The Book of Life

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...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Forthcoming books of from Judaic publishers discovered at Book Expo America 2010 in NYC! The Crown of Aleppo: The Mystery of the Oldest Hebrew Bible Codex by Hayim Tawil & Bernard Schneider, JPS Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series by JPS Sara Finds a Mitzva by Rebeka Simhaee, Hachai The Aleph-Bais Trip on the Aleph-Bais Ship by Chani Altein, Hachai I'm God; You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion and Other Disguises of the Ego by Lawrence Kushner, Jewish Lights Sacred Treasure--The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic by Rabbi Mark Glickman, Jewish Lights Confronting Scandel: How Jews Can Respond When Jews Do Bad Things by Dr. Erica Brown, Jewish Lights Communities of Purpose, Lives of Meaning: Shaping American Judaism and Jewish Identity in the 21st Century by Barry Shrage, Jewish Lights How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious ...

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly blogging event which rounds up links of Jewishlit interest and builds community among Jewishlit bloggers. I came up with the idea along with Marie Cloutier, AJL consultant and host of The Boston Bibliophile , and we started seeking out other bloggers who share our passion for Judaic literature. The sponsoring organization for the Jewish Book Carnival is the Association of Jewish Libraries. If YOU would like to participate in a future carnival, email Marie at mcloutier at jewishlibraries dot org! The September 2010 Jewish Book Carnival is being hosted by the Jewish Publication Society Blog at http://jpsblog.org/blog/2010/09/15/jewish-book-carnival. There are terrific links from seventeen different blogs, offering book reviews, philosophical essays, interviews, and more. This month's carnival includes a link from The Book of Life, to our recent episode on Jewish kidlit at Book Expo America! Upcoming carnivals will be held at: October 15, ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Recent and forthcoming children's and teen books of Jewish interest discovered at Book Expo America 2010 in NYC! Cry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron, Annick Press Hanukkah puzzles, and One Red Apple by Harriet Ziefert, Blue Apple Books Annexed by Sharon Dogar, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Anne Redisch Stampler, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden (reprint), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt The Grand Mosque of Paris by Karen Gray Ruelle, Holiday House The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah by Leslie Kimmelman, Holiday House The Story of Esther, A Purim Tale by Eric Kimmel, Holiday House (spring 2011) Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin (reissue, new illustrations), Marshall Cavendish Restitution by Kathy Kacer, Second Story Press A Chanukah Noel by Sharon Jennings, Second Story Press Teaching guides for Holocaust...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Forthcoming adult books of Jewish interest discovered at Book Expo America 2010 in NYC! Jews and Money: The Story of a Stereotype by Abraham Foxman, Palgrave Macmillan The Moses Expedition by Juan Gomez-Jurado, Atria Books I'd Bark But You Never Listen: An Illustrated Guide to the Jewish Dog by Harold Kimmel, Red Rock Press The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern, Algonquin Books Peep Show by Josh Braff, Algonquin Books A Curable Romantic by Joseph Skibell, Algonquin Books Muslim, Christian and Jew: Finding a Path to Peace Our Faiths Can Share by Dr. David Liepert, Faith of Life Publishing Unifying Truths of the World's Religions by C. David Lundberg, Heavenlight Press Living Fully, Dying Well: Reflecting on Death to Find Your Life's Meaning by Edward W. Bastian & Tina L. Staley, Sounds True Hebrew Illuminations by Adam Rhine, Sounds True America's Great Delis: Recipes and Traditions from Coast to ...

Two new books of interest from Other Press : THE DEBBA (Other Press; July 13, 2010; $14.95) by award winning author Avner Mandelman THE DEBBA is the page-turning story of an Israeli ex-assassin's quest to uncover his dead father's secret - and the truth about the birth of Israel. Mandelman was born in Israel and served in the Israeli Air Force during the Six-Day War. His story collection Talking to the Enemy was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as one of the twenty-five best books of 2005, and by the American Library Association as the first recipient of the Sophie Brody Medal for outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. This is his first novel. A recent **starred** review in Kirkus proclaimed that "The author deftly blends a murder mystery with a nuanced examination of the intransigent Israeli-Arab conflict" and a **starred** Booklist declared that he "has written a first rate debut novel that tackles current issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict while revealing...

The Book of Life just received a Beautiful Blogger Award from the lovely folks at the Jewish Publication Society. Thanks, JPS! To claim the award, I have to share seven little-known facts about The Book of Life and pass the award on to seven other blogs. Seven Little-Known Facts. (Actually, if you've been paying dorkily close attention you might already know some of these.) 1. The Book of Life was once used as a vehicle for two 3rd grade girls to get credit for a book report on Marc Chagall! Rather than present to the class, they presented their book report on the podcast . 2. Coolest audio project I've participated in: being one of the five voices in the librarian episode of the QN Podcast . 3. Favorite gig I got as a result of being a podcaster: getting to introduce Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief , when he spoke at our local indie, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida. (You can hear his talk in the episode Meet Markus .) 4. Episode that was the mos...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2010 Convention in Seattle, WA, I organized a panel presentation on book reviewing with Ellen Cole, Kathe Pinchuck, Lisa Silverman, and Rita Soltan. This post is our online handout, and a record of our presentation. AJL Reviewing Panel FOR FUN The Top 20 Most Annoying Book Reviewer Phrases and How to Use Them All in One Meaningless Review Book Review BINGO MORE SERIOUS RESOURCES Suggested Resources for Jewish Children's Book Reviewers , a bibliography/webliography by Kathe Pinchuck Excellence in Jewish Children's Literature : A Guide for Book Selectors, Reviewers, and Award Judges (AJL Publication) From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books by K.T. Horning (HarperCollins, 2010 revised edition) Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America by Gail Pool (University of Missouri Press, 2007) Critical Mass, the blog of the National...

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2010 Convention, I co-presented a session on AJL & Social Media with Diane Romm. You can read our paper HERE . This post is our online handout, and a record of our presentation. Also relevant is the four-part series "Why Be Social?" that appeared on The Book of Life podcast in 2009. You can listen to all four parts here: http://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-be-social-whole-megillah.html . LINKS mentioned in Part 1: Association of Jewish Libraries: http://www.jewishlibraries.org AJL Wiki: http://nesiya.wikispaces.com/?responseToken=0a642c679fa9b8b4beaa52dd7d68d713b Past AJL Conventions: http://jewishlibraries.org/Conference_Proceedings Sydney Taylor Book Award: http://jewishlibraries.org/content.php?page=Sydney_Taylor_Book_Award Convention Stipends: http://jewishlibraries.org/Member_Awards AJL Newsletter: http://jewishlibraries.org/AJL_News___AJL_Reviews Bibliography Bank: http://jewishlibraries.org/B...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY KATHY KACER'S BOOKS     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondant, Anne Dublin , interviews author Kathy Kacer . Kathy has written many, many Holocaust novels for young people, including The Diary of Laura's Twin , which won a National Jewish Book Award and a Canadian Jewish Book Award. For the impressive list of Kathy's works, click 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 or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Back in February I interviewed Debra Spark , author of Good for the Jews , an adult novel based on the story of Purim. The Megillah inspires a lot of modern writing, apparently! Today I've got an interview for you with Jenny Meyerhoff , author of a young adult novel based on the Megillah, called Queen of Secrets . When I met Jenny last summer at the Planet Esme Reading Room, she told me this book was in the works. I am pleased to say that this very interesting novel will be released this summer! Jenny, where did the idea come from to write a modern novel based on the story of Queen Esther? Growing up, always loved the story of Esther, probably because it was one of the few stories I remember learning in Sunday school that featured a female as the main character. One spring a few years ago, I was thinking about the story again, and it occurred to me that Esther most likely would have been a teenager. I began to wonder what her story would be like if it were occurring today. How wo...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I'm just back from the 2010 Book Expo America trade show in NYC, where I recorded lots of interesting interviews. It will take me a while to edit them, but lucky for you guys I still have several recordings from last summer to post in the meantime. This interview turns out to be unfortunately timely, with Louisiana so much in the spotlight right now due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Last summer, when we all thought Hurricane Katrina was the worst thing that could happen to New Orleans, I interviewed Nachama Liss-Levinson, author of the 2009 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award winning title When the Hurricane Came to New Orlean s. Being unpublished (thus a "Manuscript Award" winner), you can't read it yet. But I'm sure after hearing from awards chair Aileen Grossberg and from Nechama herself, you will want to! (Sorry for any angst caused by this situation!) [NOTE: The book has subseq...