The Book of Life

  Happy Pride Month! Despite the ongoing attempts to silence LGBTQ+ voices, children's and young adult publishing has been creating better and better books with joyful representation of queer characters, and Jewish books are no exception. Here are a few of my recent favorites; for more, please see the "Queer Jews" tag in my Diverse Jewish Kidlit catalog on LibraryThing . Joyful Song: A Naming Story by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal, Levine Querido, 2024    |    BUY    |    BORROW Zachary and his two multicultural mommies walk their new baby girl to synagogue to reveal her name to the community, picking up diverse friends along the way. Suffused with rainbow light, peopled with kind and supportive neighbors of many backgrounds, and bursting with family love, the lyrical text and stunning illustrations combine to create an instant classic. A breath of fresh air, and a beautiful antidote to antisemitism. Benji Zeb is a Ravenous We...

BUY or BORROW these books Two Sydney Taylor Book Award winners, Veera Hiranandani and Vesper Stamper, have joined forces to create the perfect book for fathers and grandfathers: The Greatest (Random House Studio, 2024), a picture book about how "the power of love makes us all the greatest to somebody."  An old man reflects that although he feels perfectly ordinary, his grandchildren act like he's the greatest grandfather in the world. We see their loving interactions as they play and eat and and build together, against an understated but fully present backdrop of Jewish home life and holidays. We see growth, as the teenage grandson puts aside his phone and starts to participate in the fun along with his younger sisters. In the end, the grandfather realizes that "Maybe love is like a mirror and it's reflected back and forth until it glows so bright, everything is surrounded by that light." A quiet, lovely ode to l'dor vador, the continuity of generatio...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT    |    BUY OR BORROW THE BOOK     🕮    Joyful Song: A Naming Story is Lesléa Newman's newest picture book, and once again she's paired up with the amazing Susan Gal. This dynamic duo brought us Here Is the World in 2014 and Welcoming Elijah in 2020. Their new 2024 book is about a baby naming at synagogue, and about the diverse and loving community that welcomes the little girl into the world. The two-mom family makes it a great book for Pride Month, too. LEARN MORE: Lesléa Newman's website Susan Gal's website Susan's other Jewish book, The Tower of Life by Chana Stiefel Roller Coaster Rabbit , the Disney film Susan worked on Heidi's Jewish kidlit wish list Lesléa's past appearances on The Book of Life: Welcoming Elijah, 2020 Social Justice and Jewish Children's Books, 2018 Ketzel and Mom, 2016 Here Is the World, 2015 JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, Friends & A...