The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Sarah Darer Littman's novel Life, After , was a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book for teens. Sarah was a guest on the show in 2006 when her debut novel Confessions of a Closet Catholic won the Sydney Taylor Book Award, and it was great to meet up with her again. Her novels are always brave, taking on subjects that others might fear to talk about. 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 .   Picture: Sarah Darer Littman (center) with librarians Etta Gold and Heidi Estrin at the 2011 AJL Convention, wher...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Wherever You Go is a finely interwoven novel of three American lives and the unexpected ways they touch each other in the landscape of Israel. I recorded this interview with author Joan Leegant when she visited Boca Raton, Florida for a Jewish Book Network event at the Levis JCC. For more information about the book, visit Joan's website at  www.joanleegant.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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473 .

This post is written for Round 7 of Library Day in the Life , a project started by librarian blogger Bobbi Newman at LibrarianByDay.net . Librarians across the world explain what they do (it's not just sitting around and reading!).To see a list of the 200+ participants (of which I am Number 69), visit http://librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com/w/page/42017739/Roun . I am the librarian and computer teacher at Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida, where I work with the synagogue's preschool and religious school. During the school year, a typical "day in the life" includes teaching up to ten preschool classes in a row, performing storytimes or conducting lessons on computer skills. Later in the day, this may be followed by a visit with religious school classes, using the power of story to connect them with their Jewish heritage. When no students are in the room, I am typically doing lesson planning, maintaining the library's 7000+ volume collection, and...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Author Ann Koffsky talks about her newest picture book, Noah's Swim-a-thon , about lifeguarding at camp, and about the nutty things adults say to get kids to put their faces in the water. 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.

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts. The posts are hosted on one of the participant’s sites on the 15th of each month. For the month of June, 2011, our host is Erika Dreifus at My Machberet (Hebrew for "notebook"). She's got a great round-up of posts from all over the blogosphere. You'll find author interviews, book reviews, suggested reading lists, reflections on Jewish Book Network experiences, and various Shavuot-themed posts. Visit My Machberet for the June Jewish Book Carnival! Enjoy, and please leave comments for the bloggers - they love feedback!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    A double dip of interviews with Rona Arato , author of Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall & Matzo Ball Emporium : Heidi interviews Rona at Book Expo America The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews Rona at home in Toronto 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     🕮    Cuban-American, half-Jewish author Margarita Engle won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Teen Reader category for Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba . It's a free verse novel in several voices, about a Jewish teen who escapes Europe during World War II and flees to Cuba - but will Cuba take him in? I had the honor of interviewing Margarita at the 2010 Association of Jewish Libraries convention, where she received her award. She is no stranger to awards, having won the Pura Belpre Medal several times for her depiction of Latino culture, among other prizes. 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 feedb...

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts. The posts are hosted on one of the participant’s sites on the 15th of each month. For April 2011, our host is the Jewish Book Council blog at http://jewishbooks.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/jewish-book-carnival-april . There you will find links to Jewish book reviews, author interviews, and other booky Jewishy goodness (including a link back to The Book of Life's interview with Ann Redisch Stampler on The Rooster Prince of Breslov ).

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Author Lesley Simpson offered to interview herself, and I couldn't pass that up! She talks about Yuvi's Candy Tree (Kar-Ben, 2011), a picture book on Ethiopian Jews fleeing to Israel based on the true story of Yuvi Tashome. With its strong Exodus themes, it makes a great tie-in to Passover; it's also a universal immigration story and a good illustration of the diversity of the Jewish family. 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     🕮    I bumped into Ann Redisch Stampler at Book Expo 2010. Ann is the author of the Jewish folktale picture book The Rooster Prince of Breslov , which (a while after our interview) was named winner of the National Jewish Book Award 's 2010 Louis Posner Memorial Award for illustrated children's books. It was also named a 2011 Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee. Ann was a guest on The Book of Life in 2007 when she won the Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Shlemazel and the Remarkable Spoon of Pohost . 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 bookoflifepo...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    One of the many interesting people I met at last year's Book Expo America was Carol de Giere, author of a biography of Jewish superstar composer Stephen Schwartz. Her book is entitled Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked . Carol shared interesting tidbits about her time backstage on Wicked and about the Jewish influences on Schwartz's work. Check out her website at caroldegiere.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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Jaime Zollars is the illustrator for the 2010 reissue of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin . This title was named a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries . In celebration of this honor, AJL is sponsoring a Blog Tour with all gold and silver medalists. Today I am so pleased to participate in the blog tour and have Jaime Zollars here on The Book of Life! Welcome, Jaime! Cakes and Miracles was originally publ ished in 1991 with illustrations by Erika Weihs. Did you refer to the original illustrations in any way as you worked on this book, or did you start completely fresh? How was re-illustrating an old book different from illustrating a new book? I started completely fresh on this title. My first instinct was to look at the original book first, but then I decided that it would only limit my thinking if I peeked too early in the process. Once I had my sketches in, I did order the book to see how it was first illustrated. Fo...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I still have a number of interviews from Book Expo America 2010 in the queue, but I decided to post the interview with Debbie Levy today because it is her birthday! Thanks to Facebook for letting me know. Happy Birthday, Debbie! I met Debbie Levy and her mother Jutta at Book Expo America 2010, where we sat down in the cafe for an interview. Debbie is the author and Jutta is the subject of The Year of Goodbyes: A True Story of Friendship, Family and Farewells , based on Jutta's poesiealbum from the 1940's. A poesiealbum is a poetry album or autograph album, in which friends write each other little notes and poems. Debbie was touched by the writings of her mother as a young girl, and her mother's friends. To encourage readers to experience the poesiealbum tradition, she has created a participatory blog where people can submit their own entries to an online poesiealbum at ...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2011 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 6-11, 2011! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a wide variety of Jewish, kidlit, and family-interest 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 2011 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 plenty of comments! The Book of Life will be participating on Tuesday, February 8, hosting an interview with Jaime Zollars, illustrator of the Sydney Taylor Honor Book Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin. For the full list of this year...

Here is a press release from the Association of Jewish Libraries about the newest winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award! Please note that The Book of Life has an interview with Barry Deutsch, winner in the Older Readers Category for Hereville , posted below. Interviews with some of the other recognized authors were recorded in 2010 and are in the queue to be released on the podcast in the coming year. ~~~ Howard Schwartz and Kristina Swarner , author and illustrator of Gathering Sparks , Barry Deutsch , author and illustrator of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword , and Dana Reinhardt , author of The Things a Brother Knows are the 2011 winners of the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award. The Sydney Taylor Book Award honors new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series. The winners will receive their ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I met Barry Deutsch , author of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword , at Miami Book Fair International in November, 2010. Hereville is the 2011 winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers Category, the first graphic novel ever to win this prestigious literary prize. 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.

The December Jewish Book Carnival is hosted by Erika Dreifus at her blog, My Machbere t. It's a round-up of links from a wide variety of Jewish book blogs. You'll hear from authors and librarians, find essays and book reviews, and you'll even see a submission from The Book of Life! Please check it out, and don't forget to leave comments at the blogs you visit!

Library Snapshot Day 2010 The People of the Book really do love libraries! In November 2010, during Jewish Book Month, 30 Jewish libraries participated in Library Snapshot Day. The event, sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries, was created to let all types of Judaic libraries record what happens in a day in the life of a library. Across North America, libraries in synagogues, day schools, community centers and universities picked one day during the first two weeks of November to hold the event. Collectively, participating libraries served 3,548 patrons on Library Snapshot Day. The Activities From Jewish hubs like Chicago, IL to smaller Jewish communities like Tulsa, OK, from sunny Miami, FL to chilly Montreal, Quebec, Jewish libraries held author visits, study groups, literary and computer quizzes, artist receptions, book discussions, book sales, scavenger hunts, craft projects, parenting programs, charity drives, and children’s story times. Eleven of the participatin...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Sesame Street with its Israeli counterpart Rehov Sumsum . The program was originally produced in the 1980's, and has just been revamped and reissued on DVD. The Chanukah episode, "The Missing Menorah," will be airing on many PBS stations during December, 2010, so check your local listings. This interview with Veronica Wulff, Director of Global Production at Sesame Workshop, gives us some insight into Rehov Sumsum and Shalom Sesame . 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 "Shalom Sesame Theme" used in this episode courtesy of Sesame Workshop (New York, NY) Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-2...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews winners of the 2010 Helen & Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards at the gala ceremony in Toronto. For the full list of 2010 winners, click here . Anne spoke with: Eva Wiseman, author of Puppet (Youth Literature category) Goldie Sigal, author of Stingy Buzi and King Solomon / Der karger Buzi un Shloymeh Hameylekh (Yiddish category) Robin McGrath, author of The Winterhouse (Fiction category) Mystery writer Howard Engel (Special Achievement 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 fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number...

So my friend Laurel Snyder (who was on The Book of Life in August, 2008 , and whose book Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher was mentioned in the BEA09 episode) made the mistake of giving me a soapbox upon which to climb. She's one of the bloggers at From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors, and she wanted to do a piece on Jewish middle-grade books so she emailed me a bunch of questions. Took me all day, but I wrote up some ideas and suggestions, which you can read here at the interview, (Sometimes-Not-So) All-of-a-Kind Families . There's an interesting discussion going in the comments section, too -- feel welcome to join in!

Jonathan Papernick is the author of Who by Fire, Who by Blood and The Ascent of Eli Israel . His new book of short stories is entitled There Is No Other: Stories of Faith, Love and Heartache . Jon kindly agreed to answer some questions for us about his new book. Jon, please give us a brief overview of your book of short stories, There Is No Other . The stories in my new collection are set in Brooklyn, Israel, and Massachusetts and deal with issues of love, faith, relationships and God. Most of the stories deal explicitly with Jewish themes while others deal with the complications of modern relationships. The characters in each of the stories are searching for that other in their life, whether spiritual or physical -- sometimes finding that other, sometimes failing to. The younger characters in my collection tend to struggle with tradition and faith and grapple with Judaism and how to fit it in his traditions of their lives, while the older characters tend to struggle with th...