The Book of Life

  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...

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...

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...

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     🕮     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...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    In honor of my 20th year of podcasting on The Book of Life, I'm bringing you an episode from the archives. This episode is called Summer Coolness, and it was released in June 2007. The episode featured a now-defunct website called ReaderGirlz, and the website Nextbook that morphed into Tablet Magazine in 2009. There were also many mentions of MySpace. I interviewed Melissa Schorr, author of Goy Crazy, who, according to her website, seems to have mostly moved on from kidlit to journalism. I must say, her most recent book from 2017, Shame Nation: Choosing Kindness and Compassion in an Age of Cruelty and Trolling, looks extremely on point. And the episode featured the band Sababa, which happily is still in existence, and in fact, they've recently released their fourth album called When We Rise.  It's funny to think how much has changed and how much is still the same, including ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    LISTEN TO THE FIVE BOOKS     🕮    The Five Books is a new literary Jewish podcast hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen, in partnership with the Jewish Book Council. I'm very happy to welcome another show to our little corner of the book world, so I invited Tali to do a mutual interview. We interviewed each other, and the episode will appear on both our podcast feeds. Go to the Substack post for this episode for links to other podcast swaps I've done over the years! LEARN MORE: The Five Books Podcast website   Highlights of past episodes: o Yale Strom on The Book of Life o Gayle Forman on The Five Books   Recommended podcasts: o Heidi: Nice Jewish Books , Recognizably Jewish , Fuse 8 and Kate o Tali: Identity/Crisis , Call Me Back , The New Yorker Fiction Podcast , How to Fail   RECOMMENDED TITLES: Book #1: Favorite Picture Books The House on the R...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    As a follow up to my recent interview with Adam Gidwitz about Max in the Land of Lies, and in honor of my 20th year of podcasting on The Book of Life, I'm bringing you an episode from the archives, from January 2017. I met Adam Gidwitz at an author "speed dating" event at the American Library Association conference, where he was promoting his middle grade fantasy The Inquisitor's Tale, which later went on to win a Sydney Taylor Book Award, a Newbery Honor, and a lot of other awards.  If you enjoy this blast from the past, please check out other past episodes of The Book of Life from any time in the last 2 decades. Go to Bookoflifepodcast.com and Click on Archive in the sidebar, or just go to the episode list on your podcast player and keep on scrolling down, down, down. LEARN MORE:  Adam Gidwitz's website Adam Gidwitz's Jul...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    GET QUEER JEWISH KIDLIT BIBLIOGRAPHY     🕮   I don't normally interview an author about a single chapter of a book, but for my friend Lee Wind, I'm making an exception. He's written a fascinating nonfiction book, The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie: Infinite Identities Around the World , and Chapter 2 is about "The Six Genders of Classical Judaism." I just had to learn more. We also talked about his two new picture books (both featuring 2-dad families), Like That Eleanor: The Amazing Power of Being an Ally and Banana Menorah . In addition to writing great kids' books about gender, Judaism, and allyship, Lee is literally a champion against censorship. He received the 2025 Industry Champion Award from the Book Industry Study Group for his project called We Are Stronger Than Censorship . Lee tells us more in the interview.  For bonus content (Jewish k...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY / BORROW THE BOOK     🕮    Terry LaBan is an alternative cartoonist, a graphic recorder (we'll talk about what that means later), and now he's written his first graphic novel, called Mendel the Mess Up. I'm going to borrow the description from the starred review in Publishers Weekly. They said "Put Fiddler on the Roof and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in a blender, add a jigger or two of Seinfeld, and the result is this boisterous and affirming graphic novel." Doesn't that sound amazing?  LEARN MORE: Buy or borrow Mendel the Mess-Up Terry LaBan’s  author website and graphic recording website  Terry’s Tikkun Olam suggestion: support HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Get bonus content for this episode on Substack Terry’s reading recommendations: o The Story of the Jews : A 4000 Year Adventure by Stan ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT    |    BUY / BORROW THE BOOK     🕮    A Feather, a Pebble, a Shell is a lovely meditation on the natural landscape of Israel, written and illustrated by Miri Leshem-Pelly. Miri's voice is calm and dreamy, and I could hear birds chirping and dogs barking in the background as she spoke. Our conversation was both fun and serious. We talked about art, nature, books, Instagram challenges... and also about the war in Israel and its impact on humans and animals. LEARN MORE: Buy or borrow A Feather, a Pebble, a Shell Miri Leshem-Pelly's website Miri's Instagram Activity Guide for A Feather, a Pebble, a Shell Ravensburger jigsaw puzzle with Miri's art Tikkun olam suggestion: support the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Reading recommendations: o All Eyes on Alexandra by Anna Levine o A Hoopoe Says Oop by Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh o Fast Asleep in a Little Vil...

Photo from MassLive Next Year in the White House: Barack Obama's First Presidential Seder, written by Richard Michelson and illustrated by E.B. Lewis, is a nonfiction picture book that gives us the true backstory of how Passover first came to be celebrated in the White House. It's a stunning book; it received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, and was named to the Association of Jewish Libraries' Spring 2025 Holiday Highlights list. Because this is a true story, I was able to interview one of the "characters" -- Eric Lesser, seen in the photo above, walking with President Obama. Lesser worked on the Obama campaign trail in 2008, and later became a White House aide. He's also served as a Massachusetts State Senator. He agreed to answer ten questions about the events covered in Next Year in the White House. I didn't have time for an audio interview, but you can read his answers below. LEARN MORE: Buy or borrow Next Year in the White House Websites o...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY / BORROW THE BOOK     🕮    Dara Horn is the author of 5 Jewish novels for adults, the provocatively titled nonfiction essay collection People Love Dead Jews , and now a graphic novel for kids: One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe . She writes brilliant, insightful articles for The Atlantic and other publications which set my brain on fire when I read them. I recommend you run out and read everything she's ever written. But before you do, listen to this interview! LEARN MORE: Dara Horn’s website Buy or borrow One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe Buy or borrow People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present Listen to the 7-part podcast Adventures with Dead Jews Buy or borrow Dara’s most recent novel, Eternal Life Dara’s short story “Shtetl World” Selected Articles by Dara Horn: o “Is Holocaust Education Making Antisemitism W...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY / BORROW THE BOOK     🕮     Night Owls is an paranormal YA romance adventure about Clara and Molly, two estries who run an art house cinema in the Village in New York City. In case you're wondering, estries are Jewish owl-shifting bread-eating female vampires! This book is my new favorite, and I'm not the only one. This debut novel won gold from the Sydney Taylor Book Award AND the National Jewish Book Award! The story is fun and fast paced, it's eery and emotional, and it's got characters I want to hang out with even if they would probably be dangerous to know.  LEARN MORE: A.R. Vishny's website Buy or borrow Night Owls Conversation about American Girl dolls: A.R. Vishny's Hey Alma article , Dolls of Our Lives podcast , and  The Book of Life's 2009 interview  More about the plays "Indecent" and "God of Vengeance" Fant...