP. Holiday House. Mar. 2010. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0-8234-1952-4. LC 2008048488.

PreS-Gr 3—This Yiddish-inflected retelling of "The Little Ren Hen" features a balabusta (good homemaker) who kvetches about her lazy no-goodnik friends who will not help her make matzah from wheat. When they show up at the Passover Seder, the hen scolds, "What chutzpah!" Ultimately, however, they repent and the hen forgives them because she is a mensch. All ends happily as they make up for their earlier bad behavior by doing the dishes. The droll ink, watercolor, and pastel cartoon illustrations have a friendly charm that makes a nice contrast with the story's wry humor. The Yiddish vocabulary and speech patterns will have Jewish adults rolling in the aisles, and children will enjoy the merging of familiar Passover and folktale elements. It's entertaining to those in the know, but readers unfamiliar with the holiday may be mystified by the humor, and they will gain little understanding of the traditions of Passover. An endnote on the holiday's history, a matzah recipe, and a glossary round out the package, but the book should be used in combination with more traditional tales or with audiences who already observe Passover. It's a must for Judaica collections and a solid choice for large general collections.—Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Friday Finds: First Rain

2010-03-19T10:15:00.002-04:00

The "Friday Finds" meme is hosted by MizB at the Should Be Reading blog. She asks "What great books did you hear about / discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!"

I just had to participate because this very Friday morning I found a wonderful new book awaiting me in a package on my desk in the library: First Rain by Charlotte Herman, illustrated by Kathryn Mitter (Albert Whitman).

It's a simple, straightforward story about a little girl whose family makes aliyah (moves to Israel). Through the exchange of letters with the Grandma she left behind, we learn a little bit about Israel, a little Hebrew vocabulary, and a little about dealing with moving. It's not preachy, it's a good match with its intended audience of 1st through 4th graders in terms of emotion and writing style, and the illustrations are clean, detailed, and give a good sense of place. As is appropriate for the audience, politics are NOT included.

There are few picture books on the subject of making aliyah, and those of which I'm aware have to do with the airlift operations that rescued Ethiopian Jews. This is the first book I've seen that features a middle-class, non-Orthodox, North American Jewish child making aliyah. As a librarian in a Reform synagogue in South Florida, I know that this book will make sense to the readers I serve. My thanks to Charlotte Herman for filling a niche that so badly needed it!

Scribblers on the Roof

2010-03-02T15:57:00.004-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

Scribblers on the Roof is an online forum for Jewish fiction and poetry at jscribes.com. In this interview with founder Kelly Hartog, we get a virtual tour of the website.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Scribblers on the Roof sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Good for the Jews -- A Purim Tale

2010-02-18T09:30:00.005-05:00

"Good for the Jews is a smart, funny, sexy novel set in Madison, Wisconsin, during the Bush administration. Part mystery and part stranger-comes-to town story, Good for the Jews is loosely based on the biblical book of Esther. Like Esther, Debra Spark's characters deal with anti-Semitism and the way that powerful men—and the women who love them—negotiate bureaucracies."
-- University of Michigan Press

Colby College professor and award-winning author Debra Spark's newest novel is Good for the Jews. With Purim approaching, I thought you might like to learn a little more about this unique story and its relationship with the megillah. Debra was kind enough to do an email interview with me - enjoy her answers below, and be sure to check out her extremely funky website.

Debra, what got you interested in exploring and retelling the story of Esther?

Several years ago, in preparation for taking my son to his first Purim service, I reread the Book of Esther. It turned out that I entirely misremembered the end of the story. In fact, I think I never knew the true end of the story. What I remembered: At story's end, Haman is vanquished, hung on the gallows that he intended for Mordecai, and all's well that ends well. In fact: after Haman dies, the Jews are given permission to continue fighting, and they got out and kill thousands. Revenge? Or self-defense? The Book of Esther doesn't really say. Since I happened to be rereading Esther, just as the United States was going into Iraq, the ending discomfitted me. In going into Iraq, wasn't the United States--the victims on 9/11--becoming victimizers? I wanted to write my novel in order to explore my own discomfort. But I also liked the idea of a retelling, because the Book of Esther has so much going for it in terms of humor, the relationship between the sexes, palace intrigue and so on. I liked having the scaffolding of a much beloved story--and beloved for good reason--on which to hang my tale.

Why did you set your retelling of The Book of Esther in Madison, Wisconsin?

I wanted to set my book in a left wing town, since I wanted to explore the so-called anti-Semitism of the left. I happen to have lived in Madison for two years when I was in my twenties, so that was that.

The title of the book is the catchphrase "good for the Jews." Can you explain a bit about what the phrase means, what it implies?

People of my parents' generation, and perhaps my own, are used to things being couched in terms of whether it is or is not "good for the Jews." The implication (usually) is that anything that gives non-Jews a reason not to think well of the Jews is suspect. It's bad for the Jews. And visa versa.

At the end of the book Ellen, the Esther character, wonders if Biblical stories are "good for the Jews." Do you think they are or aren't?

Well, I think I thought that the Book of Esther, if read in a certain light, could be bad for the Jews, and, in fact, when I looked into it, it turned out that, through the centuries, plenty of anti-Semites have used the ending of that book as evidence of the bloodthirstiness of the Jews. Throughout the Bible, of course, Jews don't behave necessarily well. Neither does God, for that matter. So you can see, in a weird way, how the Bible might not be "good for the Jews," not the best public relations kit! But, of course, that's just one angle into the Bible and not, perhaps, the most fair one, but the one that I thought my character would be brought to by the events of the novel.

Ironically, the Haman character instigates diversity training in the school where he is principal. Mose (the Mordichai character) says that minorities don't need diversity training. Do you think that's true?

Hmm ... I'm not sure I'd say that exactly, even though he does. That said, I find the notion of diversity training a little peculiar. I suppose you could be trained into having an awareness of class and race that you didn't have before being "trained," but I am doubtful.

In some of your interviews you talk about the tension between being seen as a victim versus a victimizer and how sometimes the same people can be both. Can you talk a little about that, and about how that works into the book?

I heard the Israeli novelist David Grossman say (somewhere? I can't remember where) that the Middle Eastern situation would never be solved until both sides admitted they had been victims and victimizers. I couldn't agree more, and I think it is both sides tendency to claim only victim status that has led to the perpetual stalemate in the region. No one thinks of themselves, of course, as the bad guy, so I'm interested in how bad things happen, when everyone imagines themselves an innocent. That was part of what I wanted to look at in the book, and I hoped one way to do that would be to make all of the characters have their reasons for thinking as they did. Even if you (as a reader) couldn't assent to what they were doing, it would be believable that they thought what they were doing was right.

As a reader who was already familiar with the story of Esther, I found the parallels in your book very intriguing, but I wonder what the reading experience would be like for someone who did not bring that background knowledge with them. Have you heard any reactions from such readers, and was their reading experience different in any significant way?

Well, I think Jews tend to know the story, but non-Jews don't, so I don't think it matters if you know the story or not. I hope it doesn't matter! When I first sent the novel to friends to read, no one recognized the story beneath the story, save for a Jewish friend (the writer Marjorie Sandor) who figured it out about 3/4s of the way through. I loved that she "got" it. Back when it was time to write "ad copy" for my book, I didn't think I should describe the book as a retelling of the Esther story, but I got sort of stumped when I went to give a short explanation of the book, so I fell back on that. (In some ways, knowing that it is a retelling of the Esther story ruins things, after all, because it might mean that you can see things coming.) I don't think I'd expect anyone to get the various parallels, even as I put them in. I did a lot of reading on The Book of Esther while I was writing, so a few things I put in there were completely obscure, but just fun for me to put in. But I still haven't answered your question. I haven't heard anyone tell me that the book didn't work for the, because they don't know the Book of Esther, but I imagine they wouldn't tell me if this was, indeed, the case.

If you were going to dress up for Purim, what would you dress as? :^)

Oh, Esther! But that's only because my husband made me an Esther face puppet years ago,and I love it. He made a Haman one, too. But I don't like to be the bad guy! It seems that kids don't go as the story's characters as much as they used to. My son is determined to go to this year's Purim service as a Ninja. Oy!

Thanks very much, Debra!

Save the Deli!

2010-02-08T09:55:00.004-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent, Anne Dublin, attends the launch party for Save the Deli by David Sax at Caplansky's Deli in Toronto.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Save the Deli! sound bite

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Natascia Ugliano, Illustrator of Benjamin and the Silver Goblet

2010-02-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am very pleased to be participating in the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! Features on winning authors and illustrators are being posted on blogs all over the web this week; click here to see the entire schedule and links to all participating blogs!

The assignment I was happy to accept was to bring you a profile of Natascia Ugliano, illustrator of Jacqueline Jules' Bible story series. The third book in this series, Benjamin and the Silver Goblet, was named a 2010 Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers category, and will receive a silver medal. Check out a profile of the book's author today on ASHarmony, blogged by my friend Betsy Lipp.

I cover Sydney Taylor Book Award news frequently, so you may already know that this literary prize recognizes the best Jewish books for children and teens each year. It is the only book award that focuses solely on Judaic children's literature. It's named in memory of Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family books, a series that marked a turning point in the genre of Jewish children's literature. For official info on the award, visit sydneytaylorbookaward.org.

Natascia Ugliano (as pictured here in the adorable self-portrait she uses on Facebook) lives in Milan, Italy. She has worked as a scenographer and costume design assistant in theater and cinema, as well as doing illustration. She has won quite a few literary prizes in Italy, and her work on Kar-Ben Publishing's Bible story series has been recognized by the Sydney Taylor committee in the past, with a silver medal for Sarah Laughs in 2009 and with Notable Book status for Abraham's Search for God in 2008.

I was not able to reach Natascia directly in time to interview her for the blog tour, so I spoke instead to Joanna Sussman at Kar-Ben Publishing to get her take on the artist's work.

Joni, how did you originally discover Natascia Ugliano's art?

As a publisher, I receive communication and marketing information from many artists and artist representatives. I saw a sample of Natascia’s art just as I was beginning to look for an artist for Jacqueline Jules’ Bible series, and I thought Natascia’s beautiful, richly colored art would be a wonderful fit for these stories. As there was not much action in the first couple of stories in this series – Abraham’s Search for God and Sarah Laughs, I wanted an artist who could still create lush beautiful art with a lot of detail that was lovely to look at and would help propel the stories forward despite the lack of action in the plots.

What makes Natascia's art a good fit for Jacqueline Jules' Bible story series?

Illustrating Bible stories is tricky in that many of these Bible characters are well known and readers may have preconceived notions of what they ought to look like. Were they dark or light skinned, curly haired or straight-haired? And how does one illustrate God or God’s spirit? I thought Natascia’s art had great thoughtfulness and spirituality to it and she also had the ability to capture the landscapes of the various Bible stories. As Natascia isn’t Jewish, we review especially carefully all elements of the art in these stories to make sure it has a Jewish sensibility; the Jewish vs. Christian visual interpretation can be quite different. Natascia does a wonderful job of bringing the Jewish Bible to life.

Can you reveal any behind-the-scenes secrets about Natascia's art?

We’re just completing work on the most recent title in this Bible series Miriam in the Desert,(coming Fall 2010) the story of Miriam’s leading the people through the wilderness and the introduction of the boy Bezalel, who becomes the artist who crafts the Holy Ark. The tricky part in working with the art for this story was deciding how the Ark should look because, of course, nobody knows what the original Ark of the Covenant looked like – was it plain or elaborate? Did it look like the one in the Indiana Jones movie? How big was it in proportion to the people? Both we and Natascia did a fair amount of research and we went back and forth on several designs before deciding on one that we thought would work.

[art from the forthcoming Miriam in the Desert]

Natascia lives in Italy and Kar-Ben is based in Minnesota, USA. In the modern world of publishing, does this create any barriers or difficulties? Or have electronic communications truly made it irrelevant where your colleagues live?

The digital revolution has been wonderful in terms of broadening the range of art from which publishers can now choose. It’s made the work of artists from all over the world easily accessible, and we think the larger variety of art styles really enhances our library of titles. Natascia was among the first foreign artists we worked with and our relationship with her has been so delightful and positive, we’ve gone on to work with quite a few other foreign artists, including Gosia Mosz, Hungary, (Hanukkah Moon); Valeria Cis, Argentina (A Tale of Two Seders); Cecilia Rebora, Guadalajara, Mexico (Tower of Babel); Jago Silver, United Kingdom (Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim); and Israelis Ksenia Topaz (Jodie’s Hanukkah Dig), Avi Katz (Boy From Seville), and Pepi Marzel (My First Hebrew Word Book), to name a few.

Are you planning to have Natascia illustrate any other Kar-Ben books besides this series?

Until now, Natascia’s been busy with the four books in this Bible series, but I would love to have her illustrate other stories for us as well. She is just finishing the art for Fall 2010’s Miriam in the Desert.

Joni, thanks for being part of the blog tour, and congratulations on Kar-Ben being recognized once again by the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee!

BOOK TRAILER:

Kvetchfessional: The Movie

2010-02-02T16:52:00.004-05:00

Remember back in November 2009 when I posted my interview with author Simone Elkeles and kidlit expert June Cummins, talking about the "kvetchfessional" style of YA chicklit? Simone has now produced a very fun book trailer video for her newest title in the "How to Ruin" series, How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation. Enjoy!

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

2010-01-25T14:59:00.002-05:00

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2010 gold and silver medalists and the special Notable Book for All Ages with a Blog Tour, February 1-5, 2010! Here is a celebratory video for your enjoyment, and the schedule for the Blog Tour is posted below. Note that The Book of Life will participate by interviewing Natascia Ugliano (illustrator, Benjamin and the Silver Goblet) on Thursday, February 4.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Monday, February 1, 2010
April Halprin Wayland, author of New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Practically Paradise

Monday, February 1, 2010
Stephane Jorisch, illustrator of New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Frume Sarah's World

Monday, February 1, 2010
Margarita Engle, author of Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at bookstogether

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Robin Friedman, author of The Importance of Wings
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Little Willow's Bildungsroman

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Jacqueline Davies, author of Lost
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Biblio File

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Jonah Winter, author of You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Get in the Game: Read! and cross-posted at Examiner.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Elka Weber, author of The Yankee at the Seder
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at BewilderBlog

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Adam Gustavson, illustrator of The Yankee at the Seder
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Great Kids Books

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Judy Vida, daughter of the late Selma Kritzer Silverberg, author of Naomi's Song
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Book Nosher

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Jacqueline Jules, author of Benjamin and the Silver Goblet
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at ASHarmony

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Natascia Ugliano, illustrator of Benjamin and the Silver Goblet
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at The Book of Life

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Deborah Bodin Cohen, author of Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Ima On and Off the Bima

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Jago, illustrator of Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010

Friday, February 5, 2010
Annika Thor, author of A Faraway Island
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Teen Reads

Friday, February 5, 2010
Ellen Frankel, author of The JPS Illustrated Bible for Children
Sydney Taylor Notable Book for All Ages
at Deo Writer

The Big Reveal: 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Awards

2010-01-13T12:12:00.007-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

On January 11, I attended the midwinter council meeting of the Association of Jewish Libraries, where the winners of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children's literature were officially announced.

They let me record the big reveal, which you'll hear first. Then I snuck Kathe Pinchuck, the awards chair, out of the meeting for a little while to talk about the books in detail. The full list of all award, honor, and notable Sydney Taylor books has been posted at bookoflifepodcast.com. I'll also post the schedule of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour as soon as it becomes available. The blog tour will take place February 1-5, 2010, and home base for that event will be jewishlibraries.org/blog. Also, just wanted to let you know that this podcast is being cross-posted on the Association of Jewish Libraries podcast at jewishlibraries.org/podcast.

Mazel tov to all the authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

The Big Reveal: 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Awards sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

2010 Sydney Taylor Book Awards Announced!

2010-01-12T13:47:00.003-05:00

I am pleased to share with you this announcement from the Association of Jewish Libraries about the winners of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Awards! Watch for my upcoming interview with the award committee chair, Kathe Pinchuck!

THE 2010 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED
BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:
New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story by April Halprin Wayland with illustrations by Stephane Jorish (Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers:
The Importance of Wings by Robin Friedman
(Charlesbridge Publishing)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers:
Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle
(Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Younger Readers:
Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story
by Deborah Bodin Cohen with illustrations by Jago
(Kar-Ben, imprint of Lerner)
Benjamin and the Silver Goblet by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Natascia Ugliano
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Yankee at the Seder by Elka Weber with illustrations by Adam Gustavson
(Tricycle Press)
You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax? by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Andre Carrilho
(Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Older Readers:
Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures from the Archives of the Anne Frank House
by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol, translated by Arnold J. Pomerans
(Roaring Brook Press/Flash Point, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
A Faraway Island by Annika Thor, translated by Linda Schenck
(Delacorte Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Teen Readers:
Lost by Jacqueline Davies
(Marshall Cavendish)
Naomi’s Song by Selma Kritzer Silverberg
(Jewish Publication Society)

Notable Books for Younger Readers:
Where Is Grandpa Dennis? by Michelle Shapiro Abraham with illustrations by Janice Fried
(URJ Press)
Around the Shabbos Table by Seryl Berman with illustrations by Ari Binus
(Hachai)
The Secret Shofar of Barcelona by Jacqueline Dembar Greene with illustrations by Douglas Chyka
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Menorah Under the Sea by Esther Susan Heller
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Today Is the Birthday of the World by Linda Heller with illustrations by Allison Jay
(Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin)
The Waiting Wall by Leah Braunstein Levy with illustrations by Avi Katz
(Hachai Publishers)
Sukkot Treasure Hunt by Allison Ofanansky with photographs by Eliyahu Alpern
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Fox Walked Alone by Barbara Reid
(Albert Whitman & Company)

Notable Books for Older Readers:
The Champion of Children: The Story of Janusz Korczak written and illustrated by Tomek Bogacki
(Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
Guardian Angel House (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers) by Kathy Clark
(Second Story Press)
Rebecca Series (American Girl Collection)
by Jacqueline Dembar Greene with illustrations by Robert Hunt
(American Girl)
Strawberry Hill by Mary Ann Hoberman with illustrations by Wendy Anderson Halperin
(Little Brown and Company)
The Mysteries of Beethoven’s Hair by Russell Martin and Lydia Nibley
(Charlesbridge Publishing)
The Man Who Flies with Birds by Carol Garbuny Vogel and Yossi Leshem
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Clay Man: The Golem of Prague by Irene N. Watts with illustrations by Kathryn E. Shoemaker
(Tundra Books)
Elvina’s Mirror by Sylvie Weil
(Jewish Publication Society)

Notable Books for Teens:
The Disappearing Dowry: an Ezra Melamed Mystery by Libi Astaire
(Zahav Press, an imprint of Targum)
A Family Secret/The Search by Eric Heuvel
(Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother) by Micol Ostow with art by David Ostow
(Flux)
Cursing Columbus by Eve Goldberg Tal
(Cinco Puntos Press)
Puppet by Eva Wiseman
(Tundra)
The Other Half of Life: Based on the True Story of the MS St. Louis
By Kim Ablon Whitney
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House)

NOTABLE BOOK FOR READERS OF ALL AGES:
JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible by Ellen Frankel with illustrations by Avi Katz
(Jewish Publication Society)

Jewish Kidlit at 92Y

2010-01-05T09:06:00.005-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

This is your chance to virtually attend the Jewish Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference at the 92nd St Y in NYC! Hear from organizer Barbara Krasner, Scholastic editor Dianne Hess, and attending authors Bryna Fireside, Sandy Wasserman, and Eve Tal!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Jewish Kidlit @92Y sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The Old Synagogue

2010-01-05T05:38:00.003-05:00

Here's a new song from Orit Shimoni, AKA "Little Birdie," a Book of Life guest from May 2009 who was interviewed by our Canadian Correspondent, Anne Dublin. Enjoy!

Planet Esme!

2009-12-11T09:09:00.005-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

An impromptu discussion among Heidi Estrin, Mark Blevis of the Just One More Book podcast, author Richard Michelson and author/readiologist Esme Raji Codell during a party at the Planet Esme Book Room. Of seasonal interest: among other things, we discussed potential winners of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award. We'll find out if we were right next month in January 2010!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Planet Esme! sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Podcasters Across Borders: Alexa Clark

2009-12-01T15:28:00.005-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

Alexa Clark was one of the many interesting people I met at Podcasters Across Borders 2009 who had book-related projects to share. She describes herself as a serial entrepreneur, chief cheapeater, photographer & social media addict. I spoke with her about two projects, Mini Book Expo and Book Camp Toronto.

Mini Book Expo, currently on hiatus, is a system for distributing, reading, and reviewing (via blog) advance reader copies of new books from publishers.

Book Camp Toronto was an "unconference" held in the summer of 2009, as a conversation about the future of books, writing, publishing, and the book business in the digital age.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Podcasters Across Borders: Alexa Clark sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Podcasters Across Borders: Hugh McGuire

2009-12-01T15:06:00.006-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

Hugh McGuire is one of the interesting people I met at Podcasters Across Borders 2009. We spoke about two reading-related projects that he helped to found, LibriVox and Book Oven.

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and publish the audio files on the Internet. The goal is to record all the books in the public domain.

Book Oven helps teams of people turn manuscripts into finished books, and then publish them. It is built for writers, editors, proofreaders, designers and small presses.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Podcasters Across Borders: Hugh McGuire sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Jewish Book Month's Hot Authors

2009-11-16T09:32:00.008-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

A chat with Lisa Silverman of the Jewish Book Council about the authors going on tour this fall for Jewish Book Month, and the process by which they are selected.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Jewish Book Month's Hot Authors sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Pick Up the Phone!

2009-11-14T11:55:00.004-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

The Book of Life now has voicemail, courtesy of Google Voice. We're waiting to hear from you, at 561-206-2473!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our new voicemail number at 561-206-2473!

Kvetchfessional!

2009-11-05T15:17:00.006-05:00

SHOW NOTES:

Author Simone Elkeles (author of the "How to Ruin" series) and kidlit expert and professor June Cummins discuss trends in Jewish YA chick lit at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago, Illinois. You can hear June's lecture at this conference, "Bat Mitzvah and Beyond" on the AJL Podcast.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Kvetchfessional! sound bite

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Author Esther Hautzig Dies at Age 79

2009-11-03T17:36:00.001-05:00

[I wrote this post for The Sydney Taylor Book Award blog, but I thought it might be of interest to Book of Life followers as well so I am reproducing it in full for you.]

School Library Journal broke the news today (see obit) that author Esther Hautzig died on Sunday, November 1 at the age of 79. Esther Rudomin Hautzig was the author of the memoir The Endless Steppe, about her experiences in Siberia, where her family was exiled during WWII, ultimately saving their lives. The book was the winner of AJL's first book award in 1968 (before the award was even called the "Sydney Taylor").

Esther attended the 2004 Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Brooklyn, NY, where she received a standing ovation during the Awards Banquet in honor of her status as inaugural award winner. Besides winning the gold medal for The Endless Steppe in 1968, Esther also received a silver Sydney Taylor Honor Award in 1992 for Riches and silver again in 2002 for A Picture of Grandmother.

In 2002, School Library Journal included a rather tepid review of A Picture of Grandmother, calling it "a slight story." Feeling that the reviewer had missed the point, I wrote a letter to the editor explaining that anyone who knew the "backstory" of Hautzig's childhood, a warm family life disrupted by the war, would understand that A Picture of Grandmother was a poignant tribute to the lives of those who were lost. It celebrated the beautiful normalcy of their lives instead of bemoaning their deaths.

After the letter was printed in SLJ, I received an envelope with the name "Esther Hautzig" in the upper left hand corner. I almost hyperventilated. I had just finished listening to the audiobook of The Endless Steppe the week before, and still felt very close to the "character" of Esther's younger self. To my shock and delight, Esther had read my defense of her book in SLJ and had sent me a heartfelt letter and a packet of articles about Holocaust writing for children. She thanked me for the positive review I'd written for the Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter (see below for review text) and she said "Your letter to SLJ made me cry. The original review (and the reviewer's response) made me cry for quite another reason. Your support of the premise, and my reason for writing it, was balm for my soul."

This was perhaps the most important thing an author has ever said to me, because it made me realize that the audience for reviews is not just fellow librarians or parents shopping for their children, it's the authors themselves. Esther taught me how very important it is to review books respectfully, and to respond to a book not only with emotion but with substantive critiques.

Just that exchange of letters would have been enough (dayenu!) but I was fortunate to have my cake and eat it too. Not only did Esther join us at our AJL convention in Brooklyn in 2004, she also met me when I traveled to New York on other occasions, getting together for a cozy dinner at a German restaurant, for a back-room tour of the Donnell Library where she worked, or for an afternoon tea break. Although I only knew her briefly, and probably spent less than 24 hours with her when you add it all together, she made me feel as if we were intimate friends. She gave me a copy of her book Remember Who You Are: Stories About Being Jewish and a classical piano CD by her husband Walter, a concert pianist. (Listen to Walter play in the video below, and watch for Esther in the audience at the 50 second mark.) I gave her a set of stationary cards printed with nature photographs taken by my husband, Jonathan, and a CD recording of my own Book of Life podcast. We took the bus together across Manhattan, and she made sure I had a transfer ticket before she got off at her stop.

Esther was the most gracious lady, one of those shining souls who makes the people around them feel good. I'll follow her lead from A Picture of Grandmother (and really from all of her writing) and say, not how much I'll miss her, but how glad I am to have known her.

A Picture of Grandmother by Esther Hautzig, illustrated by Beth Peck, Farrar Straus & Giroux 2002 (review by Heidi Estrin from Amazon.com, originally appeared in AJL Newsletter)

The Association of Jewish Libraries awarded this book a Sydney Taylor Book Award silver medal, and it truly deserves recognition. It's a quiet gem. At face value, it's about the value of truth, the importance of forgiveness, and the joy of family bonding. The language is simple yet elegant, formal in a European way that adds flavor to the Vilna setting. Young readers will be drawn in by the mystery that baffles Sara and the honesty of the emotions portrayed will resonate with them. On another level, the story is a remarkable tribute to the author's pre-war childhood. As anyone who has read Hautzig's The Endless Steppe knows, most of her family perished in the Holocaust; she survived with her parents and grandmother only because they were exiled to Siberia as capitalists. In this book she brings her belvoed Vilna back to life, peoples it with her extended family, and breathes significance back into matters that the Nazis were soon to treat as inconsequential. Rathe rthan describe the disruption of family connections by war, she examines the history of the family and the mending of broken connections. Although it takes place in 1939 the story has nothing to do with war, highlighting the normalcy that was soon to be destroyed and intensifying the poignancy for those who know Hautzig's history. The story is fiction, but it is based on real events in Hautzig's childhood, and many of the characters bear he names of her actual relatives. The facts may be fictional but the feelings are real.

Missing Links

2009-10-27T10:20:00.005-04:00

When I posted my interview with Ann Gonzales, I forgot to give you the links for the other authors who had placed bids on a Book of Life interview in the Bridget Zinn Auction. I had mentioned in the podcast that I would give you the links to these other worthy books, so here they are, better late than never.

Jan Godown Annino is the author of Florida's Famous Animals and she contributed to The Book of the Everglades, The Southeast and Piedmont: A Literary Field Guide, Scenic Driving in Florida, Family Fun in Florida, and The Florida Handbook. She has a forthcoming picture book biography (March 2010) called She Sang Promise, about Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, with art by Lisa Desimini.

Dr. Kathleen Reilly Fallon is Co-Founder and Chairwoman of the Heavenly Productions Foundation, whose mission is to help children in distress. She sang on the CD for Heavenly Skies and Lullabies, part of a book-and-CD set which is dedicated to the Babies & Orphans of 9-11-01.

Podcasters Across Borders: Connie Crosby

2009-10-20T15:37:00.009-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

Connie Crosby is a law librarian in Toronto, Canada. She was one of the very interesting people I met this summer at Podcasters Across Borders, a conference by and for podcasters. This is the first of three Podcasters Across Borders episodes you'll be hearing on The Book of Life.

Connie gave a presentation on The ShanachieTour, a library roadtrip around the world. It was very exciting to me, as a fellow podcaster and librarian, to hear Connie talk about the inspirational storytelling of The Shanachies, so I asked her to describe her presentation for us in this brief interview.

Connie is currently working on a professional guide book for Neal-Schuman, Effective Blogging for Libraries. To help her gather information about blogging in the library world, please take her survey.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Connie Crosby sound bite

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Running for My Life

2009-10-05T09:30:00.005-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is Oct. 4-10, 2009, so this is the perfect time to post my interview with Ann Gonzalez, author of Running For My Life.

Ann talks about her mother's mental illness, her own PTSD, and her writing. Ann put in the winning bid for a Book of Life interview in the Bridget Zinn Auction earlier this year, which raised money to assist librarian/author Bridget Zinn with her cancer treatments.

While Running for My Life is not a book of Jewish content, it's a topic that's pertinent to everyone and I believe that Ann has done a mitzvah by bringing making this subject matter accessible to young readers. Enjoy the audio, and scroll down for a book trailer video of Running for My Life.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

Running For My Life sound bite

VIDEO:

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Jacqueline Dembar Greene, In Full

2009-09-20T13:06:00.004-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

When I first attempted to post this interview, the audio got cut off halfway through. Here, with my apologies, is the full episode. Jacqueline Dembar Greene talks about the Rebecca Rubin character she created for the American Girl series (click here for the books, the dolls, and the accessories, and click here for Rebecca games!), and about her High Holidays picture book The Secret Shofar of Barcelona, illustrated by Doug Chayka.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Asking Forgiveness

2009-09-18T13:39:00.003-04:00

I must apologize and ask for Rosh Hashanah forgiveness from my listeners, and especially beg the pardon of Jacqueline Dembar Greene, because I've just found that the end of our interview was cut off. This happened with another recent interview, so I'll have to check into the technical side of things here at The Book of Life. I'm hoping that the original interview might still be on my digital voice recorder so that I can reconstruct this episode. However, the recorder is at work and I am at home, so I won't be able to let you know until next week.

In the meantime, let me say that The Secret Shofar of Barcelona (which you didn't get to hear about in the interview as it currently stands) is a terrific book and I highly recommend it!

Two from Jacqueline Dembar Greene

2009-09-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

An interview with Jacqueline Dembar Greene, author of the American Girl series on Rebecca Rubin (click here for the books, the dolls, and the accessories, and click here for Rebecca games!), and the High Holidays picture book The Secret Shofar of Barcelona, illustrated by Doug Chayka.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

ForWords Is Back!

2009-09-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

ForWords, Kathy Bloomfield's beloved Jewish book fair company, relaunches in a new format on 09/09/09! We've missed Kathy! Here she is to tell us about the new ForWordsBooks.com!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Librarian: 5 Voices

2009-09-08T10:22:00.006-04:00

The inimitable QN Podcast (formerly "Quirky Nomads") put out a call for librarians to share their thoughts on their lives' work. I answered that call, and my voice is one of the "5 Voices" on the new librarian-centric episode of QN! Thanks to Sage Tyrtle for the invitation and for the terrific editing. I love the way she's woven the different voices together into a sort of group story.

Take a listen and let me know what you think. And if you'd like to check out more episodes of QN, visit quirkynomads.com.

Click here to listen to Librarian: 5 Voices.

New Year at the Pier, Take Two

2009-09-03T21:04:00.005-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

When I uploaded my interview with April Halprin Wayland, author of New Year at the Pier, I didn't realize that the end of the interview had been cut off! Here is the complete interview, with my apologies (appropriate for a High Holidays epsiode, eh?).

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

New Year at the Pier

2009-09-01T10:07:00.009-04:00

SHOW NOTES:

Author April Halprin Wayland talks about her Rosh Hashanah picture book, New Year at the Pier, and about some of her other writing projects.

Other interviews with April can be found on Just One More Book (audio podcast), Barbara Bietz's Blog (text) and Cynsations (text). Just One More Book's audio review of New Year at the Pier may be found here. Scroll down to see a book trailer video of New Year at the Pier.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.

EMBED:

If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!

VIDEO:

UPCOMING:

On the auspicious date of 09/09/09, ForWords is holding its grand re-opening! Watch for a podcast interview with founder Kathy Bloomfield to be released here at The Book of Life on that date, and be sure to visit www.forwordsbooks.com!

CREDITS:

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!