The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    VISIT THE YIDDISH BOOK CENTER       🕮    The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA rescues Yiddish books and puts them in context to broaden our understanding of modern Jewish identity. This June I visited the Yiddish Book Center, where I spoke to Communications Director Lisa Newman, and to Christa Whitney, director of the center's Wexler Oral History Project . They both offered exciting backstage views of the Yiddish Book Center, and they even helped me clear up an old family linguistic mystery! By the way, here's a link to Lisa's podcast, The Shmooze ; and the address Christa mentions for requesting oral history interviews is yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story.   "VACATION PHOTOS"   NEWS!  NEWS!  NEWS! After 18 amazing years as Judaica librarian at Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, I've taken a new job at PJ Library in Agawam, Massachusetts. I ne...

As many of you have heard, I now work for PJ Library and PJ Our Way! I am very pleased to announce their new initiative, a FREE trip to Israel to inspire authors to write for children about Judaism in general and Israel in particular. If you are an author who writes Jewish kidlit, or if you are a published author who has ever thought about writing Jewish kidlit, check this out. And if you have friends who are authors, please let them know about this opportunity! CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE TRIP!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    In My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew , Abigail Pogrebin takes readers on a journey through every single Jewish holiday ever. As a non-Orthodox Jew, many of these holidays were unfamiliar to her before this; she explains these holidays and finds meaning in them at the same time. Abigail last appeared on The Book of Life in October 2006 , talking about her book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish . I spoke to Abigail by Skype at her home in New York. CREDITS: Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band   Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast  Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 56...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    WATCH THE VIDEO      🕮    The Last Shepherd by Evil Sun Productions is a Hebrew-language indie comedy adventure scifi fantasy film with elements of Jewish mysticism and kabbalah, made in Israel. To summarize, "A geeky programmer and his rebellious co-worker are taken by a mysterious biblical figure on a cross country adventure, trying to stop an ancient evil force, while being chased by government agents."  Back in January 2016, I Skyped with actors Uri Lifshitz and Roni Weissman, writer Gai Bosco, and post production manager Dovi Shraga. Then I sat on the interview, waiting for the film to become available in North America. It hasn't happened yet, but I got tired of waiting. Instead, I'm hoping listeners will be proactive in helping to get the film more widely distributed. If this interview piques your interest, please request that your local Jewish film festival or your...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    In the picture book The Language of Angels: A Story about the Reinvention of Hebrew , author Rich Michelson tells the true story of how an ancient tongue became a modern one.  I met with Rich at R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he displays the art of many illustrators including Karla Gudeon, his partner on Language of Angels .   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   support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife    Photo: Rich Michelson displays Karla Gudeon's art in his gallery Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gm...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    VISIT BEHRMAN HOUSE     🕮    Behrman House has been supporting Jewish education as a bookseller and publisher for almost a century. At the 2017 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in New York City, I met with Vicki Weber to hear all about the history of Behrman House and the many projects in which they are engaged. 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   Support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife Photo: Vicki Weber 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     🕮    Yaffa and Fatima, Shalom, Salaam by Muslim author Fawzia Gilani-Williams takes an old Jewish folktale and turns it into a story of cross-cultural friendship. I spoke to Fawzia by Skype at her home in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Here are a few of the websites and books Fawzia mentioned during our conversation: DiscoverIslam.com 1001inventions.com Find some of Fawzia's own stories at IslamicTimelessTales.com   What Islam Is All About by Yahiya Emerick The Complete Idiot's Guide to Islam by Yahiya Emerick   Islam: Its Meaning and Message by Khurshid Ahmad 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 Support The...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I almost didn't read The Six-Day Hero because I usually don't like war stories. But I'm glad I tried it because once I started, I couldn't put it down.  I also got interested because another podcast guest, Catriella Freedman , had mentioned to me that this book was vetted by the kids of PJ Our Way, and that their feedback affected the final book.  So for several reasons, I was eager to talk to author Tammar Stein . 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   Support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife !   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast...

I'm trying to create a comprehensive list of kidlit (picture book through YA) that showcases diversity within the Jewish community. Here is my working list; if you are aware of additional titles please post a comment or send me an email . I've also created a sortable LibraryThing list , but a few of my titles are missing from their database. I admit that I've approached this an in "Ashkenormative" way by using the label [Sephardic] but not [Ashkenazi]. Let me know if you think I should use both. And let me know if you think I should be using additional labels such as [Mizrahi].  Any opinions on the label [ Latinx ]? Is there anything else that you think I've mislabeled? Are there additional labels you think I should use? FYI, I have not read all of these books and can't vouch for them.  This list is alphabetical by author, with diversity subject headings in brackets after each entry. [Adoption] [Asian] [Asian/Jewish] [Black] [Black/Jewish] [Di...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    VISIT PJ OUR WAY     🕮    PJ Our Way is an initiative of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that gives free chapter books to Jewish families with middle grade readers. It's an outgrowth of PJ Library , which does the same thing with picture books for younger kids. I spoke to PJ Our Way Director Catriella Freedman, who told me all the in's and out's of the program, and explained to me why independent readers can't be treated in quite the same way as the little ones. LIBSYN FYI, The Book of Life's rss feed is now hosted by Libsyn instead of Hipcast, beginning with the "Almost a Minyan" episode on May 16, 2017. If you are not receiving new episodes in your feed, please resubscribe. Click LISTEN to subscribe.   CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries   Theme music: The Fre...

The Jewish Women's Archive blog, Jewesses With Attitude , interviewed me about The Book of Life! They asked me about why I decided to start a podcast dedicated to Jewish literature and arts; why women storytellers have a harder time than men storytellers; and what The Book of Life and JWA’s podcast Can We Talk? have in common. CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Almost a Minyan by Lori S. Kline , illustrated by Susan Simon , is a picture book about a Jewish girl reaching the age where she can help her community pray. The book is traditional and groundbreaking at the same time, depicting an egalitarian, multiracial, observant Jewish community. I spoke to author Lori Kline and publisher Debra Winegarten of Sociosights Press together, by phone at Lori's house in Austin, Texas. Almost a Minyan is the Jewish Women's Archive Children's Book Pick for 2017. Share these discussion questions with the young readers in your life. Thanks to Patreon patrons Jennie Gates Beckman , Leah Berkowitz , Christine Ertl , and April Halprin Wayland , whose donations helped me purchase a new digital voice recorder for podcasting (a Zoom H4N, if you're wondering). Author Suzanne Nelson is still waiting to send you an autographed copy of Serendipity's F...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Even readers without kids will enjoy Marjorie Ingall 's parenting guide, Mamaleh Knows Best : What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise Successful, Creative, Empathetic, Independent Children . It's wise, funny, and universal. It's also the Book of the Month for May 2017 at the Jewish Women's Archive virtual book club . You can find the  discussion questions here  and join the conversation! Marjorie is a columnist at Tablet , an online magazine of Jewish culture and ideas, where I'm especially grateful for her excellent coverage of Jewish kidlit. I also want to draw your attention to Marjorie's blog SorryWatch , where she parses excellent and abysmal (mostly abysmal) apologies. FYI, autographed copies of Serendipity's Footsteps are still available to folks who become patrons of The Book of Life at Patreon . You can pledge as little as $1/month to qualify. ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Kasper Mützenmacher's Cursed Hat by Keith Fentonmiller is a weird and wonderful novel that starts during WWII and takes many a strange detour from there. It's kind of hard to explain, but just trust me and read it, and hold on for a wild ride. The character of Kasper was inspired by Keith's grandfather Dr. Meryl Fenton, whom he called Papa. Here's a picture of Papa, with Keith's father as a little boy on the left, and on the right we see Keith Fentonmiller himself. 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 Support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to...

From April 17-23, 2017, browse and read free excerpts from great books on the Penguin Random House website to trigger book donations to Save the Children . It costs you nothing but a few minutes of your time, which will be spent enjoying kids' and adult titles from a variety of genres. There are a few recognizably Jewish books in the mix: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, Delicious by Ruth Reichl, Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar, Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit, and the classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. And of course, there are plenty of excellent non-Jewish titles to choose from too. No matter what you read, you will be doing a mitzvah by participating! Click here to learn more about the project OR Click here to start reading!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Serendipity's Footsteps by Suzanne Nelson tells the interwoven stories of three girls across time and geography, and how they are connected serendipitously by a special pair of shoes. Suzanne Nelson won a Sydney Taylor Honor Award for the teen novel, and I interviewed her live at the 2016 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Charleston, SC. SPECIAL OFFER : Become a patron of The Book of Life on Patreon.com for as little as $1/month and receive a free autographed copy of Serendipity's Footsteps , while supplies last! Click here to take advantage of this offer! For more fun, check out Suzanne's Pinterest boards for the characters Dalya, Pinny and Ray 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 ...

TAKE THE CHALLENGE      🕮    Writer , National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature , and MacArthur Genius Gene Luen Yang has thrown down an exciting challenge for April: diversify your reading list. As part of the national, month-long program  Reading Without Walls , Yang has called upon readers of all ages to expand the kinds of literature they read. The rules are as follows: If you're a regular at The Book of Life, you probably already read plenty of Jewish books, but even within that genre you can branch out. Read about Jews from another land or in another time, if you're a novel-lover try nonfiction, if you're a grownup read a children's book. If you take up the challenge, please share the news on social media using the hashtag #ReadingWithoutWalls. I'd love to have you comment here at The Book of Life about your reading choices!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The (Unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah is this year's #1 best-selling haggadah on Amazon. It was created with true fandom and great Jewish knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg, who also authored Morality for Muggles: Ethics in the Bible and the World of Harry Potter (as well as a number of Star Trek related articles at Tablet Magazine). I spoke to Rabbi Rosenberg by Skype, which seemed to have a basilisk in its walls - please consider the creepy hiss behind his voice to be part of the mystery and magic. During the interview, we talked about #Trypod, the campaign to get more people to try more podcasts. Rabbi Rosenber's #Trypod recommendation was Nice Jewish Fangirls , a podcast by his own daughter!  And check out my #Trypod recommendations here .  CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by:...