The Book of Life

I am participating in the #Diversiverse Challenge , in which you have to: Read and review one book Written by a person of color During the first two weeks of October (October 4th-17th, 2015) I wanted to include a Jewishly diverse angle, so I selected My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman (Amulet/Abrams, 2013). The author and the protagonist have a mixture of European Jewish and East Indian heritage. The novel is aimed at 10-14 year olds. I found this to be a delightful book. Twelve-year-old Tara Feinstein forges her identity as a Jew with strong pride in both the Jewish and Indian sides of her family. She struggles and grows as her relationships with best friends and boys change and develop, she expresses her individuality while respecting her family relationships, and she takes her Bat Mitzvah lessons seriously. Despite all the important learning going on, the tone remains light and upbeat, a fun read. Characters are well-developed and likable. Comparisons with ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I interviewed author  Maggie Anton about Apprentice , the first book in her Rav Hisda's Daughter series, back in October 2013 - you can listen to that podcast here . Here is my follow-up interview with her about the second book in the series, Enchantress , which continues Hisdadukh's story. 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: Maggie Anton visits Congregation B'nai Israel   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    VIEW FILMS     🕮    Emmy-nominated filmmaker and founder of The Webby Awards Tiffany Shlain joins us to talk about Character Day , coming up on September 18, 2015. Her films at Let It Ripple are meant to spark conversations that bring about social change. This year on the second annual Character Day, she will reintroduce The Science of Character and debut two new films, The Adaptable Mind and The Making of a Mensch .  Also, click here to hear Tiffany on The Book of Life in 2008 talking about her film The Tribe , which looks at Jewish life through the lens of the Barbie doll!   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 ...

BUY SPIRITUAL KNEADING     |     BUY JEWISH SOUL FOOD     🕮    I recently received two different books on similar themes of cooking and eating with Jewish spiritual mindfulness. While recording interviews with these two authors didn't fit into my plans, I did think you'd be interested in learning more about these titles. SPIRITUAL KNEADING by Dahlia Abraham Klein Dahlia says, "Long before I was conducting Rosh Chodesh groups in my home, I was introduced to challah baking by my friend, Brenda. She invited me to her home on a Thursday night to participate in a Segula Challah bake. It was my very first time baking challah. It was touching, I thought, that Brenda and I were part of the forty women from around the community, baking in our own homes — all connecting to a shared intention. There was something very holy and meditative about the whole process. In a sense, I felt like I was part of the pulse of the Jewish heartbeat. ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Lesléa Newman has written over 60 books for children and quite a few for adults as well. She is well known as an author of Jewish books and LGBT books, and wrote the groundbreaking title Heather Has Two Mommies ( reissued in 2015 with new illustrations). Her newest picture book, Here is the World , is a joyful celebration of Jewish holidays around the year. She also has a new, very personal poetry book out about her mother's passing, called I Carry My Mother . 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: Author Lesléa Newman Your feedback is apprecia...

Librarian Ana Kurland has created LibGuides to help readers find multicultural Jewish books for children and adults , and she credits The Book of Life's Diversity episode as the resource that made it possible! Ana says: What is a Multicultural Jewish Family? It can be anything. It can be a family with parents of different backgrounds.  One could be Ashkenazi, one Sephardic.  One could have been raised in the USA, and the other in Israel or Argentina. They can all be Jewish, or be interfaith. They can be of different races, ethnic groups, or native languages. It can have children of different backgrounds. She invites your suggestions of titles to add to the list. Check out her LibGuide here , and email Ana if you have additional titles to share.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    FILM WEBSITE     |    VIEW THE FILM     🕮    We start this episode by introducing Patreon , where you can show your love for The Book of Life as we enter our 10th year of podcasting! Then, it's on with the show.... Filmmaker Ian Rosenberg has created a loving tribute to the last Catskills resort in his film, Welcome to Kutsher's. I spoke with him at the film's opening in Delray Beach, Florida. Distributor Menemsha Films says "Kutsher's Country Club was the last surviving Jewish resort in the Catskills.  One of the legendary Borscht Belt hotels during its heyday, Kutsher's was family-owned and operated for over 100 years.  Exploring the full Dirty Dancing-era Catskills experience— and how it changed American pop culture in the comedy, sports and vacation industries— this award-winning documentary captures a last glimpse of a lost world as it disappears before o...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Suri Rosen 's first novel Playing with Matches (ECW Press, 2014) is the hippest and funniest Orthodox Jewish book I've ever read. Aimed at teens but enjoyable for adults too, it tells the story of how 16-year-old Raina Resnick accidentally gets swept into the secret role of matchmaker in her close-knit community. I spoke to Suri by phone at her home in Toronto. 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 don't know if it's too late to participate in this questionnaire, but the form is still up so let's give it a whirl. NPR asks "What's your favorite podcast episode?" If you enjoy The Book of Life, consider sharing a favorite episode with NPR listeners! Maybe you appreciated the recent discussion of diversity. Maybe you enjoy the coverage of events like Book Expo America. Maybe you recall fondly (as I do) the time Simms Taback sang a Yiddish song on the show! (That was in August, 2006.) Click here to access the form and tell NPR about The Book of Life! Bonus points if you share the URL. Thanks for helping more people learn about the show!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY BOOKS BY CAROL MATAS     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews author Carol Matas . Matas has written 45 books for children and teens and has won many awards. Recently she won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Pieces of the Past, the Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz , and she was named a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award for Tucson Jo , a novel inspired by Tucson, Arizona's first Jewish mayor. 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       🕮    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.