The Book of Life

It's time for my annual unofficial shortlist of potential Sydney Taylor Book Award winners! As you may know, in addition to interviewing authors of Jewish kidlit for many years, I'm a former member and chair of the Association of Jewish Libraries' Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, and a cofounder of The Sydney Taylor Shmooze  review blog, so I have a deep and abiding interest in seeking out the best Jewish kidlit of the year.  I'm not actually making predictions about what will win; rather, I'm telling you that these are books that I think deserve your attention (with the caveat that while I probably read the majority of Jewish children's or YA books published in 2025, I did not read ALL of them, so there may be other titles I'd consider worthy if I'd had the chance to read them). I've listed the titles within their age categories alphabetically by author's last name.Titles are linked to Bookshop.org for your purchasing convenience ...

A year ago I started a Substack newsletter for The Book of Life Podcast to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. The free Substack posts include podcast episodes, show notes, transcripts, Jewish kidlit news, and calls to action. A number of listeners have very kindly pledged to upgrade to paid subscriptions to support the show. I am now turning on paid subscriptions, and I'm starting a new bonus segment on The Book of Life, especially for paid subscribers. It's called Share Your Shelf . I'll be asking guests to look at their own bookshelves to share the books that are important to them, or that have an interesting origin story; books they've hung onto or just acquired, their oldest or newest books, or even the books that are actually missing from their shelves. The first Share Your Shelf bonus segment will go out to paid subscribers on January 26th, when I'll also be posting a free podcast episode for everyone, about the winners of the 2026 Sydney Ta...

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT       🕮   It’s The Book of Life’s 20th Anniversary! In celebration, here’s a super deluxe retrospective episode, with short clips from every year of the podcast. We’ll start with this anniversary year, 2025, and then move back through time to 2005. HANUKKAH TREATS:  Miniature Zine about the podcast - -  print and fold! folding instructions here Book of Life 20th Anniversary Merch -- sales benefit the Association of Jewish Libraries   LEARN MORE:  Read Podcasting Since the Dawn of Time , my essay on the evolution of the show  Like the clips in this special? Click on the images below to hear the full episodes: CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Newsletter: bookoflif...

    LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    LISTEN TO FUSE 8 N' KATE     🕮    Fuse 8 n’ Kate is a weekly podcast hosted by School Library Journal, in which super-librarian Betsy Bird and her sister Kate evaluate 20+ year old picture books to decide whether they should be considered classics. Since The Book of Life is 20 years old (and hopefully a classic), I asked Betsy and Kate to collaborate on a Hanukkah episode! We did a joint episode that will appear on both our feeds, interviewed each other, and talked about The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Nancy Cote, published in 1997. Did we decide it was a classic? Listen and find out!  LEARN MORE: Fuse 8 n’ Kate Podcast Buy or Borrow The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes Linda Glaser’s website Nancy Cote’s website Linda Glaser on The Book of Life in 2006 ( Bridge to America ) and 2014 ( Hannah’s Way ) Betsy’s 2025 recomm...

Jewish Children's Literature Podcast "THE BOOK OF LIFE" Celebrates 20th Anniversary Special Retrospective Episode Launches on Hanukkah CONTACT:  The Book of Life Podcast  Heidi Rabinowitz  (561) 206-2473  bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com RELEASE DATE:  November 18, 2025 Boca Raton, FL — “The Book of Life: A Podcast About Jewish Kidlit (Mostly)” will post a special retrospective episode on the first night of Hanukkah, December 14, 2025, featuring voices from every year of the show’s run, 2005 to 2025. Creator and host Heidi Rabinowitz, a synagogue librarian, has been interviewing authors of Jewish children’s books and other creatives for twenty years. The word “podcast” was coined in 2004, and The Book of Life was created just one year later. The first episode aired on December 21, 2005. The mission of “The Book of Life” is to promote Jewish children’s literature to readers of all backgrounds, to serve as a validating mirror for Jewish listeners and an illuminating...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    Continuing the celebration of my 20th year of podcasting, I've got another archival episode for you from 2006, about Jewish Book Month. In the early days of The Book of Life I usually had multiple guests in each episode, and this one includes 4: Folklorist Howard Schwartz, talking about his picture book Before You Were Born, which had just won the Koret Award Carolyn Starman Hessel, longtime director of the Jewish Book Council, whose nickname was "the Jewish Oprah" Esme Raji Codell, author of one of my favorites middle-grade novels Vive La Paris and David Levithan, author of the 2004 young adult novel Wide Awake, which was reissued as Wide Awake Now in 2024 because its message about politics and protest is more relevant than ever. I’m celebrating Jewish Book Month by participating in the Jewish Book Council’s “ Share Your Shelf, Share Your Story ” project. I will post a photo on so...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮      Back in July 2025 I did a brief interview with Jean Meltzer, so she could tell you about Jewish Joy Con, an exciting event coming to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in March 2026. But I promised you a longer interview later - and here it is! Jean talks about her writing, her Jewish Joy Book Club and subscription box, more about the con, and about her newest book, The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah .  LEARN MORE: Jean Meltzer’s website , Instagram , and Facebook Jewish Women Talk About Romance Books group on Facebook The Jewish Joy Box Jewish Joy Con (March 13-15, 2026 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Jean’s own books: o The Matzah Ball o Mr. Perfect on Paper o Kissing Kosher o Magical Meet Cute o The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah Jean’s recommended reading suggestions: o Blood Bond by Helen Hardt o Never Planned on You by Lindsey Hammerhof o Bat...

Multicultural Kid Blogs is a website with a mission to inspire and support families, caregivers, educators, and community members raising the next generation of global citizens. On occasion, I write posts for them, including my Jewish Joy series of interviews with diverse Jewish authors.  I was very pleased that Multicultural Kid Blogs interviewed me about The Book of Life and its 20 year anniversary! Please read the interview here , and leave a comment to show them that you appreciate their inclusion of Jewish content! 

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    Continuing the celebration of my 20th year of podcasting, I've got a 2013 archival episode for you with author Laurel Snyder, who at that time was best known for her iconoclastic picture book, Baxter The Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher. Amazingly, Laurel says that The Book of Life podcast actually impacted her writing! In a 2017 blog article she credited our first podcast conversation as a turning point in her career. She said “Heidi asked me, reasonably, what made my book Jewish, and I found I didn’t have an answer for her…. She could not possibly have known, when she asked me that question a decade ago, what journey she was sending me on. The power of the right question is a mighty thing.” Laurel has gone on to win the 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award gold medal for her Exodus picture book The Longest Night , and a 2024 bronze for a middle grade fantasy, The Witch of Woodland. This...

Lynne Azarchi and Harlene Galen are the co-authors of Countering Antisemitism & Hate: A How-To Guide for Youth (8-18), Family, & Educators . Thanks to both of them for answering a few questions from The Book of Life! BUY THE BOOK HERE Lynne and Harlene, what is the book about and what inspired you to write it? In late 2021, Lynne conducted a listening session for the Greater Princeton Jewish community under the auspices of her local Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). What we heard was that while antisemitic incidents were increasing, Jewish youth were suffering shame and trauma and that parents and educators did not know what to do. But after more than 21 years as Executive Director of the Kidsbridge Youth Center in suburban Trenton, NJ, Lynne knew what to do! And with 16 years as a Kidsbridge Board member and Chair of the Kidsbridge Education Committee, Harlene also knew what to do! For two decades at Kidsbridge, we have provided students of all faiths wit...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    If you're a regular listener, you know I always ask guests for tikkun olam suggestions about ways to repair the world. Well, that's what this entire episode is about. I've got a pair of Jewish activist picture books for you: One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story by Ruth Spiro, and More Than Enough: Inspired by Maimonides Golden Ladder of Giving by Richard Michelson, a story about tzedakah. These are both gorgeous picture books that convey their important messages without being preachy - absolutely worth sharing with the kids in your life to help turn them into mensches. And a real-world act of tikkun olam AND tzedakah: listener Susan Schwartz Twiggs has become a Book of Life supporter on Patreon . Thanks, Susan! LEARN MORE: Richard Michelson’s author website and art gallery website Ruth Spiro’s website Borrow or Buy More Than Enough Borrow or Buy One Small Spark Read-alike s...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK       🕮    To continue with the themes of golems and fighting for justice that we explored in our most recent episode about Kyle Lukoff's A World Worth Saving, AND in honor of my 20th year of podcasting on The Book of Life, I'm bringing you an episode from the archives. It's an interview about the middle grade historical fantasy Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier which originally aired in May, 2019, and it's also about golems, and fighting for justice. Since 2019, Author Jonathan Auxier has become a podcaster too. He and Matt Bird cohost A Good Story Well Told, a show about the craft of storytelling.  LEARN MORE: Jonathan Auxier’s website Borrow or Buy Sweep A Good Story Well Told - Jonathan’s podcast Original show notes with links to books and games mentioned in the interview Follow-up episode with Jonathan: S...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮     A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff is a queer Jewish fantasy adventure in which a trans boy and an unusual golem must save the world by Yom Kippur! I interviewed Kyle about this new middle grade novel, as well as his seasonally appropriate picture book, I'm Sorry You Got Mad , a wonderful reflection on the art of apology. Shana Tova! LEARN MORE: Kyle Lukoff’s website Borrow or Buy A World Worth Saving Borrow or Buy I’m Sorry You Got Mad Kyle’s recommended queer Jewish reading: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb ( interview on The Book of Life in January 2023 ) Throwing Sheyd , a podcast about Jewish demonology that Kyle used for research Bonus content at The Book of Life Podcast Substack newsletter CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Boo...