The Book of Life

I am proud to take part in the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! During the week of February 11-15, 2013 you can find interviews with gold and silver medalists all over the blogosphere. Check out my earlier post (January 31, 2013) for the full schedule. Kristina Swarner is the illustrator of Zayde Comes to Live by Sheri Sinykin, a 2013 Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category . She is no stranger to the Sydney Taylor, having won a gold medal in 2008 for The Bedtime Sh'ma by Sarah Gershman, a silver medal for Gershman's 2011 sequel, Modeh Ani , and another gold medal in 2011 for Gathering Sparks by Howard Schwartz. She also illustrated Schwartz's book Before You Were Born , a 2006 Sydney Taylor Notable Book and winner of the 2006 Koret Jewish Book Award. TBoL: Kristina, what medium do you use for your illustrations? KS: I use a combination of printmaking, watercolor, and colored pencil on heavyweight paper. TBoL: Zayde Come...

Read an interview with Linda Glaser, author of Hannah's Way (Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers Category) at This Messy Life ! A highlight: "This is a story about staying true to one’s traditions but still wanting to “belong.” It’s also a story about ordinary children who, through a simple act of kindness, become heroes. I hope that with the help of the Sydney Taylor Award, Hannah’s Way will reach many more kids and will do its small part to encourage tolerance, acceptance, and kindness." Read an interview with Adam Gustavson, illustrator of Hannah's Way (Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers Category) at Here in HP ! A highlight: "I’ve always drawn; my mother was an artist when I was growing up, and my brothers and I drew like most other kids would play ball. It was a big part of how we played together. My father, an engineer, used to come home with art supplies he’d picked up for us on his way home from work. I grew up in...

Ann Redisch Stampler, author of The Wooden Sword (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category) at Shelf-Employed ! A highlight: "as I researched the Afghani story, learning more about the culture of the Jews who lived with their Muslim neighbors in Afghanistan for a thousand years, I loved it. It was hilarious, but at the same time, its message was profound." Carol Liddiment, illustrator of The Wooden Sword (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category) at Ann Koffsky's Blog !  A highlight: "This is a warm story about the Shah’s desire to understand the poor man’s faith. It is a story about tolerance and understanding… I hope that message can be embraced by all."   Doreen Rappaport, author of Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust (Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category) at Bildungsroman ! A highlight: "I feel I was privileged to learn about so many Jewish children, m...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2013 gold and silver medalists and a few selected Notables with a Blog Tour, February 11-15, 2013! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a wide variety of Jewish and kidlit 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 2013 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! THE 2013 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR   MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013 Ann Redisch Stampler , author of The Wooden Sword Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category At Shelf-Employed  Carol Liddiment , i...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    During the Midwinter Council meeting of the Association of Jewish Libraries, I pulled Aimee Lurie out into the hall for a chat. Aimee is the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and she told me all about the 2013 winners, the best in Jewish children's literature for children and teens! Get more info at www.sydneytaylorbookawards.org . 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 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers: Hannah’s Way by Linda Glaser with illustrations by Adam Gustavson  (Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers: His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg by Louise Borden ( Houghton Mifflin Books for Children ) The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers: Intentions by Deborah Heiligman (Knopf Books for Young Readers, a division of Random House) Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Younger Readers: Zayde Comes to Live by Sheri Sinykin with illustrations by Kristina Swarner (Peachtree Publishers) The Elijah Door: A Passover Tale by Linda Leopold Strauss with illustrations by Alexi Natchev (Holiday House)     Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Older Readers: The Wooden Sword: A Jewish Folktale from Afghanistan   by Ann Redisch Stampler with illustrations by Carol Liddiment (Albert Whitman & Company) Sydney Taylo...

While attending the 2013 Midwinter Council meeting of the Association of Jewish Libraries, I had the chance to interview Aimee Lurie, chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee. That interview will be podcasted soon. In the meantime, here is the official press release from AJL, announcing this year's winners. ~ Heidi Linda Glaser and Adam Gustavson , author and illustrator of Hannah’s Way , Louise Borden author of His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg , and Deborah Heiligman , author of Intentions , are the 2013 winners of the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award. The awards were announced at the Mid-Winter Meeting of the School, Synagogue and Community Center Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries. 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 winner...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    McFarland Publishing 's name and logo don't seem very Jewish, but you may be surprised to learn that they have a strong selection of Jewish titles in their catalog. This podcast is a  show-floor interview from ALA, with McFarland's own Karl-Heinz Roseman, who very kindly allowed me to come back and complete our interview the next day, after the batteries in my recorder died. 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 MUSIC WAS IT / BERLIN BOXING CLUB      🕮    Next month the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award winners will be announced, but for now we are still celebrating the wonderful winners that were named in January 2012. At the Association of Jewish Libraries annual conference this summer, I did a joint interview with winners Susan Goldman Rubin ( Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein ) and Rob Sharenow ( The Berlin Boxing Club ). Both were charming and personable, a delight to speak with as they talked about the inspiration for and ties between their two books. 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 boo...

The Association of Jewish Libraries has created “Hanukkah Read Up!,” a list of Hanukkah books for children recommended by the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee. The colorful 2-page flyer is available on the AJL website . All the titles on the list have been recognized by the award committee as gold or silver medalists or as “Notable Books.” A special section is devoted to the Hanukkah works of prolific author Eric A. Kimmel, a past Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award winner. The list should prove interesting and useful for families seeking Hanukkah titles for their children, to read together or buy as gifts, as well as for librarians who wish to purchase titles for their holiday shelves. AJL members and friends are welcome to distribute the list, digitally or printed out, to their own library patrons. Happy Hanukkah and Happy Reading!

Welcome to the Jewish Book Carnival for the month of November, 2012!  The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly online event celebrating Jewish literature, hosted by the Association of Jewish Libraries . Our October host, The Prosen People, explained it so well that I'm going to borrow their description: "The series is a monthly event where book bloggers who promote Jewish literature come together to share some of their best content from the past month. Each month the round-up of posts can be found on a different Jewish literary blog, so be sure to check out Jewish Book Carnival HQ for future (and past!) hosts (and posts!)." This month we've got some great links for you. We hope you'll join the conversation by sharing and commenting on the blog posts represented here! David Levy at JewishBoston.com sent in this interview with Anna Solomon , author of The Lobster Mafia Story . This "trayf" short story is being distributed all over town for The...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian correspondant, Anne Dublin , speaks live with author Lesley Simpson before the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto. They discuss Lesley's new picture book A Song For My Sister , and talk about the writing life. 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 met author Betsy Rosenthal  at the ALA (American Library Association) conference, and grabbed a quick interview on the showroom floor. Betsy is the author of Looking For Me in this Great Big Family, a fictionalized tale of her mother's experience growing up as one of twelve Jewish siblings in Baltimore, Maryland during the Depression. 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     🕮    Dr. Reuven Firestone was the opening plenary speaker at the June, 2012 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Pasadena, CA. He gave a fascinating talk called "Jews in the Koran, Jews on the Koran" to a packed house. In this brief interview, Dr. Firestone describes the theme of his talk, and also mentions his new book, Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea . 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: Left to right: David Hirsch, Reuven Firestone at 2012 AJL 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 THE BOOK     🕮    Enjoy this interview with Marc Tyler Nobleman , author of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman , and other untold stories about underdog heroes! Check out his blog Nobelmania ! 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 .

A tribute by the Sydney Taylor Book Award-winning author of Tropical Secrets, Margarita Engle Freedom of expression is a right so precious that we must constantly work to protect it. In 1939, when he was only fourteen, my father made a courageous effort to speak out against the atrocities of the Holocaust. Instead of being praised, he was punished. Recently, after receiving an invitation to a junior high school reunion, he sat down and wrote a letter to the school, revealing a secret he had kept for 73 years.  -- Margarita Engle Dear Mr. Jordan and the Mount Vernon Reunion Committee, Thank you for inviting me to the coming Luncheon for past Mount Vernon students. I remember many positive things about my three years at Mount Vernon Junior High, especially the many fine teachers with whom I was fortunate to study. In particular, members of the art faculty whose encouragement, I believe, helped me to prepare for my future career as an artist and art teacher. There is one dar...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Co-authors Debby Waldman and Rita Feutl interview each other about their picture book, Room Enough for Daisy , a modern story based on the old Jewish folktale about the crowded house. 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 .

In The Jewish Daily Forward, January 31, 2012, an article appeared entitled "Who Will Light Up Jewish Kids Lit? Death of Two Authors Leaves Gaping Hole in Genre." Written by Kveller.com editor Deborah Kolben, the article mourns the passing of two literary giants, Simms Taback and Russell Hoban.  The passing of these two authors is certainly sad, but I have to disagree with Kolben's contention that their deaths mark the end of Jewish kidlit, and I also disagree with her overview of the state of the genre. I drafted a response to leave as a comment at The Forward, but it exceeded the 3000 word limit. Thus, my response is posted here at The Book of Life. I urge you to visit  http://forward.com/articles/150253/ to read the original article, to consider my points posted here, and to add your own responses either at The Book of Life or at The Forward. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kolben declares that “good storytelling is what’s missing” and calls for Jewish kidlit to be held ...

The 2012 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour is off to a great start today with three excellent interviews! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Susan Campbell Bartoletti , author of Naamah and the Ark at Night Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category at Ima On & Off the Bima Holly Meade , illustrator of Naamah and the Ark at Night Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category at Into the Wardrobe Shelley Sommer , author of Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, Baseball Pioneer Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category at Great Kid Books