The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Kasper Mützenmacher's Cursed Hat by Keith Fentonmiller is a weird and wonderful novel that starts during WWII and takes many a strange detour from there. It's kind of hard to explain, but just trust me and read it, and hold on for a wild ride. The character of Kasper was inspired by Keith's grandfather Dr. Meryl Fenton, whom he called Papa. Here's a picture of Papa, with Keith's father as a little boy on the left, and on the right we see Keith Fentonmiller himself. 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 Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to...

From April 17-23, 2017, browse and read free excerpts from great books on the Penguin Random House website to trigger book donations to Save the Children . It costs you nothing but a few minutes of your time, which will be spent enjoying kids' and adult titles from a variety of genres. There are a few recognizably Jewish books in the mix: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, Delicious by Ruth Reichl, Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar, Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit, and the classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. And of course, there are plenty of excellent non-Jewish titles to choose from too. No matter what you read, you will be doing a mitzvah by participating! Click here to learn more about the project OR Click here to start reading!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Serendipity's Footsteps by Suzanne Nelson tells the interwoven stories of three girls across time and geography, and how they are connected serendipitously by a special pair of shoes. Suzanne Nelson won a Sydney Taylor Honor Award for the teen novel, and I interviewed her live at the 2016 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Charleston, SC. SPECIAL OFFER : Become a patron of The Book of Life on Patreon.com for as little as $1/month and receive a free autographed copy of Serendipity's Footsteps , while supplies last! Click here to take advantage of this offer! For more fun, check out Suzanne's Pinterest boards for the characters Dalya, Pinny and Ray 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 ...

TAKE THE CHALLENGE      🕮    Writer , National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature , and MacArthur Genius Gene Luen Yang has thrown down an exciting challenge for April: diversify your reading list. As part of the national, month-long program  Reading Without Walls , Yang has called upon readers of all ages to expand the kinds of literature they read. The rules are as follows: If you're a regular at The Book of Life, you probably already read plenty of Jewish books, but even within that genre you can branch out. Read about Jews from another land or in another time, if you're a novel-lover try nonfiction, if you're a grownup read a children's book. If you take up the challenge, please share the news on social media using the hashtag #ReadingWithoutWalls. I'd love to have you comment here at The Book of Life about your reading choices!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The (Unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah is this year's #1 best-selling haggadah on Amazon. It was created with true fandom and great Jewish knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg, who also authored Morality for Muggles: Ethics in the Bible and the World of Harry Potter (as well as a number of Star Trek related articles at Tablet Magazine). I spoke to Rabbi Rosenberg by Skype, which seemed to have a basilisk in its walls - please consider the creepy hiss behind his voice to be part of the mystery and magic. During the interview, we talked about #Trypod, the campaign to get more people to try more podcasts. Rabbi Rosenber's #Trypod recommendation was Nice Jewish Fangirls , a podcast by his own daughter!  And check out my #Trypod recommendations here .  CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by:...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    At the 2016 American Library Association convention, I met Steph Kent, co-founder of CallMeIshmael.com - a website where book lovers leave voicemails telling personal stories about their favorite books. I  recorded an interview with Steph on the show floor, and then later got back in touch to create " How Is This Book Different? ," a project sponsored jointly by Call Me Ishmael , the Association of Jewish Libraries , and the Jewish Book Council . YOU are invited to join in! Here's how: Call 774-325-0503 to leave a short voicemail Between March 27-April 4, 2017 With a personal story about any Jewish book that matters in your life Then go to CallMeIshmael.com to hear everyone's stories! HINT: Click here for tips on making your voicemail awesome. UPDATE: In 2020 Steph Kent and Logan Smalley published The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book: An Interactive Guide to Life-Ch...

March 2017 is #trypod month - a time to TRY a new POD cast, and to show your friends how to listen to podcasts if they don't yet know. The campaign was organized by NPR to encourage the one in five Americans who listen to podcasts to help their friends start a listening habit too. Use the hashtag #trypod as you share your story about why you listen and your suggestions of favorite shows. I listen to podcasts to be informed, to get a mood boost, and for professional development. But the big reason I listen to podcasts is to feel connected. When I have someone's voice in my ear, it's an intimate feeling, like they are speaking directly to me. These podcasters share my interests and concerns, and they make me feel connected to them as individuals, and to the issues being discussed. #trypod Here are a few of my favorites: To be informed, I listen to CodeSwitch , a podcast about race, A Way With Words , a show about language and how we use it, and the TED Radio Hour ,...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    March 20, 2017: #READ4REFUGEES #Read4Refugees is a world-wide read-in benefitting the charity RefugePoint , running now through March 31, 2017. Donate by March 20 to help the campaign earn a bonus $10,000. Here's the scoop: GoJaneGive.org/Read4Refugees March 27-April 4, 2017: HOW IS THIS BOOK DIFFERENT? You are invited to participate in How Is This Book Different? , a joint project of the Association of Jewish Libr aries , the Jewish Book Council , and Call Me Ishmael . Between March 27-April 4, 2017, call 774-325-0503 with a story about your a Jewish book that matters to your life ! April 24, 2017: TENT: CHILDREN'S LITERATURE Apply by April 24 to participate in an August 13-20, 2017 Jewish kidlit writers' retreat in Amherst, MA co-sponsored by the Yiddish Book Center and PJ Library. Click here for details and application.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮     Meira Drazin is the author of Honey and Me , a forthcoming middle grade novel from Scholastic. Even before she got that book deal, she won the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award for the unpublished work. She was at the 2016 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Charleston, SC to receive her award. We sat down with a few members of the award committee for a quick chat. INVITATION :  As you hear in th is podcast episode, you are invited to participate in How Is This Book Different? , a joint project of the Association of Jewish Libr aries , the Jewish Book Council , and Call Me Ish mael . Between March 27-April 4, 2017, call 774-325-0503 with a story about your a Jewish book that matters to your 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   Face...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    UNORTHODOX WEBSITE     🕮    Unorthodox is a chatty and irreverent Jewish podcast from Tablet Magazine, and I'm a big fan. I was excited to see their live show at Temple Israel in West Palm Beach, and was lucky to snag an interview after the show. Here are some links to topics we mentioned in our conversation: Unorthodox live show in West Palm Beach The one with the bad H olocaust joke from Morty's g randson T h e one with Jillian Keenan The one with David Duchovny The one with Tessa Kim The one with Harry Potter and the Sacred Tex t Call Me Ishmael: How Is This Book Different from All Other 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  ...

Here are all the final links to the posts created during the 2017 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. So many wonderful interviews for you to enjoy!  2017 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR Gavriel Savit, author of Anna and the Swallow Man  Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers category  At Book Q&A's with Deborah Kalb  Andrea Davis Pinkney (author), Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher (illustrators) of A Poem for Peter  Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers category  At The Book of Life  Debbie Levy and Elizabeth Baddeley, author and illustrator of I Dissent Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers category  At Ima On and Off the Bima  Joel Ben Izzy, author of Dreidels on the Brain  Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers category  At Bildungsroman Adam Gidwitz and Hatem Aly, author and illustrator of The Inquisitor's Tale  Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the O...

BUY THE BOOK     🕮    A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson, is both a biography of Ezra Jack Keats and a love poem to the famous 1962 picture book he created, The Snowy Day . It was named a 2017 Sydney Taylor Honor Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries. ANDREA DAVIS PINKNEY Andrea, please talk about what The Snowy Day means to you personally. Did it affect your path to becoming an author yourself? I was born in the inner-city in 1963, the same year Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day won the Caldecott medal. My parents had very limited financial resources, but they purchased that book for their young daughter. I often joke that I slept with The Snowy Day , that I cuddled with it. That's how much comfort that book brought me. It was as special as any pillow. Looking back, I now see that the book's magic -- and its personal appeal to me -- was in its main character Peter, the first African-Ame...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews author Eva Wiseman about her historical/paranormal romance for teens, Another Me . The book was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Young Adult category for the Posner 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: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast  Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife 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     |    VISIT MCBD WEBSITE     🕮    Today, January 27, 2017, is Multicultural Children's Book Day, a celebration of diversity in kidlit. Check out multiculturalchildrensbookday.com to find diversity booklists for kids , a kindness kit for teachers, and giveaways of diverse books. And be sure to search for the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to find links to multicultural children's book reviews and reading suggestions. In the spirit of the Day's hashtag, #ReadYourWorld , I'm posting a recording of Leslie Kimmelman 's talk at the 2016 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Charleston, SC. Leslie spoke about her picture book, Everybody Says Shalom , which was a 2016 Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers category. This charming book showcases friendly diversity in an Israeli setting. Enjoy , and shalom! CREDITS: Produced by: Feldma...

VISIT THE SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD WEBSITE     🕮    The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be showcasing its 2017 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 6-10, 2017! 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 2017 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! 2017 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 Gavriel Savit , author of Anna and the Swallow Man Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers category At Book Q&A's with Deborah Kalb  Andrea Davis Pinkney (author), Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher (illustrators) of A Poem for Peter Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers category At ...

VISIT STORYTIME UNDERGROUND     🕮    Storytime Underground , a blog and Facebook group for children's librarians, challenged participants to use their storytimes to make the world a fairer place. As the organizers said, " Take a moment to think about what you can do to help teach empathy and inclusiveness in your programming." These goals are represented by the Jewish values of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and tzedakah (justice). The hashtag #storytimejusticewarrior helps us find examples from storytime providers everywhere. During the week following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my storytime theme was skin, its functions and colors. I particularly enjoy using puppets to teach this concept. This pair of puppets from Sunny and Co. offer a great Venn diagram of intersecting comparisons and contrasts. Their hair is the same color but different styles. Their clothing both includes denim but for different items. I love it that the boy puppet is ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz with illustrations by Hatem Aly is the 2017 Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers category, and it was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Children's Literature category. Both these awards were announced in January 2017; I interviewed Adam long before that, soon after meeting him at a kidlit author speed dating event at the American Library Association convention in Orlando in June 2016. The Inquisitor's Tale has been receiving accolades from simply everyone. A particularly insightful review was the one by Betsy Bird at A Fuse #8 Production blog on the School Library Journal website. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries     Theme music: The...