The Book of Life: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly)

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/05/craig-taubman-mostly-kosher.html

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.

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/05/sweep-story-of-girl-and-her-monster.html

May 1 is May Day, the chimney sweeps' holiday. It's the perfect day to bring you a podcast about Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier. The book introduces us to Nan, a chimney climber, and her golem friend Charlie, a creature made of soot. This middle grade novel won the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children's books, along with numerous other literary awards. In this lush, dense interview, Jonathan gives us much to think about!

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-length-of-string.html

The Length of a String won a 2019 Sydney Taylor Honor Award in the Older Readers Category. It's a middle grade novel about Imani, an adopted black Jewish girl who wants to learn about her birth parents. When she inherits a Holocaust-era diary from her Jewish great-grandmother, she begins to see family in a whole new way. I spoke to author Elissa Brent Weissman by Skype.

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

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SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-kosher-baker.html

Paula Shoyer is known as The Kosher Baker. I met her at Limmud, a one day conference of Jewish learning on a wide variety of topics, held in December 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida. Paula was there to present two sessions: "Are Your Jewish Holiday Meals Dangerous?" and "Jewish Cookbooks Tell Our Stories." We sat down between sessions in the breezy courtyard for this interview.

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Craig Taubman is coming to Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton! If you will be in South Florida, don't miss this show! Call 561-241-8118 for tickets or BUY TICKETS HERE. Listen to a special message from Craig now, and keep an eye on The Book of Life for an upcoming full-length interview!

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SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/03/fanias-heart-birthday-card-in-auschwitz.html

The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin spoke to author Anne Renaud after she won the 2018 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Fania's Heart, a Holocaust picture book for older readers. It's the true story of a heart-shaped birthday card created in Auschwitz at great personal risk by women prisoners, from scraps of fabric, stolen materials, and glue made out of bread and water, for the 20th birthday of fellow prisoner Fania Landau Fainer. The real heart is now in the Montreal Holocaust Museum, and it's one of the few surviving objects created by prisoners of Auschwitz. Be sure to check out this documentary, that was the inspiration for Renaud to write this book: https://vimeo.com/channels/348350

For a book about Fania, aimed at teen readers, see Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott.

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

bookoflifepodcast.com

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/02/meet-me-at-well.html

Before I moved from Massachusetts back to Florida, I visited with Jane Yolen and Barbara Diamond Goldin to talk about their joint book of original feminist midrash, Meet Me at the Well: The Girls and Women of the Bible. We sat down in Jane's sunny kitchen and they just let it all pour out; I hardly needed to ask any questions! Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-2019-sydney-taylor-book-manuscript.html

Susan Kusel is the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She joined us by Skype from her home in Falls Church, VA. to talk about the 2019 winners of the award (and so did her dog Harry).

This year's Sydney Taylor Book Awards are being announced at the ALA Youth Media Awards press conference in Seattle, WA during the ALA Midwinter Meeting on January 28, 2019 at 8am PT.

Here's the official Sydney Taylor Book Award announcement with the full list of winners, honors, and notable books: https://jewishlibraries.org/sydney_taylor_book_award/

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/01/beyond-holocaust-and-holidays-writing.html

"Beyond the Holocaust and Holidays: Who Are We and What Are We Writing?" is a symposium for Jewish children's literature, welcoming novelists and publishing professionals to Honesdale, PA, March 15-18, 2019. A stellar faculty will lead discussions on issues both practical and philosophical. For this episode of The Book of Life, we've gathered four of those faculty members for our own discussion: Adam Gidwitz, Susan Kusel, Katherine Locke, and Rena Rossner.

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

Hillary Saxton is a children's librarian at the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Public Library, and the creator of the event series "Stand Up! Storytime for Social Justice." She was originally scheduled to participate in the "Social Justice and Jewish Children's Books" panel at the Association of Jewish Libraries conference, featured on The Book of Life in August 2018. She was sick and couldn't make it, so I caught up with her later by Skype. Find the titles used in the 2017-18 Stand Up storytimes at the Cambridge Public Library's collection of booklists here. And please share your own favorite social justice titles in the comments here at The Book of Life. Speaking of social justice, check out the Association of Jewish Libraries' series of "Love Your Neighbor" booklists, created to provide all children and their families with a greater understanding of the Jewish religion and its people.