The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    As readers of The Book of Life's blog know, the 2009 winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards were announced a few weeks ago. We participated in the award's Blog Tour by interviewing silver medalist Aranka Siegal , author of Memories of Babi . Now we bring you an audio interview with Kathe Pinchuck, chair of the awards committee, to give you a sneak peak into the inner workings of the Sydney Taylor Book Award . CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel . Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

Memories of Babi has been recognized by the Association of Jewish Libraries as a 2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category. As part of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour , The Book of Life is proud to introduce you to author Aranka Siegal and to share a little of her "backstory." Learn more about Aranka at ArankaSiegal.com . Aranka, all of your books are autobiographical. What motivates you to share your life story with readers? The reason for my writing autobiographically is because I attribute a great deal of my survival to my early years. I want to share lessons instilled in me by my resourceful mother, Rise. She had managed to put food on the table for her many children against all odds. She made it her mission to keep her family alive and together, sometimes risking her life to accomplish this. She used the black market to bring home a sack of flour to bake bread, potatoes, a basket of vegetables and some bones to make the daily pot of soup...

I am scheduled to post an interview with Aranka Siegal ( Memories of Babi ) today as part of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour - but I haven't heard back from her yet! She joined the tour at the last minute and warned me that she had a busy weekend, so I've just got to be patient. As soon as I hear from her, the interview will be posted here. Thanks for your patience! In the meantime, here's the book's description from the publisher, FSG: Piri is a city girl, but every year she goes to visit her grandmother Babi on her farm in the Ukrainian village of Komjaty. There is a lot that Piri finds strange, even scary, in Komjaty, such as the ghost in the form of a rooster who supposedly haunts the cemetery! But Piri loves country life: making corn bread, eating plums right off the tree, venturing out with her grandmother in the early morning to hunt for mushrooms. And during her time with Babi, Piri learns lessons that will stay with her all of her life, about the...

I am pleased to announce that The Book of Life has joined the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! On Sunday, January 18, 2009, I will be posting an interview with Aranka Siegal , author of Memories of Babi , a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category. I really enjoyed this book, which has an old-fashioned flavor but remains accessible to modern children. Here's the publisher's description:  Piri is a city girl, but every year she goes to visit her grandmother Babi on her farm in the Ukrainian village of Komjaty. There is a lot that Piri finds strange, even scary, in Komjaty, such as the ghost in the form of a rooster who supposedly haunts the cemetery! But Piri loves country life: making corn bread, eating plums right off the tree, venturing out with her grandmother in the early morning to hunt for mushrooms. And during her time with Babi, Piri learns lessons that will stay with her all of her life, about the importance of honest hard work, of carin...

Two additional stops have been added to the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Valerie Zenatti , author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea , will appear at Lori Calabrese Writes on Tuesday, January 20, and Natascia Ugliano , illustrator of Sarah Laughs , will appear on Write for a Reader on Thursday, January 22. Here is a full, updated schedule, with links to more info on each book: Sunday, January 18, 2009 Karen Hesse , author of Brooklyn Bridge Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category at Jewish Books for Children Monday, January 19, 2009 Richard Michelson Author of As Good As Anybody , Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category and Author of A is for Abraham , Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at The Well-Read Child Monday, January 19, 2009 Ron Mazellan , illustrator of A is for Abraham Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at Tales from the Rushmore Kid Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Va...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award, the annual prize for Jewish children's and teen literature, will be celebrating and showcasing its 2009 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour! Here is the preliminary schedule: Sunday, January 18, 2009 Karen Hesse , author of Brooklyn Bridge Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category at Jewish Books for Children Monday, January 19, 2009 Richard Michelson Author of As Good As Anybody , Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category and Author of A is for Abraham , Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at The Well-Read Child Monday, January 19, 2009 Ron Mazellan , illustrator of A is for Abraham Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at Tales from the Rushmore Kid Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Jane Yolen , author of Naming Liberty Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at The Boston Bibliophile Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Anna Levine Au...

The winners of the 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children's and teen literature have just been announced! The full press release and list of winners is posted below. I'll be interviewing Kathe Pinchuck , chair of the awards committee, so I'll soon have a podcast for you with her insights into the process of choosing winners. Also, I've already recorded an interview with Rich Michelson , gold medalist in the Younger Readers Category for As Good As Anybody , and that will appear in February's podcast episode. Many of the winning authors will appear in a Blog Tour beginning on Sunday, January 18, 2009 at Barbara Bietz's Jewish Books for Children Blog . Be sure to check that out, and to watch the awards blog at sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com for the blog tour schedule. PRESS RELEASE: 2009 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES Richard Michelson and Raul Colon , author and illustrator of As Good As Anybody: M...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Marc Aronson is an editor, a publisher, and an author of historical nonfiction for young people. He writes the "Nonfiction Matters" column in School Library Journal , and also hosts the Nonfiction Matters blog on the SLJ website. I met up with Marc at the 2008 School Library Journal Leadership Summit in Hollywood, Florida to talk about his latest and perhaps most controversial book, Unsettled: The Problem of Loving Israel . We had such an interesting conversation that I hardly edited the recording at all. I hope you'll find meeting Marc as fascinating as I did. Please feel free to join our conversation by posting comments here on The Book of Life website. CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel . Your feedback is appr...