The Book of Life

During the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago, IL, I had the chance to visit the Planet Esme Bookroom , otherwise known as "the Gingerbread Apartment" because of its whimsical architecture. The Bookroom is a real treat for kidlit fans, stuffed to the gills with books, toys, and reading-related decorations. Every detail has been lovingly thought out to make visitors smile, from the wolf and sheep puppets lying peacefully together atop the photocopier, to the cuckoo clock that sings out the time. The Bookroom is the brainchild of Esme Raji Codell , author of Sydney Taylor Honor Book Vive la Paris , AJL Notable Book Hanukkah Shmanukkah , and the inspiring book for teachers, Educating Esme , among many others. It functions as a private salon where she hosts events that celebrate literature, like the wonderful pizza party she threw for lovers of Judaica during the AJL Convention. To see an album of photos from the Planet Esme Pizza Party, visit The Book of...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    In this picture we see Mark Blevis & Andrea Ross, the husband-and-wife team behind the kidlit podcast Just One More Book . They're holding the Six String Nation guitar, and they're at the Podcasters Across Borders conference, of which Mark is one of the founders and organizers. Mark also co-hosts, with Bob Goyetche, an excellent show by and for podcasters called The Canadian Podcast Buffet . While I was at Podcasters Across Borders, I grabbed Mark for an interview about his upcoming gig at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention , which takes place in July in Chicago, IL. Mark's talk is entitled "How I Learned About Amazing Jewish Books Through Social Media." As we chatted, he posed a question for listeners: what are your concerns about the visibility of Jewish books, especially books for children? Please share your thoughts with Mark at markblevis@gmail.com or post a comment here at The Book of Life. CREDITS:...

Whew. I'm back from my first Podcasters Across Borders (aka PAB) conference in Kingston, Ontario, and I am just completely blown away. I'd been listening to podcasts of the conference sessions for the past several years on the Canadian Podcast Buffet , a show by and for podcasters, so I knew there would be high quality content. What I didn't expect was how moving the experience would be. The opening keynote was by Jowi Taylor, creator of the Six String Nation guitar . This guitar was constructed of 64 pieces (wood and other materials) representing all different regions and peoples of Canada. The idea is to bring Canadians together to bond with eachother and to contemplate Canadian identity. It's a beautiful piece of usable art, and it's a wonderful vehicle for sharing history and storytelling... as well as music! Jowi is a Peabody Award winning writer and broadcaster, and he really touched us when he shared stories of the guitar's source materials and th...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Interviews from the show floor at Book Expo America 2009 . In the spotlight: Jewish presses. Gefen Jewish Publication Society Kar-Ben Publishing Union for Reform Judaism 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 fan page: click here Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

Author Pamela Ehrenberg is not afraid to tackle big topics. Her first book, Ethan, Suspended , explored issues of race relations (see our February 2008 podcast for a discussion of Ethan, Suspended ). Her new book, Tillmon County Fire , examines the many forms that prejudice can take, using the voices of teens who are gay, Jewish, adopted, autistic, abused, or marginalized in other ways. Amazingly, Pam's books are far from preachy. They are compellingly readable, and her characters are very real people. They are brave books, and I highly recommend that you read them. To learn more about Tillmon County Fire , check out the stops on Pam's Blog Tour at pamelaehrenberg.com !

Congratulations to Book of Life Facebook fan Rick Sternberg of Pittsburgh, PA, who has won our book giveaway (held in celebration of reaching 150 Facebook fans). Rick works at the Community Day School in Pittsburgh and will be donating the book to the school library. We'll hold another drawing when we reach 200 Facebook fans, so if you haven't become a fan yet, do it now! Rick will be receiving a copy of The Disappearing Dowry: An Ezra Melamed Mystery by Libi Astaire (Zahav Press). I very much enjoyed this historical novel. When I first heard that it was written "in the style of Jane Austen" I admit I was worried: books written in a famous author's style have so much to live up to and can easily fall short. However, this book feels like a loving tribute to Austen rather than a cheap imitation, and avoids becoming an Austen remake by embracing the "cozy" mystery genre as well. What really sets the book apart is its portrayal of Jewish life in 19th ...

The Kidlitosphere (blogs and podcasts about Children's Literature and Literacy) is filled with interviews of children's literature creators and children's literacy promoters. You can find many of these interviews indexed at the Kidlit Interview Wiki , and this list now includes interviews from The Book of Life. The Kidlit Interview Wiki provides links to interviews with children's authors, illustrators, and literacy promoters. A separate but related wiki, Children's Book Reviews , provides links to blogs and podcasts that review literature for kids. For general information about the "kidlitosphere," visit the website Kidlitosphere Central , where you'll find a wealth of resources, including links to many blogs and podcasts.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK       🕮    Lily Koppel's book The Red Leather Diary combines the writings of a Jewish teenager named Florence Wolfson with the memories of the same woman at the age of 90. In Part One of The Book of Life's Red Leather Diary series, we heard the Spring 2009 talk Lily gave at Aston Gardens Senior Living center in Parkland, Florida. Now, in Part Two, we speak directly with Lily about her book. Follow Lily on Twitter . 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 fan page: click here Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Lily Koppel's book The Red Leather Diary combines the writings of a Jewish teenager named Florence Wolfson with the memories of the same woman at the age of 90. Lily explains how she found, first the diary, and then Florence herself, in a Spring 2009 talk she gave at Aston Gardens Senior Living center in Parkland, Florida, sponsored by the Parkland Library and the Anne Slater Memorial Fund. This podcast is Part One and is a recording of Lily's presentation before a large audience. In Part Two you will hear a one-on-one interview with Lily Koppel. 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 fan page: click here Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

I will be attending Book Expo America , May 29-31, 2009 New York, NY to record material for The Book of Life podcast and to promote the Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children's & teen literature. If YOU will be at Book Expo too, drop me a line at bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com

The Book of Life Facebook fan page , in the few short weeks of its existence, has already picked up over 100 fans. I am getting a huge kick out of this, because for the first time I can see the faces of the show's listeners! It feels much more personal than receiving comments on the blog. When we hit #100 I was very excited, and I posted the question (on Facebook) of how we should celebrate. Several people commented, suggesting that we do a giveaway. You want it? You got it! When we reach the next milestone, 150 Facebook fans, we'll enter all 150 fans into a drawing for a book giveaway. Maybe we'll do this for every milestone of 50, having drawings at 200, 250, and so on. Let me know if you think this is a good idea by posting a comment. For the 150 drawing, our prize will be a brand new book that I haven't read yet but I predict will be fun: The Disappearing Dowry, an Ezra Melamed Mystery by Libi Astaire from Zahav Press. I've read the sample pages available...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    As you know, the usual focus of The Book of Life is Judaica. Today we focus not on Jewish content, but on a mitzvah, a good deed, in which The Book of Life is participating. It's the Bridget Zinn Auction . The Bridget Zinn Auction is a fundraiser for a fellow kidlit librarian/author who has cancer (learn more about her at bridgetzinn.com ). The Book of Life has donated an audio interview to the auction, a great publicity opportunity for authors, bloggers, and others with a project to share. Our usual restriction to Jewish content will be waived for this interview, so feel free to bid even if you are not involved in Judaica. Please bid on all items at bridgetzinnauction.wordpress.com by May 31, 2009. In today's podcast, we interview Jone MacCulloch, the organizer of the Bridget Zinn Auction. She was also the organizer of the 2008 Kidlit Bloggers Conference in Portland, OR. She blogs her poetry at deowriter.wordpress.co...

I will be attending the Podcasters Across Borders conference for the first time this year, in June in Kingston, Ontario, and I am so excited! I've listened to recordings of past years' conferences and I've always wanted to go. This short audio clip is the "teaser" that I've created about The Book of Life, to give other conference attendees (who are podcasters too) an idea of what my show is like. It's an outtake from my December 2007 interview with author/illustrator Ann Koffsky . I hope it makes sense - please let me know if you think it works as a promo for The Book of Life. I get a big kick out of the bit at the end where we start playing "Jewish geography."

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE ALBUM     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent, Anne Dublin , interviews Montreal musician Orit Shimoni , leader of the band Little Birdie . Orit gives us secular and Jewish-themed songs with a folky/country/rock/alternative flavor on her album Cinematic Way . 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 fan page: click here Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

As if podcasting weren't "Web 2.0" enough already, now I'm getting deeper into social media by offering a Book of Life Facebook fan page and Twitter feed! A shout-out and welcome to those of you who are receiving this post through Facebook right now. Thanks for "fanning" my page! For others who want to know what I'm talking about, click here to see The Book of Life's Facebook fan page, which allows you to receive podcast episodes and news right on your Facebook wall in your feed, and gives you an interactive space to post your comments, or even to post related links, pictures, or videos. You can view the page whether you are a Facebook user or not, but to become a fan and use all the page's features you'll need a Facebook account. I'll be posting Book of Life Twitter updates at twitter.com/bookoflifepod . If you use Twitter, please "Follow" me to stay up to date on Book of Life news. Also, I'm interested in using this T...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    The Passover spoof Moses Is Departing Egypt: A Facebook Haggadah swept the Internet this spring. In this episode of The Book of Life we interview its creator, Carl Elkin, about the Haggadah and about another Facebook project dear to his heart, Yes We Conserve. SPECIAL DEDICATION: I'd like to dedicate this episode to the memory of my father-in-law, Stanley Estrin (z"l). Today is his yahrzeit, plus I know he would have gotten a big kick out of Facebook. CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel . Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK       🕮    Judy Blundell has written over a hundred books under various pen names, but won the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category with her first book in her own name. The book is called What I Saw and How I Lied and it's a noir-inspired mystery and coming of age story set in post WWII Palm Beach. Like real life, the story is complex, multi-layered, and not easy to sum up, but just to give you an idea, it's the story of Evie Spooner, whose stepfather Joe has returned from the war and whisked Evie and her mother off on a spur of the moment vacation to Florida. Their vacation is shadowed by a mysterious and handsome stranger who knew Joe in the army. Bit by bit, Evie starts to uncover the dark connections between the adults in her life. VIDEO: Enjoy Judy Blundell's National Book Award acceptance speech (with introduction by Lemony Snicket!), and h...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK        🕮    Yankee at the Seder by Elka Weber , illustrated by Adam Gustavson , is a picture book about a Yankee Jewish soldier who spends Passover with a Confederate Jewish family. It is historian Elka Weber's first book for children, and it's based on a kernel of true Civil War history. NEWS: If you are on Facebook, you can now receive posts about new Book of Life episodes on your wall by becoming a "Follower" through Networked Blogs at www.networkedblogs.com/blog/the_book_of_life ! CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel . Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Check out the Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band's album Ceilizemer: Shalom Ireland , which was the soundtrack to a documentary of the same name, all about Jewish Life in Ireland. The Freilachmakers provide the background music for each episode of The Book of Life!

If you are on Facebook, you can now receive Book of Life updates through Facebook's Networked Blogs feature! Just go to www.networkedblogs.com/blog/the_book_of_life and click on the big blue "Follow" button. New Book of Life blog posts will be announced on your wall, with links to the full posts at www.bookoflifepodcast.com . Also, I've added a Networked Blogs widget to The Book of Life web page, so you can also sign up from there. When you do, a tiny image of your Facebook profile picture will be added to the widget! My widget's looking half-empty at the moment, so I'd love to have you help me fill it up. If you're a Facebook user, please do sign up to follow The Book of Life through Networked Blogs!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Holocaust survivor Aranka Siegal, author of Upon the Head of the Goat , Grace in the Wilderness , and Memories of Babi , shares some of the memories upon which her award-winning books are based. Click here to read our January 2009 interview with Aranka Siegal from The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour , and listen to the audio here to get a fuller picture of Aranka's life and work. LEARN MORE: Aranka Siegal's website CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel .  Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

OK, normally I would never blog about a fundraiser, especially one I'm not even involved in, but this is such a creative effort that they deserve kudos and maybe even our money! Jbooks.com is a web magazine for Jewish book reviews, news, excerpts, and they have very kindly featured a link to The Book of Life right on their front page for the last several years. Like everyone these days, they are strapped for cash. But instead of kvetching or shnorring they invited Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky (who is Jewish) to literally sing the praises of Jbooks, to inspire would-be donors. Take a look at this very funny video, and if you like what you see, consider making a donation and/or sharing the video by email, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. And if you enjoy Robert Pinsky's performance, catch him in The Colbert Report - he's hilarious!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Sonia Levitin , author of over 40 books for children and teens, has turned her award-winning 1987 novel The Return into a a musical stage play. RETURN chronicles an Ethiopian Jewish girl's walk to freedom in Israel via Operation Moses. After hearing The Book of Life's "Black History Month, Jewish Style" episode , with its feature on the Abayudaya of Uganda, Sonia emailed to tell us about RETURN, and this podcast interview is the result! Scroll down to watch a video of the musical number "Falasha" from the play, RETURN.   CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band . Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel . Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST       Richard Michelson was a May 2007 guest on The Book of Life, talking about his baseball-related story Across the Alley . Now he's won the 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award for his picture book, As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King Jr & Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom , and we've brought him back to t alk about this new title. We also have a repeat appearance by graphologist Arlyn Imberman . She analyzed author handwriting on our September 2008 episode , and returns to talk about the handwriting of King, Heschel, and Michelson. Rabbi Gershom Sizomu , the first black sub-Saharan rabbi, joins us to talk about the Abayudaya people of Uganda, his CD Sing for Joy , and Be'chol Lashon ("In Every Tongue"), an organization that supports the diversity of the Jewish people. CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borro...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    As readers of The Book of Life's blog know, the 2009 winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards were announced a few weeks ago. We participated in the award's Blog Tour by interviewing silver medalist Aranka Siegal , author of Memories of Babi . Now we bring you an audio interview with Kathe Pinchuck, chair of the awards committee, to give you a sneak peak into the inner workings of the Sydney Taylor Book Award . CREDITS: Our background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel . Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

Memories of Babi has been recognized by the Association of Jewish Libraries as a 2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category. As part of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour , The Book of Life is proud to introduce you to author Aranka Siegal and to share a little of her "backstory." Learn more about Aranka at ArankaSiegal.com . Aranka, all of your books are autobiographical. What motivates you to share your life story with readers? The reason for my writing autobiographically is because I attribute a great deal of my survival to my early years. I want to share lessons instilled in me by my resourceful mother, Rise. She had managed to put food on the table for her many children against all odds. She made it her mission to keep her family alive and together, sometimes risking her life to accomplish this. She used the black market to bring home a sack of flour to bake bread, potatoes, a basket of vegetables and some bones to make the daily pot of soup...

I am scheduled to post an interview with Aranka Siegal ( Memories of Babi ) today as part of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour - but I haven't heard back from her yet! She joined the tour at the last minute and warned me that she had a busy weekend, so I've just got to be patient. As soon as I hear from her, the interview will be posted here. Thanks for your patience! In the meantime, here's the book's description from the publisher, FSG: Piri is a city girl, but every year she goes to visit her grandmother Babi on her farm in the Ukrainian village of Komjaty. There is a lot that Piri finds strange, even scary, in Komjaty, such as the ghost in the form of a rooster who supposedly haunts the cemetery! But Piri loves country life: making corn bread, eating plums right off the tree, venturing out with her grandmother in the early morning to hunt for mushrooms. And during her time with Babi, Piri learns lessons that will stay with her all of her life, about the...

I am pleased to announce that The Book of Life has joined the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! On Sunday, January 18, 2009, I will be posting an interview with Aranka Siegal , author of Memories of Babi , a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category. I really enjoyed this book, which has an old-fashioned flavor but remains accessible to modern children. Here's the publisher's description:  Piri is a city girl, but every year she goes to visit her grandmother Babi on her farm in the Ukrainian village of Komjaty. There is a lot that Piri finds strange, even scary, in Komjaty, such as the ghost in the form of a rooster who supposedly haunts the cemetery! But Piri loves country life: making corn bread, eating plums right off the tree, venturing out with her grandmother in the early morning to hunt for mushrooms. And during her time with Babi, Piri learns lessons that will stay with her all of her life, about the importance of honest hard work, of carin...

Two additional stops have been added to the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Valerie Zenatti , author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea , will appear at Lori Calabrese Writes on Tuesday, January 20, and Natascia Ugliano , illustrator of Sarah Laughs , will appear on Write for a Reader on Thursday, January 22. Here is a full, updated schedule, with links to more info on each book: Sunday, January 18, 2009 Karen Hesse , author of Brooklyn Bridge Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category at Jewish Books for Children Monday, January 19, 2009 Richard Michelson Author of As Good As Anybody , Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category and Author of A is for Abraham , Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at The Well-Read Child Monday, January 19, 2009 Ron Mazellan , illustrator of A is for Abraham Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at Tales from the Rushmore Kid Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Va...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award, the annual prize for Jewish children's and teen literature, will be celebrating and showcasing its 2009 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour! Here is the preliminary schedule: Sunday, January 18, 2009 Karen Hesse , author of Brooklyn Bridge Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category at Jewish Books for Children Monday, January 19, 2009 Richard Michelson Author of As Good As Anybody , Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category and Author of A is for Abraham , Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at The Well-Read Child Monday, January 19, 2009 Ron Mazellan , illustrator of A is for Abraham Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at Tales from the Rushmore Kid Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Jane Yolen , author of Naming Liberty Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category at The Boston Bibliophile Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Anna Levine Au...