The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Among her many novels, Donna Jo Napoli has written a number of teen books of Jewish interest, including Stones in Water (winner of the 1998 Sydney Taylor Book Award) and its sequel Fire in the Hills , The King of Mulberry Street (a 2006 Sydney Taylor Honor Book), and Daughter of Venice . I interviewed her about her new novel STORM . It's an exciting and absorbing teen/adult crossover novel that takes place on Noah's Ark from the point of view of a young stowaway. 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.

VIEW HANUKKAH BOOKLIST     🕮    Over at "People of the Books" (the blog of the Association of Jewish Libraries), they've posted a list of recommended Hanukkah books for children .  NEW BOOKS There are brand new books listed, like one I'm especially excited about: Honeyky Hanukkah by Woody Guthrie, illustrated by Dave Horowitz, and accompanied by a Klezmatics CD. I interviewed Nora Gurthrie in 2006 about the Klezmatics CD Happy Joyous Hanukkah based on Woody's work, and I interviewed Dave Horowitz in 2007 about his hilarious picture book Five Little Gefiltes . I'm thrilled to see them come together to create this new picture book! OLD BOOKS The AJL post also lists Hanukkah-themed books that have been recognized by the Sydney Taylor Book Award as gold or silver medalists or with a Notable Book designation. The Sydney Taylor Book Award has been in business since 1968, so there have been quite a few Hanukkah-related winners over the years. 

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    In honor of Veteran's Day and to show our appreciation for those who strive to keep us safe, let's hear this interview with author Neal Bascomb about The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi . The young adult book, which was based on Bascomb's adult title Hunting Eichman , won the 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Teen Readers Category. 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   Photo: Neal Bascomb at the 2014 Association of Jewish Libraries Conference Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY GOTTIKA / SHIMMY SHAMBONE      🕮    At the  Seminar on Jewish Story 2014 , not only the presenters were authors. I met a few writers in the audience too, and interviewed them during the lunch break. Here are my interviews with authors Helaine Becker and Yael Zoldan . These two authors represent the breadth of what can a Jewish children's book can be. Helaine has recently come out with Gottika , a universal fantasy novel with Jewish roots (think Golem), and Yael's new picture book is Shimmy Shambone Will Not Take a Bath , a story written for an Orthodox audience but with a protagonist any child can relate to. 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   Photo: Helaine Becker shows the cover of Gottika on h

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    At Book Expo 2014 in NYC, I interviewed a wide range of publishers about their forthcoming Jewish titles. Hear my chats with reps from: Charlesbridge: Rabbi Benjamin's Buttons by Alice McGinty Image Comics: Noah by Darren Aronofsky Dundurn: Fields of Exile by Dr. Nora Gold , and Stealing Time by Anne Dublin 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   Photo: Donna Spurlock of Charlesbridge Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    At Book Expo 2014 I met with author Jacqueline Jules and illustrator Durga Yael Bernhard , creators of the picture book Never Say a Mean Word Again . The story takes place in medieval Spain in the Muslim city of Granada and was inspired by a legend about how the Jewish royal advisor Samuel Ha-Nagid "tore out" a man's angry tongue and gave him a kind one instead. It is a powerful story of conflict resolution, as relevant today as it was centuries ago, and very timely for the High Holidays. 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   Photo: Jacqueline Jules & Durga Yael Bernhard Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number a

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Sally Wiener Grotta stopped by Congregation B'nai Israel right before a heavy storm, to talk with me about her novel Jo Joe . It's the story of a mixed-race Jewish woman with deep prejudices about the Pennsylvania town where she grew up, and to which she has now returned. 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.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Judy Petsonk visited my temple, Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton, to talk about her historical novel, Queen of the Jews . It's the story of Queen Shalom-Zion, a descendent of the Maccabees, who was a real person. Along with her well-received talk for the temple, I got to sit down with Judy for a one-on-one. Enjoy!   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.

I will be attending BookExpo America this year and I'm very excited! As in past years, I'll be recording interviews for The Book of Life , and I'll be talking to publishers about the Sydney Taylor Book Award (I'm past chair of the award committee, so I like to promote it whenever I can). Here's a message from the current awards chair, Diane Rauchwerger, for all you publishers out there: Entries are now being considered for the 2015 Sydney Taylor Award, which recognizes the best children's literature of Jewish content. We would like to invite you to submit any children's books with a 2014 copyright that meets the criteria below. In order to be considered, a review copy must be sent to each of the nine members of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee. No application form is necessary; simply mail the books to each member in a package labeled "Sydney Taylor Book Award Submission." The awards will be announced in January, 2015. To e

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    VISIT THE INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE     🕮    Author Debra Winegarten and oral historian Josh Parshall of the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life talk about the Jewish experience of living in Texas, recorded in Houston, TX at the 2013 Association of Jewish Libraries conference.  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   Photos: Debra Winegarten and Heidi Estrin Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Karen Propp discusses her work in progress, Freestyle , a story of Jewish female swimming champs in Europe during WWII. The unpublished work won the 2013 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries.  Freestyle is based on the true story of champion swimmer Judith Deutsch and the Viennese Hakoah swim team of the 1930s, familiar to some from the documentary film  Watermarks . Despite being selected by Austria to swim in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Deutsch and her teammates boycotted the Olympics to protest the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The novel covers two years in the life of Elly Hirsch,  Propp’s fictional incarnation of Deutsch. The Award committee felt that Freestyle with its strong sense of history, sympathetic characters, and little known story, would appeal to a wide audience and epitomize the ideals of Sydney Taylor’s All of a Kind Family series. Freestyle looks at the years of the Holocaust

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    On May 18, 2014, The Seminar on Jewish Story will take place at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, New York. This day-long event will be a celebration of Jewish literature in its many forms, from fiction to memoir, poetry to children's books. I spoke to organizer Barbara Krasner, who told me some of the exciting highlights of the Seminar, which is a co-production of the Whole Megillah and the Association of Jewish Libraries. Click here to learn more about the Seminar on Jewish Story , or email Barbara directly at barbarakrasner [at] att [dot] net. Act soon, because she's running a $99 special on registration! I'll be at the event, and I hope to see you there.... 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   Photo:

I am pleased to bring you the March 2014 edition of the Jewish Book Carnival , a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere! If you blog about Jewish books, you can play too! Visit the Jewish Book Carnival HQ for info about submitting your links to upcoming carnivals. I'd like to draw your attention to an earlier post here on The Book of Life , when I interviewed editor Steven Bergson about The Jewish Comix Anthology . The Kickstarter campaign to fund this project was successful, with 289 backers raising CAD$52,777, so we can look forward to reading this amazing collection soon. In March, Jill at Rhapsody in Books reviewed One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper, about a rabbi's son who is not convinced his life has any meaning. At once both tragic and funny, this story captures the essence of family and the various bonds among family members. The Whole Megillah welcomed a guest post by Seminar on Jewish Story fiction panelist

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK      🕮    The Jewish Comix Anthology is a project that brings together the work of 47 artists, featuring both previously published and brand-new bespoke comic creations. It's the brainchild of Steven M. Bergson, an expert on the representation of Jews in comics, and an old friend of mine from the Association of Jewish Libraries. A Kickstarter campaign is running now through March 5, 2014 to fund the publication of The Jewish Comix Anthology. Contribute now to pre-order a copy of the book, and to get other exciting rewards like original art! I spoke to Steven about the project and the Kickstarter by Skype, at his home in Toronto, Canada. 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 appr

The 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour draws to a close with one last gold-medal winner, and a virtual roundtable with the whole group. It's been great! Thanks to all who participated! Patricia Polacco , author and illustrator of The Blessing Cup Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category At Ann Koffsky's Blog Blog Tour Wrap-Up with All Authors and Illustrators At The Whole Megillah

Cosei Kawa , illustrator of Rifka Takes a Bow Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category At Jewish Books for Children Elisabeth Leyson and Dr. Marilyn J. Harran , contributors to The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible...on Schindler’s List Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category At The Interlace Place

Neal Bascomb , author of The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category At Randomly Reading Carol Matas , author of Dear Canada: Pieces of the Past: The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category At Pen and Prose

Exciting interviews today with the author and illustrator of the gold medalist Passover picture book The Longest Night , and the silver medal novel for teens, Dancing in the Dark ! Laurel Snyder , author of The Longest Night Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category At Geo Librarian Catia Chen , illustrator of The Longest Night Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category At Holy Sparks Robyn Bavati , author of Dancing in the Dark Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category At Bildungsroman

The first round of interviews for this year's Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour have been posted! Follow the links to read all about it! Renee Londner , author of Stones for Grandpa Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category At The Write Stuff Martha Aviles , illustrator of Stones for Grandpa Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category At Practically Paradise Aline Sax , author, Caryl Strzelecki , illustrator, and Laura Watkinson , translator of The War Within These Walls Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category At The 3 R's: Reading, 'Riting, Research

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Wallenberg was a Swedish humanitarian who worked in Budapest during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Author Louise Borden , inspired by Raoul as a person and as a historical figure, created a stunning biography, His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg , which won the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers Category. This interview with Louise took place at the 2013 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Houston, Texas, where she received her award. 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 Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2014 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 16-20, 2014! 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.  Below is the schedule for the 2014 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! SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2014 Renee Londner , author of Stones for Grandpa Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category At The Write Stuff Martha Aviles , illustrator of Stones for Grandpa Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger

Laurel Snyder and Catia Chien , author and illustrator of The Longest Night: A Passover Story , Patricia Polacco , author and illustrator of The Blessing Cup , and Neal Bascomb , author of The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi , are the 2014 winners of the 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 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada this June.  Snyder and Chien will receive the 2014 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Younger Readers category for T he Longest Night: A Passover Story , published by Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. Written in gentle verse,

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    An interview with author Linda Glaser and illustrator Adam Gustavson , creators of the picture book Hannah's Way which won the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers Category. After Papa loses his job during the Depression, Hannah’s family moves to rural Minnesota, where she is the only Jewish child in her class. When her teacher tries to arrange carpools for a Saturday class picnic, Hannah is upset. Her Jewish family is observant, and she knows she cannot ride on the Sabbath. What will she do? A lovely story of friendship and community. UPCOMING PROJECTS FOR LINDA AND ADAM:  Bim! Sings the Baby by Linda Glaser Charlie Bumpers vs. the Teacher of the Year , illustrated by Adam Gustavson 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 Stri

NEW SERVICES NOW AVAILABLE TO WRITERS OF JEWISH LITERARY FICTION AND NONFICTION Popular blog is now a new company aimed at nurturing Jewish writers SOMERSET, NJ, January 9, 2014— Jewish writers now have a prepublication, publication, and post-publication advocate for their work. The Whole Megillah LLC has been formed specifically to help shape, nurture, and promote Jewish story. “This is a natural expansion of The Whole Megillah blog that debuted in 2010. Followers and workshop participants asked for more services. The Whole Megillah LLC can now provide them,” says president and publisher Barbara Krasner. The Whole Megillah LLC offers Jewish writers: Editorial services to help writers shape and refine their stories A publishing program for middle grade through adult literary fiction and nonfiction through print-on-demand and e-book platforms. Conferences, retreats, and writing workshops Marketing services, including marketing plans, blog tours and press release