The Book of Life

Everybody loves Top Ten lists, so I was pleased to be invited to host a blog tour stop for Super Pop!  Author Dan Harmon claims that Top Ten lists are not just fun, they can be used for self improvement. He has organized his lists into helpful categories such as "Be More Interesting" and "Find Happiness."  The countdown lists within those categories have unusual themes such as "Find Your Calling: All-Consuming Hobbies for Your Consideration" and "Sleep with the Fishes: The Ten Best Places to Find Your Spirit Animal." The lists are populated by books, movies, TV shows, comics, podcasts, video games and songs - anything "that people can reasonably expect to consume for fun." Harmon annotates each entry with a paragraph or so that is sometimes snarky, sometimes witty, and always entertaining. I don't always agree with his choices; for instance, "Drink the Kool-Aid: Touchstones for Quirky, Like-Minded People" includes St...

On Tuesday, June 11, 2013 The Book of Life will be a blog tour stop for  Super Pop! Pop Culture Lists to Help You Win at Trivia, Survive in the Wild, and Make It Through the Holidays by Daniel Harmon (published by Zest Books, June 2013, $16.99; ISBN 9781936976362). It was short notice but I couldn't resist the chance to participate because the book looks like so much fun. Here's the description sent to me by Zest Books: As David Letterman demonstrates on the Late Show , top ten lists are really funny. And we know lists are a great way to get organized, get things done, and streamline life’s many tasks. But now, pop culture expert Daniel Harmon takes a totally new approach to list making in his new book Super Pop! and organizes 500 movies, songs, video games, and books into top ten lists that not only have the power to entertain, but also to help create a new and better you! To put a Jewish spin on the theme of Top Ten lists, I'd like to invite you to help me br...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK      🕮    At the ALA conference in 2012, I interviewed the folks at Holiday House about the hilarious Shabbat picture book, The Schmutzy Family by Madelyn Rosenberg . This family embraces the messiness of life, but also knows the peace of orderliness. 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   Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast  Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Welcome to the May 2013 Jewish Book Carnival ! The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly online event in which bloggers who blog about Jewish books share highlights from their own blogs. You'll find links to Jewish sites across the blogosphere, featuring interviews, book reviews, ruminations and more.  The Jewish Book Carnival usually posts on the 15th of the month; this month in observance of Shavuot we have delayed posting until the 16th. And now, on to the links! The Jewish Book Council sent in a link from their blog,  The Prosen People , featuring an  interview with Naomi Alderman, author of  The Liars' Gospel . The Association of Jewish Libraries blog, People of the Books , shared this interview with Austin Ratner, author of Land of the Living . Kathe Pinchuck at Life is Like a Library shares her excitement about   Leadership in the Wilderness: Authority & Anarchy in the Book of Numbers   by Dr. Erica Brown. On My Machberet , Eri...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    At the 2012 Association of Jewish Libraries conference, I sat with author Eugene Yelchin during lunch and snuck in a quick interview. He's the author of the 2012 Newbery Honor book Breaking Stalin's Nose , based on his own youth in Stalinist Moscow. He gave a very moving talk about freedom of information earlier during the conference. Yelchin is also the illustrator of Ann Stampler's picture book, The Rooster Prince of Breslov , named a 2011 Notable Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries and winner of the Jewish Book Council's National Jewish Book Award. 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   Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast  Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is apprec...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Emily Bergman, member of the Sophie Brody Award committee, discusses the ins and outs of choosing the best Jewish book of the year. The award is presented for Jewish literature by RUSA, an arm of ALA. See  http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/brody  for more info. 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  Facebook:  facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter:  @bookoflifepod   Photo: Emily Bergman Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to  bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com  or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473. 

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE FILM      🕮    Filmmaker Roberta Grossman offered a work-in-progress screening of her documentary on Hava Nagila at the Association of Jewish Libraries 2012 conference in California. Here we have her introductory remarks and the Q&A that followed the screening. The film is now opening in theaters across the country! 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  Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.  

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian correspondent, Anne Dublin , interviews author Kathy Kacer about the compilation of children's responses to the Holocaust entitled We Are Their Voice . 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  Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.  

On this final day of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, awards committee member Barbara Krasner hosts a roundtable wrap-up at her blog, The Whole Megillah . Read responses from various winners, as if they were participating in a panel presentation at a conference! Thanks to all the winners for their participation in the blog tour, to all the bloggers for hosting, and to you, the readers, for your enthusiasm and attention!

Read an interview with Linda Leopold Strauss, author of The Elijah Door: A Passover Tale (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category) at Pen and Prose ! A highlight: "As I was writing the story, I kept hearing the cadence of my grandparents’ Yiddish-speaking voices in my head. The repetition of phrases, the rhythms, the word combinations. And I think their voices also very much informed the way I wrote the story." Read an interview with Alexi Natchev, illustrator of The Elijah Door: A Passover Tale (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category) at Madelyn Rosenberg's Virtual Living Room ! A highlight: "In my artistic education, illustration was really not just for children. In my formative years, art was part of the idealogical system. We were living at that time on the other side of the Iron Curtain so everything was very ideological and politicized. But in the illustration field you could be a little more creative, not so rigidly...

Read an interview with Sheri Sinykin, author of Zayde Comes to Live (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category) at Read, Write, Repeat ! A highlight: "My dearest wish is that Zayde will bring reassurance, peace, and completeness — shalom! — to children just discovering the circle of life they’ve heard sung about in the popular animated movie." Read an interview with Kristina Swarner, illustrator of Zayde Comes to Live (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category) at Writing and Illustrating ! A highlight: "I really didn’t want to make the art too sad or pensive. The ideas evolved as I sketched, and the more I sketched, the more the tenderness and joyfulness of the story came out in the art." *** PODCAST! Audio interview with Sheri Sinykin and text interview with Kristina Swarner coming soon on The Book of Life!

I am proud to take part in the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! During the week of February 11-15, 2013 you can find interviews with gold and silver medalists all over the blogosphere. Check out my earlier post (January 31, 2013) for the full schedule. Kristina Swarner is the illustrator of Zayde Comes to Live by Sheri Sinykin, a 2013 Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category . She is no stranger to the Sydney Taylor, having won a gold medal in 2008 for The Bedtime Sh'ma by Sarah Gershman, a silver medal for Gershman's 2011 sequel, Modeh Ani , and another gold medal in 2011 for Gathering Sparks by Howard Schwartz. She also illustrated Schwartz's book Before You Were Born , a 2006 Sydney Taylor Notable Book and winner of the 2006 Koret Jewish Book Award. TBoL: Kristina, what medium do you use for your illustrations? KS: I use a combination of printmaking, watercolor, and colored pencil on heavyweight paper. TBoL: Zayde Come...

Read an interview with Linda Glaser, author of Hannah's Way (Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers Category) at This Messy Life ! A highlight: "This is a story about staying true to one’s traditions but still wanting to “belong.” It’s also a story about ordinary children who, through a simple act of kindness, become heroes. I hope that with the help of the Sydney Taylor Award, Hannah’s Way will reach many more kids and will do its small part to encourage tolerance, acceptance, and kindness." Read an interview with Adam Gustavson, illustrator of Hannah's Way (Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers Category) at Here in HP ! A highlight: "I’ve always drawn; my mother was an artist when I was growing up, and my brothers and I drew like most other kids would play ball. It was a big part of how we played together. My father, an engineer, used to come home with art supplies he’d picked up for us on his way home from work. I grew up in...

Ann Redisch Stampler, author of The Wooden Sword (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category) at Shelf-Employed ! A highlight: "as I researched the Afghani story, learning more about the culture of the Jews who lived with their Muslim neighbors in Afghanistan for a thousand years, I loved it. It was hilarious, but at the same time, its message was profound." Carol Liddiment, illustrator of The Wooden Sword (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category) at Ann Koffsky's Blog !  A highlight: "This is a warm story about the Shah’s desire to understand the poor man’s faith. It is a story about tolerance and understanding… I hope that message can be embraced by all."   Doreen Rappaport, author of Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category) at Bildungsroman ! A highlight: "I feel I was privileged to learn about so many Jewish children, m...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2013 gold and silver medalists and a few selected Notables with a Blog Tour, February 11-15, 2013! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a wide variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. For those of you who have not yet experienced a Blog Tour, it’s basically a virtual book tour. Instead of going to a library or bookstore to see an author or illustrator speak, you go to a website on or after the advertised date to read an author’s or illustrator’s interview. Below is the schedule for the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave them plenty of comments! THE 2013 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR   MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013 Ann Redisch Stampler , author of The Wooden Sword Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category At Shelf-Employed  Carol Liddiment , i...