The Book of Life: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly)

Click here for full SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT

If you've ever read books to a baby or toddler, you're familiar with board books, those small sturdy books with stiff cardboard pages that can withstand drool and rough handling. But just because these books are designed for babies doesn't mean they are baby-ish. Suzy Ultman's deceptively simple storytelling in board book format has brought about a historic moment. For the first time ever, a board book has won a Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Among the four Jewish board books Suzy has created so far, the one that got her the gold was Shabbat Shalom, Let's Rest and Reset. Her signature bright, quirky, cheerful art, paired with reassuring, calming text, invites us to stop all the doing and just be. If you need to give a baby gift, I highly recommend one or all of Suzy's Jewish board books... but you might actually want to get copies for yourself because they are like tiny mantras about Jewish concepts and Jewish pride.

SHOW NOTES:

• Suzy Ultman's website and Instagram
• Buy Shabbat Shalom, I Like Your Chutzpah, It's a Mitzvah, and How Do You Jew?
• Creative Bug online classes from Suzy Ultman
• Heidi's tikkun olam suggestion: use Democracy.io to email your reps

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

Click here for full SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to the 17th annual Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, taking place February 9-12, 2026. I am participating in the Blog Tour by interviewing Caroline Kusin Pritchard and Selina Alko, author and illustrator of The Keeper of Stories, which was a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Picture Book category.

SHOW NOTES:

• Here's the schedule for the 2026 Blog Tour

• Here's the archive of all past blog tours, beginning in 2009

• Caroline Kusin Prichard's website and Instagram

• Selina Alko's website and Instagram

• Buy The Keeper of Stories, The Day the Books Disappeared, The Remembering Candle, and Otherwise Known as Judy the Great

• Article in PEN America about censoring censorship, "Don't Mention It"

• Video by Adam Gidwitz on the value of school visits

• Geraldine Brooks, The People of the Book, on The Book of Life in 2008

• Caroline's podcast, Kidlit Happy Hour

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

Click here for full SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT

The winners of the 2026 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, recognizing the best Jewish children's and young adult literature of the year, were announced on January 26, 2026 at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards event. Melanie Koss is the current chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and she joined me on the podcast to discuss the 2026 winners of the award.

LEARN MORE:

• Sydney Taylor Book Awards

• The Sydney Taylor Portal

• ALA's YouTube channel, where you can watch a recording of the announcement

• Heidi's unofficial 2026 Sydney Taylor shortlist

2026 Sydney Taylor Book Awards GOLD

• Picture Book Winner: Shabbat Shalom, Let's Rest and Reset written and illustrated by Suzy Ultman, published by Rise x Penguin Workshop

• Middle Grade Winner: Neshama by Marcella Pixley, published by Candlewick

• Young Adult Winner: D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T. by Abby White, published by Levine Querido

SILVER

Picture Book Honors

• The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Leanne Hatch, published by Clarion Books

• The Keeper of Stories by Caroline Kusin Pritchard, illustrated by Selina Alko, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

• My Body Can by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo, published by Apples & Honey Press

Middle Grade Honor

• Beinoni by Mari Lowe, published by Levine Querido

Young Adult Honor

• The Rebel Girls of Rome by Jordyn Taylor, published by HarperCollins

NOTABLE

Picture Book Notables

• Fanny's Big Idea: How Jewish Book Week Was Born by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Alyssa Russell, published by Rocky Pond Books

• Finding Forgiveness by Rebecca Gardyn Levington, illustrated by Diana Mayo, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux

• The Remembering Candle by Alison Goldberg, illustrated by Selina Alko, published by Barefoot Books

Middle Grade Notables

• A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff, published by Dial Books

• The Daughter of Auschwitz: The Girl Who Lived to Tell Her Story by Tova Friedman, published by Quill Tree Books

• Right Back at You by Carolyn Mackler, published by Scholastic Press

• Same Page by Elly Swartz, published by Delacorte Press

• The Trouble with Secrets by Naomi Milliner, published by Quill Tree Books

Young Adult Notable

• Leaving the Station by Jake Maia Arlow, published by Storytide

OTHER

2026 Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award Winner: Uri Shulevitz

2026 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Winner: "How to Catch a Mermaid (When You're Scared of the Sea)" by Jessica Russak-Hoffman

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello! This is Heidi Rabinowitz, your host at The Book of Life Podcast, and I have some news to share.

A year ago I started a Substack newsletter for The Book of Life Podcast to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. The free Substack posts include podcast episodes, show notes, transcripts, Jewish kidlit news, and calls to action. A number of listeners have very kindly pledged to upgrade to paid subscriptions to support the show. I am now turning on paid subscriptions, and I'm starting a new bonus segment on The Book of Life, especially for paid subscribers. It's called Share Your Shelf. I'll be asking guests to look at their own bookshelves to share the books that are important to them, or that have an interesting origin story; books they've hung onto or just acquired, their oldest or newest books, or even the books that are actually missing from their shelves. The first Share Your Shelf bonus segment will go out to paid subscribers on January 26th, when I'll also be posting a free podcast episode for everyone, about the winners of the 2026 Sydney Taylor Book Award. If you'd like to hear these personal stories from Book of Life guests, and if you'd like to support my work advocating for Jewish kidlit, please subscribe to the Substack at BookOfLifePodcast.Substack.com and click on the Upgrade to Paid button.

And no matter how you listen to the show, and whether or not you're a free OR paid subscriber on Substack, I want to thank you for giving the podcast and Jewish kidlit your attention!

SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT: https://open.substack.com/pub/bookoflifepodcast/p/podcast-20th-anniversary-retrospective?r=16b2w9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

It's The Book of Life's 20th Anniversary! In celebration, here's a super deluxe retrospective episode, with short clips from every year of the podcast. We'll start with this anniversary year, 2025, and then move back through time to 2005.

HANUKKAH TREATS:

• Miniature Zine about the podcast -- print and fold! folding instructions here
• Book of Life 20th Anniversary Merch -- sales benefit the Association of Jewish Libraries

LEARN MORE:

• Read Podcasting Since the Dawn of Time, my essay on the evolution of the show
• Like the clips in this special? Click here for the full episodes

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-hanukkah-classic-crossover-with-fuse.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/2QqWmvmeK1xGjP9AmSJelGqNVCg?utm_source=copy_url

Fuse 8 n' Kate is a weekly podcast hosted by School Library Journal, in which super-librarian Betsy Bird and her sister Kate evaluate 20+ year old picture books to decide whether they should be considered classics. Since The Book of Life is 20 years old (and hopefully a classic), I asked Betsy and Kate to collaborate on a Hanukkah episode! We did a joint episode that will appear on both our feeds, interviewed each other, and talked about The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Nancy Cote, published in 1997. Did we decide it was a classic? Listen and find out!

LEARN MORE:

• Fuse 8 n' Kate Podcast

• Buy or Borrow The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes

• Linda Glaser's website

• Nancy Cote's website

• Linda Glaser on The Book of Life in 2006 (Bridge to America) and 2014 (Hannah's Way)

• Betsy's 2025 recommended reading throughout December: 31 Days, 31 Lists

• Heidi's "Share Your Shelf, Share Your Story" Jewish Book Month posts on

  Facebook or Instagram.

HANUKKAH TREATS:

• Miniature book about the podcast -- print and fold! folding instructions here
• Book of Life 20th Anniversary Merch -- sales benefit the Association of Jewish Libraries!

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-throwback-jewish-book-month.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/sEuzJ-GYxRIHREm5DRtY94hYkFI?utm_source=copy_url

Continuing the celebration of my 20th year of podcasting, I've got another archival episode for you from 2006, about Jewish Book Month. In the early days of The Book of Life I usually had multiple guests in each episode, and this one includes four:

• Folklorist Howard Schwartz, talking about his picture book Before You Were Born, which had just won the Koret Award | Website of Howard Schwartz z"l | Buy Before You Were Born
• Carolyn Starman Hessel, longtime director of the Jewish Book Council, whose nickname was "the Jewish Oprah" | Jewish Book Council
• Esme Raji Codell, author of one of my favorites middle-grade novels Vive La Paris | Website of Esme Raji Codell | Buy Vive la Paris
• David Levithan, author of the 2004 young adult novel Wide Awake, which was reissued as Wide Awake Now in 2024 because its themes of politics and protest are more relevant than ever | David Levithan on Wikipedia | Buy Wide Awake Now

I'm celebrating Jewish Book Month by participating in the Jewish Book Council's "Share Your Shelf, Share Your Story" project. I will post a photo on social media each day of Jewish Book Month, November 13 through December 13, 2025, showing a Jewish book from my personal collection with a comment about why the book is special to me. See Facebook or Instagram.

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/jean-meltzer-queen-of-jewish-joy.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/65Uhjlmyb1QYDBa_KvBpl0TCTyU?utm_source=copy_url

Back in July 2025 I did a brief interview with Jean Meltzer, so she could tell you about Jewish Joy Con, an exciting event coming to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in March 2026. But I promised you a longer interview later - and here it is! Jean talks about her writing, her Jewish Joy Book Club and subscription box, more about the con, and about her newest book, The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah.

LEARN MORE:

• Jean Meltzer's website, Instagram, and Facebook

• Jewish Women Talk About Romance Books group on Facebook

• The Jewish Joy Box

• Jewish Joy Con (March 13-15, 2026 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

• Jean's own books: o The Matzah Ball o Mr. Perfect on Paper o Kissing Kosher o Magical Meet Cute o The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah

• Jean's recommended reading suggestions: o Blood Bond by Helen Hardt o Never Planned on You by Lindsey Hammerhof o Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady o Sisters of Fortune by Esther Chechebar o Soon by You by Dahlia Adler o Good Grief by Sarah Goodman Confino

• Heidi's "Jewish Joy" series on Multicultural Kid Blogs

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/october-throwback-laurel-snyder-redux.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/eP9KxOhurmOFV6jIhbWPC5jYX8Y?utm_source=copy_url

Continuing the celebration of my 20th year of podcasting, I've got a 2013 archival episode for you with author Laurel Snyder, who at that time was best known for her iconoclastic picture book, Baxter The Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher. Amazingly, Laurel says that The Book of Life podcast actually impacted her writing! In a 2017 blog article she credited our first podcast conversation as a turning point in her career. She said "Heidi asked me, reasonably, what made my book Jewish, and I found I didn't have an answer for her…. She could not possibly have known, when she asked me that question a decade ago, what journey she was sending me on. The power of the right question is a mighty thing." Laurel has gone on to win the 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award gold medal for her Exodus picture book The Longest Night, and a 2024 bronze for a middle grade fantasy, The Witch of Woodland. This year she's published The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah.

LEARN MORE:

• Laurel Snyder's website
• Buy or Borrow Laurel's newest title, The Book of Candles
• Other past episodes with Laurel: 2008 "Two Jews, Three Opinions" 2015 "The Longest Night"
• That time Laurel interviewed Heidi in 2010
• Bonus content for this episode in Substack newsletter
• Recent print interview about Countering Antisemitism & Hate

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/one-small-spark-more-than-enough.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/-_ly-iTlaYO1hZfUChOPKsYnXTI?utm_source=copy_url

If you're a regular Book of Life listener, you know I always ask guests for tikkun olam suggestions about ways to repair the world. Well, that's what this entire episode is about. I've got a pair of Jewish activist picture books for you: One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story by Ruth Spiro, and More Than Enough: Inspired by Maimonides Golden Ladder of Giving by Richard Michelson, a story about tzedakah. These are both gorgeous picture books that convey their important messages without being preachy - absolutely worth sharing with the kids in your life to help turn them into mensches.

LEARN MORE:

• Richard Michelson's author website and art gallery website

• Ruth Spiro's website

• Borrow or Buy More Than Enough

• Borrow or Buy One Small Spark

• Read-alike suggestions: Ruth Suggests Out and About: A Tale of Giving by Liza Wiemer; Rich suggests The Midnight Mitzvah by Ruth Horowitz

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.