The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    VISIT CRAIG'S WEBSITE       🕮    Craig Taubman is a long-time star in the world of American Jewish rock and roll, and the founder of the Pico Union Project .  Mostly Kosher is an up and coming Gypsy Rock Klezmer band whose tagline is “word to your bubbe.”  In spring 2019, Craig Taubman brought along Mostly Kosher and together they put on a foot-stomping concert at Congregation B’nai Israel , the home of The Book of Life podcast. That gave me the chance to grab this interview, and even to include the voice of our cantor ’s daughter Aria. Here’s your chance to be a fly on the wall in the green room before the show. 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 ...

Hello everyone! My name is Anna Caplan. I’m a Jewish educator, a mom, and the creator of Honeycake magazine, a new Jewish literary magazine for two- to six-year-olds. I’m excited to tell you a bit about our history and what we’re working on now! To learn more, visit our website . Our History The idea for Honeycake came from my four-year-old daughter’s love of children’s magazines. One day as I was renewing her subscription to Ladybug magazine, it occurred to me that I had never seen a similar type of publication for Jewish kids. I started to think about the gaps I saw in contemporary American Jewish children's literature, and how a magazine could fill some of those gaps for our family. I was curious about what other people thought of the idea of a Jewish children’s magazine, so I started reaching out to parents, grandparents, writers, artists, educators, and librarians. The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. I began putting together a team , including an advisory ...

Jewish kidlit can save the world. That's why The Book of Life has a new Facebook group, "Jewish Kidlit Mavens," where we can save the world together. This is a space for Jewish kidlit professionals (the kidlit is Jewish; the professionals may or may not be) to discuss books from early childhood through middle grade and young adult. Members may include librarians, teachers, publishers, authors, illustrators, agents, booksellers, book bloggers, reviewers, etc. Join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/JewishKidlitMavens/ . Let's schmooze!

Children’s Book Week runs from April 29-May 5, 2019. This year is the 100th anniversary of Children’s Book Week, an annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading. The 2019 theme is “Read Now. Read Forever.” Children’s Book Week is the perfect time to announce The Book of Life’s new focus on Jewish children’s literature . We’ve always had a strong emphasis on books for youth, but now we are making a conscious choice to prioritize coverage of kidlit, with occasional forays into other topics. Instead of defining ourselves as “a show about Jewish books, music, film and web,” The Book of Life is now officially “a show about Jewish kidlit, mostly.” Why this change?  Because kidlit will save the world. Books read in youth are formative, making an especially strong impact. Jewish books help Jewish kids create their religious and cultural identities, and help other kids understand and empathize with Jews. Through mirrors and windows polished brig...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    May 1 is May Day , the chimney sweeps’ holiday. It’s the perfect day to bring you a podcast about Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier . The book introduces us to Nan, a chimney climber, and her golem friend Charlie, a creature made of soot. This middle grade novel won the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children’s books, along with numerous other literary awards. In this lush, dense interview, Jonathan gives us much to think about! Here are links to some of the resources mentioned during our conversation: The Last of the Climbing Boys by George Elson Story Guild writing workshops Flash Point Fire Rescue game Rise Up : The Game of People & Power Spell Smashers loot collecting word game Superfight : A Game of Absurd Arguments CREDITS: Produced by: F...