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...

In a normal year, Jewish American/Canadian Heritage Month in May is about celebrating Jewish life in North America: Jewish history, achievements, and experiences. In 2024, with the precipitous rise in antisemitism, it seemed more appropriate to focus on the relationship between North American Jews and our gentile neighbors. Throughout May 2024, I recommended picture books, middle grade, and young adult books that offer models for allyship between Jews and non-Jews. These are books about beautiful friendships, moving solidarity, and growth in understanding. I hope that these books will inspire readers to make life imitate art. I posted a book each day on social media, and now I am compiling all my reading recommendations here for your convenience. Titles are linked to Bookshop.org or other booksellers, and links are provided to any podcast coverage the books may have received on The Book of Life. PICTURE BOOKS May 1, 2024 JOYFUL SONG: A NAMING STORY by Lesléa Newman, illustrat...

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY OR BORROW THE BOOK     🕮     Lucky Broken Girl, Letters from Cuba, Tia Fortuna's New Home , and now, Across So Many Seas . Award winning author Ruth Behar keeps finding new ways to share her Sephardic and Ashkenazi Cuban Jewish heritage with us, and it's fresh and fascinating every time. In her latest sweeping middle grade novel, Across So Many Seas , she introduces us to four generations of a Sephardic family, from the Spanish Inquisition to modern times. Like the Ladino song woven into the story of each of the 12 year old protagonists, this book is a poignant and powerful ode to sorrow and connection and joy.   LEARN MORE: Ruth Behar's website Buy Across So Many Seas Playlist of music from Across So Many Seas Educator's Guide to Across So Many Seas Ruth's tikkun olam suggestion: The American Ladino League Ruth...

In a normal year, Jewish American/Canadian Heritage Month in May is about celebrating Jewish life in North America: Jewish history, achievements, and experiences. In 2024, with the precipitous rise in antisemitism, it seems more appropriate to focus on the relationship between North American Jews and our gentile neighbors. Throughout May 2024, I will be recommending picture books, middle grade, and young adult books that offer models for allyship between Jews and non-Jews. You'll read about beautiful friendships, moving solidarity, and growth in understanding. I hope that these books will inspire readers to make life imitate art. Welcome to a full month of Jewish children's literature celebrating American, Canadian, and worldwide allyship, available in bookstores, libraries, and online. Please share these books with your own network, especially with your friends who are not Jewish. Watch The Book of Life's social media on Facebook or Instagram for daily suggestions. At t...

As Passover begins, I'd like to remind you that the Holiday Highlights lists created by the Association of Jewish Libraries are a terrific resource to help you find the very best Jewish holiday books for children. Since the program began in 2021, there have been thirteen Passover books recognized. These are the Passover books you should be buying, borrowing from the library, and giving as afikomen gifts! Learn more about Holiday Highlights on AJL's website or listen to my 2022 podcast episode about it. ALL HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS BOOKS FOR PASSOVER: The Four Questions by Lynne Sharon Schwartz, illustrated by Ori Sherman, Levine Querido, 2021, All ages – Spring 2021 | buy or borrow Animals celebrate at a seder; elegant. Meet the Matzah written and illustrated by Alan Silberberg, Viking, 2021, Ages 4-10 –  Spring 2021 | buy or borrow Anthropomorphic bread products retell the Exodus story; goofy. The Passover Guest by Susan Kusel, illustrated by Sean Rubin, Neal Porter Books a...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    MEET APRIL     🕮    As you may remember, in December 2023 I participated in The Artists Against Antisemitism auction, which raised funds for Project Shema. Today we'll talk with April Powers, Vice President of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Project Shema, to learn more about their mission and how it can help us kidlit folks.  LEARN MORE: Project Shema Jewbian Princess "Skin in the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism" article by Eric K. Ward Reading suggestions: The Source by James Michener, The Assignment by Liza Wiemer 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 Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook....

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    PURCHASE OR BORROW THE BOOK     🕮   The Miracle Seed is Martin Lemelman's nonfiction graphic novel about how modern science brought the Judean date palm back to life after a thousand year extinction. We met in person at the local public library's recording studio to talk about his book, his art, and the truly amazing story of how seeds found at an archaeological dig at Masada in Israel were able to be germinated after centuries, and about the significance of the Judean date palm in Jewish history. LEARN MORE: Martin Lemelman's websites TwoCentComics.com and LemelmanArt.com The Arava Institute Graphic novel about Martin's mother: Mendel's Daughter Graphic memoir: Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood Book and film: The Tattooed Torah Another recent Israel-related interview: Noa Nimrodi on Not So Shy   CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Chi...

BUY OR BORROW THE BOOK    |    BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE    |    AUTHOR WEBSITE     🕮    The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour is taking place February 5-9, 2024. Today, one of the blog tour stops is here at The Book of Life! My guest is Noa Nimrodi, author of Not So Shy , a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Middle Grade Category. Click here for a list of all books honored in 2024 . Publisher Kar-Ben says " Twelve-year-old Shai hates having to move to America. She's determined to find a way to get back home to Israel—until she starts opening up to new experiences and friendships." INTERVIEW HEIDI: Noa, welcome to The Book of Life! I understand that the character of Shai is based on a real person. Which parts of the story are based on reality and which parts did you invent? NOA: The book is a mix of truth and fiction. Shai’s character is loosely based on my middle daughter, Shai, who was 12 when we moved from Israel ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    The winners of the 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, recognizing the best Jewish children's and young adult literature of the year, were announced on January 22, 2024 at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards event. Aviva Rosenberg is the current chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and she joined us to discuss the 2024 winners of the award. LEARN  MORE: Sydney Taylor Book Awards ALA's Youth Media Awards (where the Sydney Taylors are announced) ALA's YouTube channel , where you can watch a recording of the announcement Heidi's unofficial 2024 Sydney Taylor shortlist Aviva's recommendation for an Israel-related book: The Miracle Seed by Martin Lemelman Aviva's Tikkun Olam suggestion: buy Israeli products! A helpful Facebook group is Israeli Shops to Purchase From    2024 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS Scroll down to see all the winning ...

  For the last two years I've done an unofficial shortlist of potential Sydney Taylor Book Award winners. These seem to be particularly popular posts, so I'm doing it again! As y'all know, 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 mock award 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 2023, 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. Note that some of the books were published in...