The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY IRVING / MARTIN     🕮    We are in a golden age of picture book biographies, and one prolific biographer is Nancy Churnin . She's got half a dozen bios out and more on the way, and each one is inspiring in its own way. Nancy attended the 2019 Association of Jewish Libraries conference to take part in the author luncheon, where she represented her Jewish interest books, Irving Berlin: The Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing , and Martin & Anne: The Kindred Spirits of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Anne Frank . I was happy to snag this live interview with her during the conference. Be sure to explore Nancy's website for the teacher guides and projects she describes in our interview, as well as her blog The Kids Are All Write . When asked for Tikkun Olam recommendations, Nancy suggested supporting Room to Read , a ...

During the 2019 High Holiday season, the image above was posted on Facebook by We Need Diverse Books , the nonprofit that seeks to build "a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book." This is a big deal. It's a big deal because for a long time, the kidlit diversity discussion has mostly left Jews out in the cold. A perfect example happened recently at a major diversity workshop aimed at librarians. A Jewish friend who attended reported that religious diversity was barely touched upon (a single slide referenced Muslim literature) and that Judaic books were completely absent from a discussion that covered a wide range of marginalized groups from African Americans to Latinx, Native Americans, LGBT, and even the Neurodiverse community.  While a sense of fairness demands that Jewish titles be included in diversity discussions, there's a more urgent need than that. Quoting the We Need Diverse Books website, children "suffer from not s...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    In May 2019 I posted an interview with Jonathan Auxier , the author of Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster . In our interview we talked about the book, of course, but we also talked about our favorite board games. I met Jonathan at the 2019 Association of Jewish Libraries conference where he'd come to accept his Sydney Taylor Book Award, and we got to play one of those games together along with a roomful of other authors, illustrators, and librarians. Here's your chance to listen in as we play a round of Superfight: A Game of Absurd Arguments . First we'll hear the description of the game from Jonathan's May 2019 appearance on The Book of Life podcast. Then we'll hear a clip of me versus Jonathan Auxier in actual gameplay. Just so you know, the game was ultimately won by illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky , who was at the conference to receive the Sydney Taylor Book Award for All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah . His Su...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT        🕮    At the 2019 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Los Angeles, California, we recorded a Book of Life live show. My guests were Joni Sussman of KarBen Publishing , and author/illustrator/musician Barney Saltzberg . We discussed picture book illustration while recording our conversation in front of a live audience of Judaica librarians. At the live show, I mentioned the new Listener Survey . Please take a moment to share your feedback to help me make the show the best it can be.  FYI, during Tikkun Olam Time, Joni mentions the organization Books for Africa, which can be found at BooksForAfrica.org .    L-R: Joni Sussman, Barney Saltzberg, Heidi Rabinowitz CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freil...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT        🕮    Sadaf Siddique and Gauri Manglick are the co-creators of Kitaab World , a website that promotes South Asian children's books. Within their website, they created a campaign called Counter Islamophobia Through Stories , (similar to the Love Your Neighbor campaign that I worked on to help bring Jewish books to ALL readers), and they even turned their campaign into a book called Muslims in Story .  Listen now as Sadaf joins me to talk about the kidlit of our sister religion! 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 Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod   ...

In a few weeks, I'll be posting an interview with Sadaf Siddique, co-founder of Kitaab World , a website focusing on South Asian children's literature.  We'll talk about the parallels between her "Counter Islamaphobia Through Stories" campaign and the "Love Your Neighbor" campaign that I spearheaded for the Association of Jewish Libraries. While I'm a little late, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Eid al-Adha, a holiday that took place just yesterday. This celebrates the end of the Hajj pilgrimage and commemorates Abraham's near sacrifice of his son. Interestingly, I just learned that there is some dispute between Judaism and Islam about which son was to be sacrificed. In any case, we can all agree that rejecting human sacrifice was the right move!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT       🕮    Young Aria is a voracious reader. In this interview, she shares a few of her favorite titles: All Kinds of Strong by Sharon Reiss Baker Zishe the Strongman by Robert Rubinstein Brave Girl : Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel Gittel's Journey : An Ellis Island Story by Lesléa Newman The Harriet Hamsterbone series 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 Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Support the Podcast: Ways to Donate    Your feedback is appreciated! Please fill out Heidi's survey , write to bookoflifepodcast...

WATCH THE VIDEO     |    LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮   The Last Shepherd by Evil Sun Productions is a Hebrew-language indie comedy adventure scifi fantasy film with elements of Jewish mysticism and kabbalah, made in Israel. To summarize, "A geeky programmer and his rebellious co-worker are taken by a mysterious biblical figure on a cross country adventure, trying to stop an ancient evil force, while being chased by government agents." At the time of my interview with the filmmakers back in August 2017, the movie was not available outside of Israel. Excitingly, the film is now available to be viewed on YouTube! Check it out here: PODCAST INTERVIEW ON "THE LAST SHEPHERD" FROM AUGUST 2017

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Anne Dublin is a Toronto-based author and retired synagogue librarian. She is the Canadian Correspondent for The Book of Life Podcast, performing many of our interviews with Canadian creatives. She's also the author of A Cage Without Bars , a historical middle grade novel that tells the little-known tale of Jewish children kidnapped after the expulsion from Spain and enslaved on the island of São Tomé, off the coast of West Africa. 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 Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Support the Pod...

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. It's hosted by a different blogger each month on or near the 15th. The purposes of the Jewish Book Carnival are to build community among bloggers and to promote Jewish reading. This month, we have some very special links for you! On Barbara Bietz's "Jewish Books for Children" blog we've got an interview with Israeli illustrator Omer Hoffman about The Sages of Chelm and the Moon . On gilagreenwrites, Gila interviews author of eleven cookbooks (including Gila's favorite Second Helpings, Please! ), Norene Gilletz. On her blog, Book Q+As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah interviewed Julie Zuckerman about her new novel in stories, The Book of Jeremiah . Castle of Concrete by Katia Raina is reviewed by Batya Medad on her blog Shiloh Musings. It's a coming of age story that takes place in Moscow as the USSR crumbles. It can be enjoyed by readers of all age...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Natalie Silverstein is the New York volunteer coordinator of Doing Good Together , an organization that empowers families to raise caring, engaged children. She wrote Simple Acts: The Busy Family's Guide to Giving Back to give parents practical ideas for incorporating service and the spirit of giving into family life.  IN OTHER NEWS: The podcast Kidlit These Days honors Jewish American Heritage Month in June 2019. They interviewed friend-of-The-Book-of-Life Lesléa Newman , and they included      Jewish kidlit reading recommendations from yours truly, Heidi Rabinowitz.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!       CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band   ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    VISIT CRAIG'S WEBSITE       🕮    Craig Taubman is a long-time star in the world of American Jewish rock and roll, and the founder of the Pico Union Project .  Mostly Kosher is an up and coming Gypsy Rock Klezmer band whose tagline is “word to your bubbe.”  In spring 2019, Craig Taubman brought along Mostly Kosher and together they put on a foot-stomping concert at Congregation B’nai Israel , the home of The Book of Life podcast. That gave me the chance to grab this interview, and even to include the voice of our cantor ’s daughter Aria. Here’s your chance to be a fly on the wall in the green room before the show. 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 ...

Hello everyone! My name is Anna Caplan. I’m a Jewish educator, a mom, and the creator of Honeycake magazine, a new Jewish literary magazine for two- to six-year-olds. I’m excited to tell you a bit about our history and what we’re working on now! To learn more, visit our website . Our History The idea for Honeycake came from my four-year-old daughter’s love of children’s magazines. One day as I was renewing her subscription to Ladybug magazine, it occurred to me that I had never seen a similar type of publication for Jewish kids. I started to think about the gaps I saw in contemporary American Jewish children's literature, and how a magazine could fill some of those gaps for our family. I was curious about what other people thought of the idea of a Jewish children’s magazine, so I started reaching out to parents, grandparents, writers, artists, educators, and librarians. The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. I began putting together a team , including an advisory ...

Jewish kidlit can save the world. That's why The Book of Life has a new Facebook group, "Jewish Kidlit Mavens," where we can save the world together. This is a space for Jewish kidlit professionals (the kidlit is Jewish; the professionals may or may not be) to discuss books from early childhood through middle grade and young adult. Members may include librarians, teachers, publishers, authors, illustrators, agents, booksellers, book bloggers, reviewers, etc. Join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/JewishKidlitMavens/ . Let's schmooze!

Children’s Book Week runs from April 29-May 5, 2019. This year is the 100th anniversary of Children’s Book Week, an annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading. The 2019 theme is “Read Now. Read Forever.” Children’s Book Week is the perfect time to announce The Book of Life’s new focus on Jewish children’s literature . We’ve always had a strong emphasis on books for youth, but now we are making a conscious choice to prioritize coverage of kidlit, with occasional forays into other topics. Instead of defining ourselves as “a show about Jewish books, music, film and web,” The Book of Life is now officially “a show about Jewish kidlit, mostly.” Why this change?  Because kidlit will save the world. Books read in youth are formative, making an especially strong impact. Jewish books help Jewish kids create their religious and cultural identities, and help other kids understand and empathize with Jews. Through mirrors and windows polished brig...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    May 1 is May Day , the chimney sweeps’ holiday. It’s the perfect day to bring you a podcast about Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier . The book introduces us to Nan, a chimney climber, and her golem friend Charlie, a creature made of soot. This middle grade novel won the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children’s books, along with numerous other literary awards. In this lush, dense interview, Jonathan gives us much to think about! Here are links to some of the resources mentioned during our conversation: The Last of the Climbing Boys by George Elson Story Guild writing workshops Flash Point Fire Rescue game Rise Up : The Game of People & Power Spell Smashers loot collecting word game Superfight : A Game of Absurd Arguments CREDITS: Produced by: F...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮   The Length of a String won a 2019 Sydney Taylor Honor Award in the Older Readers Category. It's a middle grade novel about Imani, an adopted black Jewish girl who wants to learn about her birth parents. When she inherits a Holocaust-era diary from her Jewish great-grandmother, she begins to see family in a whole new way. I spoke to author Elissa Brent Weissman by Skype. Elissa Brent Weissman 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    Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473. 

The Book of Life Podcast will host a Live Show in Woodland Hills, California near Los Angeles on June 17, 2019 at 5:30PM as part of the Association of Jewish Libraries 54th Annual Conference. Guests include Joni Sussman of Kar-Ben Publishing and author / illustrator / musician Barney Saltzberg, famous for his book Beautiful Oops. The live show is free! Conference-goers get in automatically. All others must RSVP by June 10th to be admitted. Email bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com for details.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Paula Shoyer is known as The Kosher Baker . I met her at Limmud , a one day conference of Jewish learning on a wide variety of topics, held in December 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida. Paula was there to present two sessions: " Are Your Jewish Holiday Meals Dangerous? " and " Jewish Cookbooks Tell Our Stories ." We sat down between sessions in the breezy courtyard for this interview. 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    Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473. 

The Highlights Foundation symposium " Beyond the Holocaust and Holidays: Who Are We and What Are We Writing? " asked these questions: What stories do today’s children need from Jewish book creators and about Jewish people? What stories speak to our varied experiences? And how can we diversify the existing body of Jewish children’s literature? Participants gathered to explore where Jewish novelists fit in the business of writing for children and teens. "Beyond the Holocaust" was featured on The Book of Life in January 2019 when we recorded a panel discussion among several of the presenters. The workshop was held in March 2019, and I invited organizer Linda Epstein to reflect on how it went. LINDA EPSTEIN   "We can literally make the world a better place one book at a time." Rather than being structured as a weekend where the faculty were teaching the students principles or concepts relative to writing Jewish children’s literature, the weeke...