The Book of Life

WATCH THE VIDEO     |    LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮   The Last Shepherd by Evil Sun Productions is a Hebrew-language indie comedy adventure scifi fantasy film with elements of Jewish mysticism and kabbalah, made in Israel. To summarize, "A geeky programmer and his rebellious co-worker are taken by a mysterious biblical figure on a cross country adventure, trying to stop an ancient evil force, while being chased by government agents." At the time of my interview with the filmmakers back in August 2017, the movie was not available outside of Israel. Excitingly, the film is now available to be viewed on YouTube! Check it out here: PODCAST INTERVIEW ON "THE LAST SHEPHERD" FROM AUGUST 2017

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Anne Dublin is a Toronto-based author and retired synagogue librarian. She is the Canadian Correspondent for The Book of Life Podcast, performing many of our interviews with Canadian creatives. She's also the author of A Cage Without Bars , a historical middle grade novel that tells the little-known tale of Jewish children kidnapped after the expulsion from Spain and enslaved on the island of São Tomé, off the coast of West Africa. 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 Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast      Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Support the Pod...

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. It's hosted by a different blogger each month on or near the 15th. The purposes of the Jewish Book Carnival are to build community among bloggers and to promote Jewish reading. This month, we have some very special links for you! On Barbara Bietz's "Jewish Books for Children" blog we've got an interview with Israeli illustrator Omer Hoffman about The Sages of Chelm and the Moon . On gilagreenwrites, Gila interviews author of eleven cookbooks (including Gila's favorite Second Helpings, Please! ), Norene Gilletz. On her blog, Book Q+As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah interviewed Julie Zuckerman about her new novel in stories, The Book of Jeremiah . Castle of Concrete by Katia Raina is reviewed by Batya Medad on her blog Shiloh Musings. It's a coming of age story that takes place in Moscow as the USSR crumbles. It can be enjoyed by readers of all age...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Natalie Silverstein is the New York volunteer coordinator of Doing Good Together , an organization that empowers families to raise caring, engaged children. She wrote Simple Acts: The Busy Family's Guide to Giving Back to give parents practical ideas for incorporating service and the spirit of giving into family life.  IN OTHER NEWS: The podcast Kidlit These Days honors Jewish American Heritage Month in June 2019. They interviewed friend-of-The-Book-of-Life Lesléa Newman , and they included      Jewish kidlit reading recommendations from yours truly, Heidi Rabinowitz.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!       CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band   ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    VISIT CRAIG'S WEBSITE       🕮    Craig Taubman is a long-time star in the world of American Jewish rock and roll, and the founder of the Pico Union Project .  Mostly Kosher is an up and coming Gypsy Rock Klezmer band whose tagline is “word to your bubbe.”  In spring 2019, Craig Taubman brought along Mostly Kosher and together they put on a foot-stomping concert at Congregation B’nai Israel , the home of The Book of Life podcast. That gave me the chance to grab this interview, and even to include the voice of our cantor ’s daughter Aria. Here’s your chance to be a fly on the wall in the green room before the show. 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 ...

Hello everyone! My name is Anna Caplan. I’m a Jewish educator, a mom, and the creator of Honeycake magazine, a new Jewish literary magazine for two- to six-year-olds. I’m excited to tell you a bit about our history and what we’re working on now! To learn more, visit our website . Our History The idea for Honeycake came from my four-year-old daughter’s love of children’s magazines. One day as I was renewing her subscription to Ladybug magazine, it occurred to me that I had never seen a similar type of publication for Jewish kids. I started to think about the gaps I saw in contemporary American Jewish children's literature, and how a magazine could fill some of those gaps for our family. I was curious about what other people thought of the idea of a Jewish children’s magazine, so I started reaching out to parents, grandparents, writers, artists, educators, and librarians. The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. I began putting together a team , including an advisory ...

Jewish kidlit can save the world. That's why The Book of Life has a new Facebook group, "Jewish Kidlit Mavens," where we can save the world together. This is a space for Jewish kidlit professionals (the kidlit is Jewish; the professionals may or may not be) to discuss books from early childhood through middle grade and young adult. Members may include librarians, teachers, publishers, authors, illustrators, agents, booksellers, book bloggers, reviewers, etc. Join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/JewishKidlitMavens/ . Let's schmooze!

Children’s Book Week runs from April 29-May 5, 2019. This year is the 100th anniversary of Children’s Book Week, an annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading. The 2019 theme is “Read Now. Read Forever.” Children’s Book Week is the perfect time to announce The Book of Life’s new focus on Jewish children’s literature . We’ve always had a strong emphasis on books for youth, but now we are making a conscious choice to prioritize coverage of kidlit, with occasional forays into other topics. Instead of defining ourselves as “a show about Jewish books, music, film and web,” The Book of Life is now officially “a show about Jewish kidlit, mostly.” Why this change?  Because kidlit will save the world. Books read in youth are formative, making an especially strong impact. Jewish books help Jewish kids create their religious and cultural identities, and help other kids understand and empathize with Jews. Through mirrors and windows polished brig...