The Book of Life

AJL's Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, June 2016   January 11, 2017 was a big day for Jewish book awards - both the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Jewish Book Council announced winning titles! Many of these books have already been covered on The Book of Life podcast, and others are in the pipeline now. I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category AND the National Jewish Book Award in the Children's Literature category. Hear from author Debbie Levy in this November 2016 podcast. The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatel Aly, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category AND was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Children's Literature category. Hear my interview with Adam in this January 2017 podcast. Dreidels on the Brain by Joel...

For More Information Contact: Ellen Tilman, Chair Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee Association of Jewish Libraries (215) 906-4657 chair@sydneytaylorbookaward.org January 11, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED Winners of the annual Sydney Taylor Book Award were announced by the Association of Jewish Libraries today. Named in memory of Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series, the award recognizes books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. GOLD MEDALISTS I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy with illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley, published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category. This delightful biography of the Supreme Court Justice teaches children that dissent does not make a person disagreeable, and can even help ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Adam and Thomas by Aharon Appelfeld won the 2016 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category. The book is based loosely on Appelfeld's own Holocaust experiences, and is the story of two young boys who band together to survive while hiding in the forest. It was originally written in Hebrew and translated into English by Jeffrey Green . Appelfeld was not able to attend the Association of Jewish Libraries conference to accept his award, but Green was present, and allowed me to record the talk he gave about the experience of translating the book. You'll also hear from award committee chair Ellen Tillman, who met with Appelfeld during a recent trip to Israel. 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 B...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Warren Adler's career is so expansive that we couldn't even cover it all in this interview! He's written about forty books (novels, mysteries, thrillers, and more), and is probably best known for The War of the Roses - he wrote the book and the screenplay. In this interview we focus on on his recently reissued collection of short stories, The Sunset Gang , about the Jewish residents of a Florida retirement village. Several stories from The Sunset Gang were also made into a PBS series on American Playhouse , and there was even a musical theater version . An audio book is coming out soon. 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 t...

VISIT PALM BEACH PODCASTERS     🕮    The Book of Life has been spotlighted on the webpage of Palm Beach Podcasters , a local Meetup group where we gather to discuss the pitfalls and solutions inherent in podcasting. We've got old-timers, newbies, and folks who haven't even started podcasting yet. We've only met a few times so far this fall, but I've got to give my new friends credit for giving me the idea to create the Resources for Guests section on The Book of Life blog, to help guests promote their own appearances on the show. I hope to keep bringing fresh new ideas back to The Book of Life from Palm Beach Podcasters!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Storyteller Joel Ben Izzy branches out from his live stage performances with this semi-autobiographical middle grade novel, Dreidels on the Brain , that takes place over the eight days of Hanukkah. You can read my review of the book in School Library Journal here . You can listen to Joel telling the story about an orange that inspired a key scene in this book on public radio's Snap Judgement here . Listen carefully to the podcast to hear Joel's explanation of how you can win a copy of his CD Lights & Laughter: Joel Ben Izzy Spins Hanukkah Tales . When you've got the answer to his question, email him at joel@storypage.com . Joel Ben Izzy, then and now 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 St...

BUY THE BOOK       🕮    I'm a sucker for animal stories so it was a given that Mazel the cat would appeal to me, but it seemed at first like a pretty typical historical fiction picture book. Some of the tropes here are old hat: a lonely person whose life is improved when a new pet wanders in, a poor person whose generosity is unexpectedly rewarded by a stranger, and so on. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing unique either.  Then I came to the part where, lacking candles, Misha the artist paints a menorah and adds flames to the candles each night. When he runs out of yellow paint he keeps on going with fire of blue, orange, and red. I was inspired by his ongoing resourcefulness and creativity, his willingness to keep trying in the face of deprivation. While his paint supply does not miraculously increase, I did hear echoes of the Maccabees' perseverance and reward in Misha's story. That's the part that stands out for me, and that I'll rem...

BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I like to read while I eat breakfast, and this morning I choked up over my oatmeal while reading The Sundown Kid by my friend Barbara Bietz. This picture book nicely encapsulates the isolating experience of urban Jews who've moved to the wide open spaces of the American desert. Used to the hustle and bustle of the city and the proximity of family, Mama in particular feels lonely out west, where they are the only Jewish family in town. "Too much soup, not enough family," is her poignant refrain. Her son cleverly thinks outside the box by inviting friendly non-Jewish neighbors to Shabbat dinner, and Mama at last begins to feel at home. In these modern times of divisiveness, this is a hopeful story about cross-cultural acceptance that will be enjoyed by Jewish and non-Jewish readers. The illustrations by John Kanzler are also a real treat. #Readukkah, #JewLit

The Association of Jewish Libraries  and the Jewish Book Council  present the second annual reading challenge for readers of all ages, # Readukkah! To participate, all you have to do is read one #JewLit  book and post your review to the event discussion board on Facebook —or post a link to your review anywhere online—and use the hashtag #Readukkah  to connect with other readers. #Readukkah takes place December 1-8, 2016. Any book of Jewish interest is a good choice for #Readukkah. If your chosen book is not obviously Jewish, use your review to explain the connection. By sharing your #Readukkah reviews, your participation in this reading challenge helps spread the word about worthwhile titles, bringing them to the attention of more readers and supporting the publication of Jewish books! RSVP to the #Readukkah Facebook Event  to say if you'll be participating! What if you don't use Facebook? Review a #JewLit  book on a blog, GoodReads, Amazon, ...

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY KETZEL THE CAT WHO COMPOSED / I CARRY MY MOTHER     🕮    Lesléa Newman is a prolific poet and author of books for kids and adults. In fact, she was on The Book of Life last year in 2015 to talk about her picture book Here is the World . In 2016 she won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers Category for her picture book biography Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed . I met up with her at the Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Charleston, SC where we talked about Ketzel and also about her recent poetry book I Carry My Mother . Special thanks to pianist Guy Livingston for permission to use his recording of Ketzel's composition, "Piece for Piano: Four Paws." Check out his music podcast, American Highways ! CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries     Theme mus...

Welcome to our second annual Hanukkah for Kids blog hop, sponsored by Multicultural Kid Blogs ! Be sure to visit all the participating blogs for ways to share this special time of year with kids. Plus you can find all these and more on our Hanukkah Pinterest board ! (And don't miss last year's series !)   Participating Blogs Kelly's Classroom on Multicultural Kid Blogs Moms & Crafters | The Squishable Baby Kid World Citizen | Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes | The Book of Life "HANUKKAH PAST" AND "HANUKKAH YET TO COME" ON THE BOOK OF LIFE December 2005 The Book of Life's very first episode was a Hanukkah Celebration. In December 2005, I interviewed Eric Kimmel about the classic Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins and talked to Rebecca Tova Ben-Zvi about her new book Four Sides, Eight Nights: A New Spin on Hanukkah. I also got a contributor review of Craig Taubman's CD The Hanukkah Lounge. December 2006 ...

Every few years, someone blogs about the terrible state of Jewish kidlit. It happened in The Forward in 2012, when Deborah Kolben saw the deaths of Simms Taback and Russell Hoban as signaling the end of the genre ( "Who Will Light Up Jewish Kids Lit?" ). At that time, I wrote this blog post to provide the context that was missing from her article.  Now it's happened again in Mosaic with commentator Michael Weingrad's article "Why Are Jewish Children's Books So Bad?" and again I feel compelled to respond. If you take a superficial look at the genre of Jewish kidlit you may come away sharing Weingrad's impression: "cartoon animals teaching holiday basics in stilted rhymes, an overrepresentation of sentimental grandparents (to the frequent exclusion of parents), and shtetl-and-steerage depictions of New York’s Lower East Side as the Sinai of American Judaism" and a "Bible that stops with Noah’s ark". It's true that these are...

STEP RIGHT UP! The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly round-up of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. Participating bloggers contribute links from their own blogs, and take turns hosting the carnival. If you're a blogger and you'd like to participate, please visit the Jewish Book Carnival HQ on the webpage of the Association of Jewish Libraries . Questions? Email carnival@jewishlibraries.org . ON WITH THE SHOW! Deborah Kalb interviews a wide variety of authors on her blog, deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com . Check out her recent Q&A with Rabbi Susan Silverman about Silverman's book Casting Lots: Creating a Family in a Beautiful, Broken World. At Life Is Like a Library , Chava Pinchuck looks at two cookbooks that provide ideas and inspiration for "parsha treats" for the weekly Torah readings: http://lifelibrary-ksp.blogspot.co.il/2016/10/parsha-treats.html Malkah Livneh blogs about Israeli children's books written in Hebrew at Let...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark is a picture book biography of the first Jewish woman to serve on the US Supreme Court. I spoke to author Debbie Levy about the creation of the book, which has been getting rave reviews . In our interview, Debbie mentions the availability of audio of Ruth Bader Ginsburg arguing before the Supreme Court as an attorney. You can hear an example in the case of Frontiero vs. Richardson . You can also listen to Justice Ginsburg in the Supreme Court's weekly audio , or read transcripts if you prefer. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an unusally hip public figure and has inspired memes and songs within pop culture. Check out this song from Jonathan Mann 's Song-a-Day project, based on Ginsburg's dissent in the Hobby Lobby case. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association o...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    VIEW THE FILM     🕮    Once in a Lifetime (in French, Les H éritiers ) is a French docudrama about a dedicated teacher who challenges her class of rowdy multicultural students to compete in a Holocaust remembrance contest, the National Contest of Resistance and Deportation . Meeting a real survivor is the "once in a lifetime" event that impacts the kids and turns their attitudes around. Ahmed Dramé was a student in the real life class that inspired the movie. He was a co-screenwriter of the film, and also had a starring role as the student Malik. I spoke to Ahmed when he came to South Florida for the film's opening. 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  ...

The July/August issue of Moment Magazine featured a roundup of the Top Ten Jewish Podcasts . Although The Book of Life was not included, it was mentioned in the comments. Moment has followed up with Top Ten Jewish Podcasts: Reader Edition , listing ten suggestions for additional podcasts that they received in response to the first article. The Book of Life is on the list as #3! Amusingly, they've given me a credit I don't deserve, describing me as a biblical fiction author. I left a comment directing readers to check out a real biblical fiction author, TK Thorne, who was featured on The Book of Life in July . Got any other favorite Jewish podcasts to share? Go to http://www.momentmag.com/top-ten-jewish-podcasts-reader-edition and leave a comment!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy is a picture book biography of the Jewish actor best known for playing Mr. Spock on Star Trek. Author Rich Michelson was great friends with Nimoy and brings his personal perspective to the project. Click on the title to find many more links at Rich's own website. Rich Michelson is a prolific poet and author, and has been on The Book of Life several times before: Left: Rich Michelson, Right: Leonard Nimoy May 2007 , Rich discusses his baseball themed picture book Across the Alley  February 2009 , Rich speaks on his award winning biography of Abraham Joshua Heshel and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., As Good As Anybody December 2009 , Rich takes part in a kidlit conversation at the Planet Esme Reading Room VIDEO: Thanks to the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project for allowing The Book of Life to sample Nim...