The Book of Life

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