The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK       🕮    Tova Mirvis is well known as the author of Jewish novels The Ladies Auxiliary and The Outside World .  Her newest book, Visible City , is much less obviously Jewish, but offers a fascinating look at incidentally Jewish characters seeing each other and being seen in superficial and deep ways. Tova was moved to write the story through her longing for the big city after moving to a more suburban setting. 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 PODCASTS:  ONE   |  TWO   |  THREE   |  FOUR     🕮    Book Expo America 2014 yielded up some great interviews for The Book of Life. Since I've got a big backlog of episodes waiting to be published, I decided to publish the remaining four Book Expo episodes in one go. Take a virtual visit to the show floor with this series of interviews with the authors and publishers of Jewish books for kids, teens and adults. The episodes you'll hear are: Presses with Alliterative Names Eva Wiseman Good ole Lerner/Kar-Ben! The Pat Boone Fan Club 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...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Sylvia Rouss , Mira Reisberg , Joni Sussman and Ann Stampler spoke at the 2014 Association of Jewish Libraries conference on a panel responding to the Pew study "A Portrait of Jewish Americans" - and it all boils down to diversity. Today, January 27, 2015, is Multicultural Children's Book Day . It seems like good timing to share some thoughts on diversity within Jewish children's literature. SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS! Submit to Kar-Ben Publishing Submit to Apple & Honey Press Submit to Hummingbird Literary (Use subject line: Jewish submission via Heidi's Podcast) BONUS ARTICLE: MIRRORS & WINDOWS: Here is the first in a 2-part series of articles I wrote about diversity in children's literature for EBSCO's NoveList. This article focuses on race, while the second article will focus on other forms of diversity (including religion). While these articles are not specifically Jewish, I thought yo...

READ PRESS RELEASE     🕮    I am thrilled to share with the you winners of the 2015 Sydney Taylor Book Awards for Jewish children's and teen literature! A blog tour will feature interviews with gold and silver medalists, February 8-13, 2015 - watch the AJL blog for details. The gold medalists will be presented with their awards at the 50th annual conference of the Association of Jewish Libraries in Washington DC this June. Mazel tov to all the authors and illustrators and their publishers! If you haven't tried it yet, take the Sydney Taylor Buzzfeed Quiz "Which All-of-a-Kind Family Sibling Are You?" Awards committee member Elissa Gershowitz and her Horn Book colleague Shoshana Flax were instrumental in creating the quiz!   THE 2015 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:   My Grandfather’s Coat by  Jim Aylesworth with illustrations...

TAKE THE QUIZ      🕮    The Association of Jewish Libraries has teamed up with The Horn Book and Lizzie Skurnick Books to create a fun Buzzfeed quiz, "Which All-of-a-Kind Family Sibling Are You?" All-of-a-Kind Family is a classic of Jewish-American literature, the first book in a series about five sisters growing up on the Lower East Side at the turn of the last century. The character of Sarah in the books represented the author herself, Sydney Taylor. In memory of Taylor's literary achievement, the Association of Jewish Libraries presents the annual Sydney Taylor Book Awards to the best in Jewish children's literature. The 2015 winners will be announced in a matter of weeks, as of this writing! The quiz is very entertaining, and a fun way to share your excitement about the upcoming award announcements! Take the quiz here , and share your results on social media! (Full disclosure: I got Ella!)

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    An interview with Laurel Snyder and Catia Chen , author and illustrator of The Longest Night , an award-winning picture book that retells the story of the Exodus from a child's point of view. I sat down to interview them during the 2014 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Las Vegas, NV, where they received the 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category. The 2015 Sydney Taylor Book Awards will be announced later this month! AUTOGRAPHS!   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   Top photo: Laurel & Catia Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.c...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Among her many novels, Donna Jo Napoli has written a number of teen books of Jewish interest, including Stones in Water (winner of the 1998 Sydney Taylor Book Award) and its sequel Fire in the Hills , The King of Mulberry Street (a 2006 Sydney Taylor Honor Book), and Daughter of Venice . I interviewed her about her new novel STORM . It's an exciting and absorbing teen/adult crossover novel that takes place on Noah's Ark from the point of view of a young stowaway. 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.

VIEW HANUKKAH BOOKLIST     🕮    Over at "People of the Books" (the blog of the Association of Jewish Libraries), they've posted a list of recommended Hanukkah books for children .  NEW BOOKS There are brand new books listed, like one I'm especially excited about: Honeyky Hanukkah by Woody Guthrie, illustrated by Dave Horowitz, and accompanied by a Klezmatics CD. I interviewed Nora Gurthrie in 2006 about the Klezmatics CD Happy Joyous Hanukkah based on Woody's work, and I interviewed Dave Horowitz in 2007 about his hilarious picture book Five Little Gefiltes . I'm thrilled to see them come together to create this new picture book! OLD BOOKS The AJL post also lists Hanukkah-themed books that have been recognized by the Sydney Taylor Book Award as gold or silver medalists or with a Notable Book designation. The Sydney Taylor Book Award has been in business since 1968, so there have been quite a few Hanukkah-related winners over the ye...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    In honor of Veteran's Day and to show our appreciation for those who strive to keep us safe, let's hear this interview with author Neal Bascomb about The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi . The young adult book, which was based on Bascomb's adult title Hunting Eichman , won the 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Teen Readers Category. 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   Photo: Neal Bascomb at the 2014 Association of Jewish Libraries Conference Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY GOTTIKA / SHIMMY SHAMBONE      🕮    At the  Seminar on Jewish Story 2014 , not only the presenters were authors. I met a few writers in the audience too, and interviewed them during the lunch break. Here are my interviews with authors Helaine Becker and Yael Zoldan . These two authors represent the breadth of what can a Jewish children's book can be. Helaine has recently come out with Gottika , a universal fantasy novel with Jewish roots (think Golem), and Yael's new picture book is Shimmy Shambone Will Not Take a Bath , a story written for an Orthodox audience but with a protagonist any child can relate to. 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: @bookof...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    At Book Expo 2014 in NYC, I interviewed a wide range of publishers about their forthcoming Jewish titles. Hear my chats with reps from: Charlesbridge: Rabbi Benjamin's Buttons by Alice McGinty Image Comics: Noah by Darren Aronofsky Dundurn: Fields of Exile by Dr. Nora Gold , and Stealing Time by Anne Dublin 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   Photo: Donna Spurlock of Charlesbridge 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     🕮    At Book Expo 2014 I met with author Jacqueline Jules and illustrator Durga Yael Bernhard , creators of the picture book Never Say a Mean Word Again . The story takes place in medieval Spain in the Muslim city of Granada and was inspired by a legend about how the Jewish royal advisor Samuel Ha-Nagid "tore out" a man's angry tongue and gave him a kind one instead. It is a powerful story of conflict resolution, as relevant today as it was centuries ago, and very timely for the High Holidays. 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   Photo: Jacqueline Jules & Durga Yael Bernhard Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepo...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Sally Wiener Grotta stopped by Congregation B'nai Israel right before a heavy storm, to talk with me about her novel Jo Joe . It's the story of a mixed-race Jewish woman with deep prejudices about the Pennsylvania town where she grew up, and to which she has now returned. 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 June Jewish Book Carnival is being hosted at the Write Kids' Books! blog by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod. The Jewish Book Carnival, created by the Association of Jewish Libraries, is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. You'll find links to Jewish book news, book reviews, author interviews and more.  Check out the June Jewish Book Carnival here: <!--[if gte mso 9]> http://blog.writekidsbooks.org/2014/06/carnival-of-jewish-books.html The July  Carnival will be hosted by Susan Curtis at Susan’s Literary Café.  To participate, please submit links from your own blog to susansliterarycafe@gmail.com by July 13, 2014.  

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Judy Petsonk visited my temple, Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton, to talk about her historical novel, Queen of the Jews . It's the story of Queen Shalom-Zion, a descendent of the Maccabees, who was a real person. Along with her well-received talk for the temple, I got to sit down with Judy for a one-on-one. Enjoy!   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.

I will be attending BookExpo America this year and I'm very excited! As in past years, I'll be recording interviews for The Book of Life , and I'll be talking to publishers about the Sydney Taylor Book Award (I'm past chair of the award committee, so I like to promote it whenever I can). Here's a message from the current awards chair, Diane Rauchwerger, for all you publishers out there: Entries are now being considered for the 2015 Sydney Taylor Award, which recognizes the best children's literature of Jewish content. We would like to invite you to submit any children's books with a 2014 copyright that meets the criteria below. In order to be considered, a review copy must be sent to each of the nine members of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee. No application form is necessary; simply mail the books to each member in a package labeled "Sydney Taylor Book Award Submission." The awards will be announced in January, 2015. To e...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    VISIT THE INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE     🕮    Author Debra Winegarten and oral historian Josh Parshall of the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life talk about the Jewish experience of living in Texas, recorded in Houston, TX at the 2013 Association of Jewish Libraries conference.  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   Photos: Debra Winegarten and Heidi Estrin Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Karen Propp discusses her work in progress, Freestyle , a story of Jewish female swimming champs in Europe during WWII. The unpublished work won the 2013 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries.  Freestyle is based on the true story of champion swimmer Judith Deutsch and the Viennese Hakoah swim team of the 1930s, familiar to some from the documentary film  Watermarks . Despite being selected by Austria to swim in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Deutsch and her teammates boycotted the Olympics to protest the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The novel covers two years in the life of Elly Hirsch,  Propp’s fictional incarnation of Deutsch. The Award committee felt that Freestyle with its strong sense of history, sympathetic characters, and little known story, would appeal to a wide audience and epitomize the ideals of Sydney Taylor’s All of a Kind Family series. Fr...