The Book of Life

BUY LETTERS FROM CUBA    |    BUY 37 DAYS AT SEA     🕮    As we approach Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we hear from two authors who have written about the welcome or lack thereof that Jews received in Cuba in the years around World War II. Ruth Behar's Letters from Cuba , based on her family history, was a 2021 Sydney Taylor Notable Book (Middle Grade category). Barbara Krasner's forthcoming 37 Days at Sea: Aboard the MS St. Louis, 1939 , is a poetic take on a historical tragedy, available May 1, 2021.  Let's start with a description of each book, and then we'll dive into questions. Ruth Behar's Letters from Cuba   The situation is getting dire for Jews in Poland on the eve of World War II. Esther’s father has fled to Cuba, and she is the first one to join him. It’s heartbreaking to be separated from her beloved sister, so Esther promises to write down everything that happens until they’re reunited. And she do...

It's National Library Week (with lovely Jewish Honorary Chair, Natalie Portman)! As a librarian, I am always happy to celebrate libraries. Let's take a look back at past podcast episodes and blog posts that focus on libraries, storytimes, or Jewish collections. MONDAY 🕮 Promoting Multicultural Library Services in Virtual Space, 2020, my presentation for ALA  TUESDAY 🕮 Notes from a Young Reader, an interview with 7 3/4-year-old library patron Aria Freudenberger, 2019 WEDNESDAY 🕮 Stand Up! Storytime for Social Justice with Hillary Saxton, 2018 THURSDAY 🕮 Author Antonio Iturbe talks about The Librarian of Auschwitz on the 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour   FRIDAY 🕮 The Yiddish Book Center with Lisa Newman, 2017 

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Linda Elovitz Marshall was excited to get her COVID-19 shot, and back in the day she was glad to be vaccinated for polio too. That gratitude led her to create the picture book biography The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine illustrated by Lisa Anchin, a 2020 Sydney Taylor Notable Book. Listen to our wide-ranging conversation about polio, COVID, writing, Passover, and baby lambs. LEARN MORE: Linda Elovitz Marshall's website Buy The Polio Pioneer at Bookshop.org  Buy The Passover Lamb at Indiebound.org The Salk Institute "Race and the Politics of Polio" in the American Journal of Public Health  Ritualwell and Central Reform Congregation 's COVID blessings CDC information on COVID-19 vaccines CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Ba...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT  PART 1   PART 2    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    My good friend  Susan Kusel has been on the podcast before, to talk about The Sydney Taylor Shmooze ,  and to announce the Sydney Taylor Book Award winners in 2018 and 2019 . She also appeared in Beyond the Holocaust and Holidays , a 2019 episode about the Highlights Foundation's writing symposium, and in the 2020 episode The Mitzvah of Voting: Part 1 .  This time she's here along with illustrator Sean Rubin to talk about their debut picture book, The Passover Guest , an AJL Holiday Highlights book. See below for the list of fine Passover picture books recently recommended by the Association of Jewish Libraries. LEARN MORE:  Susan Kusel's website Sean Rubin's website Buy The Passover Guest at Bookshop.org Sean's work on Redwall AJL Holiday Highlights AJL's 2021 Passover Children's Book Recommendat...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT    |    BUY BOOKS     🕮    Aviva Brown is the author of Ezra's BIG Shabbat Question and Not Now, Mara! These picture books portray Jewish children of color without making a big deal about it, something we don't see often enough in kidlit. Listen to Aviva as she talks about her inspiration, about self publishing, and about winning Mother of the Year Award for the state of North Carolina. LEARN MORE: Aviva Brown's website Mother of the Year Award CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate Your feedback is welcome! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. Sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries, it is hosted by a different blog each month and shares book reviews, author interviews, essays, and other blog posts about Jewish books. Visit the Jewish Book Carnival HQ for the upcoming schedule, past Carnivals, and to learn how to participate!    Here on The Book of Life , I am pleased to share my interview with Rebecca Levitan, chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, about the 2021 award winning titles! The Association of Jewish Libraries organized a Blog Tour for the winners of the 2021 Sydney Taylor Book Award! See the schedule and follow the links to the various interviews. You can also read about the AJL Fiction Award winners for adult literature. On The Sydney Taylor Shmooze , the mock award blog for the Sydney Taylor Book Award, we've got a review of Esther Didn't Dream of Being Queen by Allison Ofanansk...

    The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be showcasing its 2021 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 8-12, 2021! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. Interviews will appear on the dates below, and will remain available to read at your own convenience. Below is the schedule for the 2021 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 them plenty of comments! MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021  Lesléa Newman and Susan Gal , author and illustrator of Welcoming Elijah Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Picture Book Category at A Fuse #8 Production at School Library Journal Sofiya Pasternack , author of Anya and the Nightingale Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Middle Grade Category at 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal   TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021 M. Evan Wolkenstein , author of Turtle Boy Sydney Taylor B...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT       🕮    Rebecca Levitan is the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She joined us to discuss the 2021 winners of the award, which annually recognizes the best Jewish literature for children and teens.  AJL is an affiliate of the American Library Association, so the Sydney Taylor Book Awards are announced at ALA's Youth Media Awards press conference, being held virtually this year on January 25, 2021. You can watch a recording of the announcement on ALA's YouTube channel . Here's the official 2021 Sydney Taylor Book Award press release and the printable list of winners, honors, and notable books . The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour will take place February 8-12, 2021. Details will appear soon at JewishLibraries.org . We also spoke about AJL's Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award . The 2021 winner is Cat...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT    |    VOTE FOR MOCK AWARDS (goes live 1/4/21)     🕮    The Sydney Taylor Shmooze is a mock award blog created in Spring 2020 by Susan Kusel, Chava Pinchuck, and me, in order to encourage discussion of Jewish children's and teen literature eligible for the Sydney Taylor Book Award. In this podcast episode, Susan and Chava join me to talk about how it's going and about how YOU can vote for the mock awards. We also get some advice from other mock award bloggers from Calling Caldecott, Guessing Geisel, and Heavy Medal.   We've got a bonus episode for you too! Hear the full conversation with Julie Danielson from Calling Caldecott, Amy Seto Forrester from Guessing Geisel, and Steven Engelfried from Heavy Medal. Beyond the talk of "mocks," each of them shared favorite secular and Jewish books of the year! LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE T...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    In December 2020, the world received a wondrous Hanukkah gift: Daveed Diggs’ Puppy for Hanukkah video. I see Puppy for Hanukkah as an excellent model to follow for people who are seeking to create Jewish content for children. This is a podcast about kidlit, so in particular, I’d like to see this model applied to books. What does Puppy for Hanukkah do right, that can also be done by authors, illustrators, editors, designers, and publishers of Jewish children’s books? The most obvious element is Jewish diversity. Front and center are three adorable child actors, all people of color. It’s very refreshing to see Jewish characters of color at the center of a narrative instead of tokenistically included in a crowd scene. An article in The Forward quotes a dad in a Jewish interracial family who responds to this video by saying “Oh my God, we’re not the others.” To translate this into...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT:   PART 1   PART 2    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The City of Light is an unusual collaboration between the late Theodore Bikel and his wife Aimee Ginsburg Bikel, based on an autobiographical short story left behind by the noted actor, singer, and activist. I spoke at length to the spirited and charming Aimee, who is a wonderful storyteller in her own right. LEARN MORE: Aimee Ginsburg Bikel's website Theodore Bikel's website The Theodore Bikel Legacy Project Hear City of Light on NPR's Hanukkah Lights 2014 (at the 35 minute mark)  Mandel Vilar Press Aimee's suggestions for Boosting Black Voices: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf and Wild Beauty: New and Selected Poems , both by Ntozake Shange, plus a bonus boost for Native American voices: Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock by Aslan Tudor CRE...

A suggestion in the Jewish Kidlit Mavens forum on Facebook inspired the creation of a media pitch kit specifically geared towards Jewish literature for children and young adults. Publicists and authors can consult this kit to learn where to market new Judaic titles. Sections include News Media, Blogs & Podcasts, Awards & Lists, and Events. Created in Google Drive, this is a living document that will be updated as additional resources are discovered.  Find the Media Pitch Kit at TinyURL.com/JewishKidlitPitchKit

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Anya and the Dragon is Sofiya Pasternak's debut, a middle grade Jewish historical fantasy novel. It was recognized by a 2020 Sydney Taylor Honor Award. It will be joined on November 10, 2020 by a sequel, Anya and the Nightingale. Join me for a fascinating conversation with Sofiya about the history behind the fantasy.   LEARN MORE:   Sofiya Pasternack's website Buy Anya and the Dragon   Buy Anya and the Nightingale Sofiya's suggestion for Boosting Black Voices: Color Me In by Natasha Diaz  CREDITS:   Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate Your feedba...

BUY THE BOOK       🕮    October 27, 2020 is the second anniversary of a horrific act of domestic terrorism, the antisemitic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. In memory of the lives lost on that day, I bring you a conversation with the editors of Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy . This book highlights the voices of those who were significantly affected by the deadliest antisemitic act on American soil. Although the gunman killed 11 innocent souls, injured 6, and created deep wounds within the community, he was unable to silence them or disconnect them from their ties to their faith.    I got my Masters of Library Science at the University of Pittsburgh and worked for a few years at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville Branch in the 1990s. I love Pittsburgh, so I was especially eager to hear the local perspective from co-editors Beth Kissileff and Eric Lid...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST   |  READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    This episode is a call to action for U.S. citizens eligible to vote, and a reminder to listeners everywhere that voting is your superpower. If you are a U.S. citizen eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, please do so! For information about how to vote, visit VOTE.ORG . In this special 3-part series, some of your favorite Jewish kidlit authors will be sharing why they vote and they'll give some recommendations for ways to keep our democracy healthy. Listen to PART 2 | PART 3 In each episode of The Book of Life, I ask guests to suggest a tikkun olam action, a way to help repair the world. This special series is MY tikkun olam action. Please help me inspire more people to vote by sharing this podcast as widely as you can, today.   FYI, PART 2 explains how voting can be called a "mitzvah," and includes guests Elissa Brent Weissman, Lee Wind, Barbara Bietz, Jane ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST   |  READ THE TRANSCRIPT       🕮    Welcome to Part 2 of our 3 part series, The Mitzvah of Voting. It's October 2020 your favorite Jewish kidlit authors want all eligible US citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, and listeners around the world to vote in their own local elections! My author guests will be sharing why they vote and they'll give you some recommendations for ways to keep democracy healthy. Listen to PART 1 | PART 3 Guest authors include: Elissa Brent Weissman , author of The Length of a String Lee Wind , author of Queer as a $5 Bill and No Way, They Were Gay? Barbara Bietz , author of Sweet Tamales for Purim Jane Breskin Zalben , author of A Moon for Moe and Mo Jacqueline Jules , author of The Generous Fish , Never Say a Mean Word Again , The Hardest Word Anne-Marie Asner , author of the Matzah Ball Books series  Suggestions from guests in this episode: Become a poll worker Add y...