The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Connie Crosby is a law librarian in Toronto, Canada. She was one of the very interesting people I met this summer at Podcasters Across Borders , a conference by and for podcasters. This is the first of three Podcasters Across Borders episodes you'll be hearing on The Book of Life. Connie gave a presentation on The ShanachieTour , a library roadtrip around the world. It was very exciting to me, as a fellow podcaster and librarian, to hear Connie talk about the inspirational storytelling of The Shanachies, so I asked her to describe her presentation for us in this brief interview. Connie is currently working on a professional guide book for Neal-Schuman, Effective Blogging for Libraries . To help her gather information about blogging in the library world, please take her survey . CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Librari...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is Oct. 4-10, 2009, so this is the perfect time to post my interview with Ann Gonzalez , author of Running For My Life . Ann talks about her mother's mental illness, her own PTSD, and her writing. Ann put in the winning bid for a Book of Life interview in the Bridget Zinn Auction earlier this year, which raised money to assist librarian/author Bridget Zinn with her cancer treatments. While Running for My Life is not a book of Jewish content, it's a topic that's pertinent to everyone and I believe that Ann has done a mitzvah by bringing making this subject matter accessible to young readers. 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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Tw...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY REBECCA DOLL    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    When I first attempted to post this interview, the audio got cut off halfway through. Here, with my apologies, is the full episode. Jacqueline Dembar Greene talks about the Rebecca Rubin character she created for the American Girl series ( click here for the books, the dolls, and the accessories, and click here for Rebecca games!), and about her High Holidays picture book The Secret Shofar of Barcelona , illustrated by Doug Chayka.   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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

I must apologize and ask for Rosh Hashanah forgiveness from my listeners, and especially beg the pardon of Jacqueline Dembar Greene, because I've just found that the end of our interview was cut off. This happened with another recent interview, so I'll have to check into the technical side of things here at The Book of Life. I'm hoping that the original interview might still be on my digital voice recorder so that I can reconstruct this episode. However, the recorder is at work and I am at home, so I won't be able to let you know until next week. In the meantime, let me say that The Secret Shofar of Barcelona (which you didn't get to hear about in the interview as it currently stands) is a terrific book and I highly recommend it!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    An interview with Jacqueline Dembar Greene , author of the American Girl series on Rebecca Rubin ( click here for the books, the dolls, and the accessories, and click here for Rebecca games!), and the High Holidays picture book The Secret Shofar of Barcelona , illustrated by Doug Chayka. 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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    VISIT FORWORDS BOOKS     🕮    ForWords, Kathy Bloomfield's beloved Jewish book fair company, relaunches in a new format on 09/09/09! We've missed Kathy! Here she is to tell us about the new ForWordsBooks.com ! 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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

The inimitable QN Podcast (formerly "Quirky Nomads") put out a call for librarians to share their thoughts on their lives' work. I answered that call, and my voice is one of the "5 Voices" on the new librarian-centric episode of QN! Thanks to Sage Tyrtle for the invitation and for the terrific editing. I love the way she's woven the different voices together into a sort of group story. Click here to listen to Librarian: 5 Voices . ( Sadly, no longer available.)

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK      🕮    When I uploaded my interview with April Halprin Wayland, author of New Year at the Pier, I didn't realize that the end of the interview had been cut off! Here is the complete interview, with my apologies (appropriate for a High Holidays epsiode, eh?). Other interviews with April can be found on Just One More Book (audio podcast), Barbara Bietz's Blog (text) and Cynsations (text). Just One More Book's audio review of New Year at the Pier may be found here .  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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Author April Halprin Wayland talks about her Rosh Hashanah picture book, New Year at the Pier , and about some of her other writing projects. Other interviews with April can be found on Just One More Book (audio podcast), Barbara Bietz's Blog (text) and Cynsations (text). Just One More Book's audio review of New Year at the Pier may be found here . UPCOMING: On the auspicious date of 09/09/09, ForWords is holding its grand re-opening! Watch for a podcast interview with founder Kathy Bloomfield to be released here at The Book of Life on that date, and be sure to visit www.forwordsbooks.com ! 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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Why be social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Here are the earlier segments: Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 . This is Why Be Social, Part 4. In this episode, blogger and podcaster Mark Blevis, the one who started this entire conversation, joins Heidi to talk about what it means to participate in life online. Scroll down for links to Mark's many online projects and for links to some non -Jewish social media sources I want you to know about (you'll hear why on the show). ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Here's Part 1 and Part 2 . This is Why Be Social, Part 3. I hope the earlier episodes in this series have gotten you interested checking out some real live blogs and podcasts. There are zillions of blog and podcast websites online, so where do you get started? Here with some suggestions of blogs and podcasts relating to Jewish literature is Alx Block , Online Sales and Marketing Manager for the Jewish Publication Soci...

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Click here for Part 1 . This is Why Be Social, Part 2. The morning after the social media session at the convention, I conducted some quick "man on the street" interviews, asking people for their own definitions of blogging and podcasting. Every single person had a good answer! VIDEO: Here are two videos from Common Craft that give additional definitions of blogging and podcasting: "Blogs in Plain English" an...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Part 1 in the Why Be Social series considers the philosophical aspects of technology in our lives. The wide-ranging conversation was held during breakfast at the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention, the morning after the social media convention session. The very funny video above (in Norwegian! but with English subtitles) reminds us of how difficult an unfamiliar technology can seem at first, and how s...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    The final installment of interviews with publishers and authors from the show floor at Book Expo America 2009 . This episode highlights Jewish books for kids and teens. Guardian Angel House by Kathy Clark from Second Story Press The White Space Between by Ami Sands Brodoff from Second Story Press Tell Me a Story, Tell Me the Truth by Gina Roitman from Second Story Press Shavua Tov by Michelle Abraham, illustrated by Ann Koffsky from URJ Press Baxter the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher by Laurel Snyder from Tricycle Press Hanukkah Lights by David Martin from Candlewick The House on the Roof by David Adler (being reprinted!) from Holiday House The Importance of Wings by Robin Friedman from Charlesbridge The Mysteries of Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin from Charlesbridge How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Repution by Simone Elkeles from Flux The Tushy Book by Fran Manushkin from Feiwel and Friends The Rabbi and...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    More interviews from Book Expo America 2009 , this time with authors who've written Jewish books for adults. Plus, we find the Jewish angle on the National Book Award and the Books on the Nightstand blog and podcast. Yiddish Yoga by Lisa Grunberger Harold Augenbraum of the National Book Foundation What Happened to Anna K? by Irina Reyn Ostrich Feathers by Miriam Romm From Shmear to Eternity by Fred Kogos Michael Kindness of Books on the Nightstand 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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    In these interviews from the show floor at Book Expo America 2009 , we ask publishers to tell us about their new Jewish interest books for adults. Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection by Shana Liebman from Grand Central Publishing Sipping from the Nile: My Exodus from Egypt by Jean Naggar from Stony Creek Press The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb from W.W. Norton All Other Nights: A Novel by Dara Horn from W.W. Norton The Jerusalem File by Joel Stone from Europa Editions One Step Ahead of Hitler: A Jewish Child's Journey Through France by Fred Gross from Mercer University Press Elie Wiesel: A Religious Biography by Frederick Downing from Mercer University Press Struggling with God: An Introduction to the Pentateuch (Mercer Student Guide) by Mark McEntire from Mercer University Press The Hebrew Tutor of Bel Air by Allan Appel from Coffee House Press German for Traveler...

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 ...