The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY / BORROW THE BOOK     🕮    Sydney Taylor was the first author to write kids books that served as windows into Jewish life, not just mirrors. Her All-of-a-Kind Family series was game changing. These were the first books about Jewish characters to become popular with readers of all backgrounds, and they are still popular today. Jo Taylor Marshall, Sydney's daughter, sponsors the Sydney Taylor Book Awards that recognize the best Jewish kidlit each year. And now, Richard Michelson has written a picture book biography of Sydney Taylor. It's called One of a Kind . I spoke with both of them at the 2024 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in San Diego, where we were celebrating the 120th birthday of Sydney Taylor. If you'd like to hear more from Jo after listening to this podcast, you're in luck! I recorded an oral history with...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    VISIT KARBEN.COM     🕮    Appropriately, as we kick off this podcast's twentieth anniversary year, in this episode we are going to think about change and continuity. We say goodbye to an old friend, Joni Sussman, who is retiring after twenty years of leading the Jewish children's publishing company Kar-Ben. And we'll say hello to a new friend, Fran Greenman-Schmitz, who will be taking up the reins at Kar-Ben. I've been in this business a long time, so I remember when Joni started at Kar-Ben! This is her fourth live conference interview on the show, and of course it's Fran's first. Joni is the winner of the Sydney Taylor Body of Work Award , for her many contributions to the field of Jewish kidlit. To give you some context, the oldest publisher of Jewish books in English is the Jewish Publication Society , founded in 1888, but Kar-Ben is ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    For Hanukkah 2024, I got you a Jewish Book Advocacy Kit! Let me explain. My local public library invited me to give an online talk in honor of Jewish Book Month. As I thought about what to say, I remembered great advice from my friend, author Liza Wiemer , about all the small simple things that anyone can do to support Jewish literature - and bingo, I had my topic. Here's an edited recording of that talk I gave, with practical, actionable tips, and suggestions for Jewish books you'll love. If you'd like to see my slideshow, you can watch the same talk on YouTube . And be sure to check out this very useful presentation handout . For even more books you'll love, check out my annual unofficial Sydney Taylor Book Award shortlist to see what I think is the best Jewish kidlit of 2024, at bookoflifepodcast.com. Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, and Happy Reading! LEARN MORE: YouTube video of...

Jewish Book Month takes place during the 30 days leading up to Hanukkah. This year, the celebration was held November 24-December 24, 2024.  Last year I posted daily #JewishJoy reading recommendations. While joy is still extremely important, this year my focus is #ACTIVISM. These books all feature real or fictional people who are great role models for taking action to make the world a better place. Each title is linked to a past interview on The Book of Life or a book review on The Sydney Taylor Shmooze . November 24, 2024 NOT NOTHING by Gayle Forman, a middle grade novel about rising to the occasion of your own life. November 25, 2024 ABZUGLUTELY: BATTLING, BELLOWING BELLA ABZUG , a picture book biography of the Jewish feminist activist and Congresswoman. November 26, 2024 THE DO MORE CLUB by Dana Kramaroff, a middle grade novel about a Jewish kid creating an activist club at school to spread kindness.  November 27, 2024 ONE SMALL SPARK: A TIKKUN OLAM STORY by Ruth Spiro...

The word "podcast" was coined in 2004. Just a year later, The Book of Life dropped its first episode! On December 21, 2005, I posted for the first time: a 14 minute 17 second Hanukkah episode that packed in two author interviews, a CD review, and a reflection by my temple’s rabbi. You can still hear it HERE . The audio is a bit scratchy - I was recording remote interviews with a tiny microphone that went between my ear and the phone! - but the excitement was palpable. I was hooked.  I'll be sharing more podcast history and finding lots of ways to celebrate throughout 2025. First up: Substack!   Substack is a newsletter platform. You can subscribe to my Substack to get show notes, episode transcripts, Jewish kidlit news, and occasional calls to action delivered directly to your inbox! It's interactive too - you can comment and join the conversation.  I hope this will make it even more convenient for you to share my Jewish kidlit journey with me! Please subscribe at boo...

It's time for my annual unofficial shortlist of potential Sydney Taylor Book Award winners! As you may know, in addition to interviewing authors of Jewish kidlit for many years, I'm a former member and chair of the Association of Jewish Libraries' Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, and a cofounder of The Sydney Taylor Shmooze mock award blog, so I have a deep and abiding interest in seeking out the best Jewish kidlit of the year.  I'm not actually making predictions about what will win; rather, I'm telling you that these are books that I think deserve your attention (with the caveat that while I probably read the majority of Jewish children's or YA books published in 2024, I did not read ALL of them, so there may be other titles I'd consider worthy if I'd had the chance to read them). I've listed the titles within their age categories alphabetically by author's last name.Titles are linked to Bookshop.org for your purchasing convenienc...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    Happy Hanukkah! Christmas and Hanukkah overlap this year, with Hanukkah beginning on December 25, so it's a good time to think about the juxtaposition of these two holidays. Hanukkah is a minor holiday but its proximity to Christmas brings it extra attention. Let's talk about that! GUESTS: Henry Herz, editor of The Festival of Lights: 16 Hanukkah Stories Joanne Levy, Festival contributor and co-author of Let It Glow Erica Perl, Festival contributor and author of The Ninth Night of Hanukkah LEARN MORE: Henry Herz's website | buy or borrow The Festival of Lights Joanne Levy's website | buy or borrow Let It Glow Erica Perl's website , Instagram | buy or borrow The Ninth Night of Hanukkah "Jew Who Has It All" satirical social media account | thread about Jewish Hallmark movies Reading (and gifting) recommendations: Joanne suggests The Latke Who Couldn...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    VISIT JEWISH BOOK MONTH HUB     🕮    Here's a bonus episode for you, in honor of Jewish Book Month, which is marking its 99th year. Arielle Landau, the program coordinator at the Jewish Book Council, joins me to talk about the Council's special campaign to Celebrate Jewish Books & Support Jewish Authors, and how YOU can participate! Watch my Instagram @BookOfLifePodcast and Facebook for daily Jewish Book Month recommendations, November 24-December 24, 2024. In light of the state of the world, this year's theme is books that model ACTIVISM.   LEARN MORE: Jewish Book Month Celebrate Jewish Books Campaign "Cheering On Jewish Books" video by Heidi with practical tips for supporting Jewish lit Article by Heidi in The Forward about Jewish Book Month Jewish Book Month daily #activism reading rec's on Facebook and Instagram Ariel...

On November 20, 2024, I presented "Cheering On Jewish Books" for Palm Beach County Library, a talk about how to support Jewish literature.  HANDOUT includes: Tips for supporting Jewish books Suggestions of great Jewish books for all ages Resources for learning more   HANDOUT: TinyURL.com/CheeringJewishBooks

NOVEMBER EVENTS JEWISH JOY READING PARTY Auction November 13-20, 2024 Bid at The Artists Against Antisemitism 2nd annual Auction to have me host a private virtual event for you and your friends! BID HERE! CHEERING ON JEWISH BOOKS November 20, 2024 at 7pm ET Free online talk about supporting Jewish literature, in honor of Jewish Book Month! PRE-REGISTER HERE!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY / BORROW RYU    |    BUY / BORROW GOLEMCRAFTERS     🕮    For the month of November 2024, we've got a 2-part series, CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE: ANTISEMITISM AND THE SUPERNATURAL . Our guest for Part II is Japanese American Jewish author Emi Watanabe Cohen. Her debut novel was The Lost Ry ū (about dragons), and her sophomore novel is Golemcrafters (about golems, of course).  I loved The Lost Ry ū so much that I volunteered to review it for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog , because I wanted to point out a moment of allyship that touched my soul. Then, along came Golemcrafters. I must admit I was wary at first, because golems are kind of overdone, but this book drew me in even more than The Lost Ry ū , with how much it mirrored my own emotional response to antisemitism. Both of these boo...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY / BORROW MONSTER    |    BUY / BORROW WEREWOLF     🕮    For the month of November 2024, we've got a 2-part series, CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE: ANTISEMITISM AND THE SUPERNATURAL . Our first guest is Deke Moulton, author of Don't Want to Be Your Monster (about Jewish vampires) and Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf (about Jewish werewolves). These middle grade fantasy novels go beyond simple adventures with supernatural heroes. I love how they both delve deeply into the very nature of prejudice. I love how they both imagine worlds in which kids defeat hate. AND they are also fun, fast paced magical adventure stories. Creature Double Feature Part II is an interview with Emi Watanabe Cohen about her dragon and golem middle grade novels, The Lost Ryū and Golemcrafters , which make great companions to ...