The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    " No Steps Behind [by Jeff Gottesfeld and illustrated by Shiella Witanto ] is the unlikely story of Beate Sirota Gordon, just a girl when her Russian-Austrian-Jewish family found refuge in 1930s Japan. Beate became fluent in Japanese, loved the nation’s culture and people, but hated its treatment of women and proverbs like “Women walk three steps behind.” After World War II, putting her language and cultural skills to use, she returned to Japan and fought for equal rights for women to be enshrined in the post-war Japanese post-war constitution. Though she won that battle, and remains a Japanese national hero, she is little known outside that country." -- Creston Books  I spoke with author Jeff Gottesfeld about Beate Sirota Gordon, and about the adventure of writing this picture book biography in order to bring her story to an English-speaking audience. Jeff Gottesfeld and Nicole Go

[Edited, post Blog Tour, to include the links to the interviews.] I am very pleased that the Blog Tour tradition continues at the Association of Jewish Libraries! The 2020 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour includes interviews with the winning authors and illustrators, appearing on a variety of high profile kidlit blogs and podcasts. The benefit of a Blog Tour is that the various interviewers bring differing perspectives to their conversations, and different audiences of readers learn about the Sydney Taylor Book Awards. The Blog Tour adds spice and extends the reach of the awards beyond what AJL could do alone.   BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE   SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2020 Sue Macy  and  Stacy Innerst , author and illustrator of  The Book Rescuer Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Picture Book Category at  100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal   R.J. Palacio , author of  White Bird Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Middle Grade Category at  The Paper Brigade Daily at The Jewish Book Counc