The Book of Life: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly)

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/jahm-throwback-book-of-life-in-america.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/bd9VMkp1cnjgHm9z4cbdq7Usaak?utm_source=copy_url

In celebration of May's Jewish American Heritage Month (aka #JAHM) and The Book of Life's 20th year of podcasting, I'm re-releasing the eighth-ever episode of the show, from July 2006. The theme was "The Book of Life in America."

In the early years of the show, each episode featured multiple guests, and topics ranged beyond books to Jewish music, film, and web. In 23 minutes and 12 seconds, this episode packs in five fantastic guests. While the sound quality is less consistent than today, the warmth and enthusiasm of the interviews was a sign of things to come.

If you enjoy this blast from the past, check out other past episodes of The Book of Life. Click on Archive in the sidebar at Bookoflifepodcast.com, or just go to the episode list on your podcast player and keep on scrolling down, down, down.

• JewishAmericanHeritage.org offers info, resources, and toolkits for celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month each May.

• Guests Linda Glaser and Phil Myzel, are the author and subject of the historical middle grade novel Bridge to America

• Guest Susan Shane-Linder reviews the CD American Jewish Summer: Songs of the Jewish Youth Camping Movement

• Guest Susan Goldman Rubin is the author of L'Chaim! To Jewish Life in America!

• Guest Nancy Pearl is an American Jewish "Super-Librarian" whose book recommendations are featured in her Book Lust series, on her website, her podcast, and her TV show, and who is the only librarian to have her own action figure!

• Bonus content for this episode on The Book of Life Substack

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/2025/05/mendel-mess-up.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/MYzjopAD_3R8aSnpGTydMmKNjv4?utm_source=copy_url

Terry LaBan is an alternative cartoonist, a graphic recorder (we'll talk about what that means later), and now he's written his first graphic novel, called Mendel the Mess Up. I'm going to borrow the description from the starred review in Publishers Weekly. They said "Put Fiddler on the Roof and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in a blender, add a jigger or two of Seinfeld, and the result is this boisterous and affirming graphic novel." Doesn't that sound amazing?

LEARN MORE:

• Buy or borrow Mendel the Mess-Up

• Terry LaBan's author website and graphic recording website

• Terry's Tikkun Olam suggestion: support HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

• Get bonus content for this episode on Substack

• Terry's reading recommendations: o The Story of the Jews: A 4000 Year Adventure by Stan Mack o A Minyan Yidn (A Bunch of Jews) by Trina Robbins o Anything by Leela Korman o Hereville series by Barry Deutsch

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/2025/04/listen-to-podcast-read-transcript-buy.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/EnXlWNdrqXuQ4V3kzlKGwyqpPWk?utm_source=copy_url

A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell is a lovely meditation on the natural landscape of Israel, written and illustrated by Miri Leshem-Pelly. Miri's voice is calm and dreamy, and I could hear birds chirping and dogs barking in the background as she spoke. Our conversation was both fun and serious. We talked about art, nature, books, Instagram challenges... and also about the war in Israel and its impact on humans and animals.

LEARN MORE:

• Buy or borrow A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell
• Miri Leshem-Pelly's website
• Miri's Instagram
• Activity Guide for A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell
• Ravensburger jigsaw puzzle with Miri's art
• Tikkun olam suggestion: support the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
• Reading recommendations: o All Eyes on Alexandra by Anna Levine o A Hoopoe Says Oop by Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh o Fast Asleep in a Little Village in Israel by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod o My Israel and Me by Alice McGinty

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/2025/04/bonus-passover-interview-next-year-in.html

Next Year in the White House: Barack Obama's First Presidential Seder, written by Richard Michelson and illustrated by E.B. Lewis, is a nonfiction picture book that gives us the true backstory of how Passover first came to be celebrated in the White House. It's a stunning book; it received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, and was named to the Association of Jewish Libraries' Spring 2025 Holiday Highlights list.

Because this is a true story, I was able to interview one of the "characters" -- Eric Lesser, seen in the photo above, walking with President Obama. Lesser worked on the Obama campaign trail in 2008, and later became a White House aide. He's also served as a Massachusetts State Senator. He agreed to answer ten questions about the events covered in Next Year in the White House. Read the interview on The Book of Life blog.

LEARN MORE:

• Buy or borrow Next Year in the White House

• Websites of author Richard Michelson and illustrator E.B. Lewis

• Article in The Forward about the book

• Eric Lesser's Instagram

• A history of Passover celebrations in the White House

• Spring 2025 Holiday Highlights booklist (includes Next Year at the White House)

• Subscribe to The Book of Life's Substack newsletter

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/03/dara-horns-one-little-goat-passover.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/zU6o8qxtZlvMmyrGuICLUOmimzQ?utm_source=copy_url

Dara Horn is the author of 5 Jewish novels for adults, the provocatively titled nonfiction essay collection People Love Dead Jews, and now a graphic novel for kids: One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe. She writes brilliant, insightful articles for The Atlantic and other publications which set my brain on fire when I read them. I recommend you run out and read everything she's ever written. But before you do, listen to this interview!

LEARN MORE:

• Dara Horn's website

• Buy or borrow One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe

• Buy or borrow People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present

  Listen to the 7-part podcast Adventures with Dead Jews

• Buy or borrow Dara's most recent novel, Eternal Life

• Dara's short story "Shtetl World"

• Selected Articles by Dara Horn: o "Is Holocaust Education Making Antisemitism Worse?" o "October 7th Created a Permission Structure for Anti-Semitism"

• Other books mentioned: Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Mr. Mani by Alef Bet Yehoshua, The Source by James Michener

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
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• 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/2025/03/night-owls.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/NeK1Grf7bTzi-TYHpbLocZlEbH4?utm_source=copy_url

Night Owls is an paranormal YA romance adventure about Clara and Molly, two estries who run an art house cinema in the Village in New York City. In case you're wondering, estries are Jewish owl-shifting bread-eating female vampires! This book is my new favorite, and I'm not the only one. This debut novel won gold from the Sydney Taylor Book Award AND the National Jewish Book Award! The story is fun and fast paced, it's eery and emotional, and it's got characters I want to hang out with even if they would probably be dangerous to know.

LEARN MORE:

• A.R. Vishny's website

• Buy or borrow Night Owls

• Conversation about American Girl dolls: A.R. Vishny's Hey Alma article, Dolls of Our Lives podcast, and The Book of Life's 2009 interview

• More about the plays "Indecent" and "God of Vengeance"

• Fantasy cast: Julie Benko as Clara, Micaela Diamond as Molly, Itay Tiran as Ashmedai, Swell Ariel Or as Anat, and Ninet Tayeb as Gila (Boaz is uncast). See images of the fantasy cast!

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
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• 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/2025/02/finn-and-ezras-bar-mitzvah-time-loop.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/FR6MxDDT0mG1gxfhcfN-6KoLAHA?utm_source=copy_url

Finn & Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy is a 2025 Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and I'm thrilled to interview my friend Josh as part of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. February 10-14, 2025, winning authors and illustrators will be interviewed on various blogs, podcasts, and Bookstagram accounts, and of course the interviews will remain available for you to enjoy at any time. Check BookOfLifePodcast.com for links. Be sure to listen past the credits to hear our extended conversation about Doctor Who!

LEARN MORE:

• Buy / borrow Finn & Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop
• Joshua S. Levy's website
• Josh's 2023 appearance on the podcast to talk about The Jake Show
• List of Jewish time travel books
• Buy / borrow Josh's favorite Jewish book: As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg
• Buy / borrow Josh's other favorite Jewish book: Eternal Life by Dara Horn
• Buy / borrow Heidi's movie recommendation, About Time
• 2025 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour
• Get more Jewish kidlit news & calls to action in The Book of Life Substack newsletter

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
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• 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/2025/01/the-2025-sydney-taylor-book-awards.html TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/g5yluS6SsAbhu4hkoKy62TZUgac?utm_source=copy_url

The winners of the 2025 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, recognizing the best Jewish children's and young adult literature of the year, were announced on January 27, 2025 at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards event. Aviva Rosenberg is the current chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and she joined us to discuss the 2025 winners of the award.

LEARN MORE:

• Sydney Taylor Book Awards
• ALA's YouTube channel, where you can watch a recording of the announcement
• Heidi's unofficial 2025 Sydney Taylor shortlist
• Get more Jewish kidlit news & calls to action in The Book of Life Substack newsletter

Scroll down to see all the winning titles listed, with links to any past podcast appearances by the authors on The Book of Life.

FYI, the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour will take place in early February, and I will be interviewing Joshua S. Levy about Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop. Details will appear soon at JewishLibraries.org.

Picture Book Winner: An Etrog from Across the Sea by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen, published by Kar-Ben

Middle Grade Winner: The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout, and Sammy Savos, illustrated by Sammy Savos, published by Roaring Brook Press

Young Adult Winner: Night Owls by A.R. Vishny, published by HarperCollins

• Podcast interview with A.R. Vishny forthcoming - watch this space

~~~

Picture Book Honors

Joyful Song by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal, published by Levine Querido

• Podcast interview with Lesléa and Susan about Joyful Song: June 2024

Rising by Sidura Ludwig, illustrated by Sophia Vincent Guy, published by Candlewick

Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan's Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants by Norman H. Finklestein, illustrated by Vesper Stamper, published by Holiday House The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig, published by Rocky Pond Books

Middle Grade Honors

Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar, published by Nancy Paulsen Books

• Podcast interview with Ruth about Across So Many Seas: May 2024

Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy, published by Katherine Tegen Books

• Podcast interview with Josh about The Jake Show: August 2023

Just Shy of Ordinary by A.J. Sass, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

• Podcast interview with A.J. about Ellen Outside the Lines: June 2023

Young Adult Honors

Trajectory by Cambria Gordon, published by Scholastic Press

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb, published by Levine Querido

• Podcast interview with Sacha about When the Angels Left the Old Country: January 2023

~~~~

Picture Book Notables

Mr. Katz and Me by Marc Kornblatt, illustrated by Nanette Regan, published by Apples & Honey Press

Everybody's Book: The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah by Linda Leopold Strauss, illustrated by Tim Smart, published by Kar-Ben

• Podcast interview about the Sarajevo Haggadah, with Geraldine Brooks about People of the Book: April 2008

Sharing Shalom by Danielle Sharkan, illustrated by Selina Alko, published by Holiday House

Middle Grade Notables

Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II by Adam Gidwitz, published by Dutton Books for Young Readers

• Podcast interview with Adam about Max in the House of Spies: July 2024

Things That Shimmer by Deborah Lakritz, published by Kar-Ben

• Podcast interview with Deborah about the Friends for LQ Auction: August 2023

Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton, published by Tundra Books

• Podcast interview with Deke about Benji Zeb: November 2024

Young Adult Notables

The Ballerina of Auschwitz: Young Adult Edition of The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger with Esme Schwall, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Inkflower by Suzy Zail, published by Walker Books Australia

~~~~

2025 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Winner:"When You Write Back" by Hanna R. Neier

The Sydney Taylor Book Awards are sponsored by Jo Taylor Marshall, daughter of All-of-a-Kind Family author Sydney Taylor. I interviewed Jo Taylor Marshall on The Book of Life in January 2024

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
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• 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/2025/01/one-of-kind-life-of-sydney-taylor.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/pOzW-X6i92Kh4g_Ou-vEKIAGWcM?utm_source=copy_url

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. This book has inspired the Association of Jewish Libraries to create a Sydney Taylor portal on their website, to curate information and resources relating to Taylor, her writing, and the Sydney Taylor Book Awards. The project is in the works, and I'll be sure to let you know when it goes live.

I spoke with Jo and Rich 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 her for the Association of Jewish Libraries.

And don't forget to subscribe to my new newsletter on Substack to join my community of Jewish kidlit fans. Get show notes, transcripts, Jewish kidlit news, and occasional calls to action right in your inbox!

LEARN MORE:

• Buy / borrow One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor by Richard Michelson
• Richard Michelson's website
• Oral history with Jo Taylor Marshall
• The "All-of-a-Kind Family Companion" from the Association of Jewish Libraries
• The Sydney Taylor Book Awards
• The Sydney Taylor Shmooze mock award blog
• The Book of Life Podcast Substack Newsletter

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
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• 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/2025/01/the-bubbe-of-them-all-kar-ben-publishing.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/K9B8p4G3Nr-quRj9KYrkhRaGZio?utm_source=copy_url

Appropriately, as we kick off this podcast's 20th 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 the oldest publisher to exclusively focus on Jewish children's books. It was founded fifty years ago, in 1974 - so happy anniversary to Kar-Ben! Now there are half a dozen presses that exclusively publish Jewish children's books, but Kar-Ben is the Bubbe of them all. I spoke with Joni and Fran at the 2024 Association of Jewish Libraries conference to hear all about this exciting time of transition.

LEARN MORE:

• Kar-Ben Publishing website
• "Kar-Ben's New Publisher Is on a Mission" Publishers Weekly 9/17/24
• Joni Sussman's past appearances on The Book of Life
  • 2010 - Book Expo: Jewish Presses
  • 2015 - Diversity in Jewish Kidlit
  • 2019 - The Book of Life Live Show

NEWS!

The Book of Life is now on Substack!

Sign up to receive show notes, transcripts, Jewish kidlit news, and occasional calls to action in your Inbox!

SIGN UP HERE

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
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

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