The Book of Life: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly‪)‬ Heidi Rabinowitz

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/05/wayward-creatures.html
Wayward Creatures by Dayna Lorentz is a heartfelt animal friendship story for middle grade readers, told from the points of view of both a troubled young Jewish boy and the wayward coyote he befriends after a forest fire changes both of their lives. A local restorative justice program helps Gabe learn the value of community and tikkun olam.
This book takes place in the United States of America in the state of Vermont. During Jewish American Heritage Month in May, I'll be posting a Jewish American kidlit title every day on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Bookoflifepodcast. Follow along to see my recommendations, and share your own favorites!

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/holiday-highlights-best-new-passover.html
Regular listeners will remember my friend Susan Kusel, a librarian/bookseller/author who partners with me frequently to promote Jewish children's literature. In this episode, we discuss Holiday Highlights, a project we set up through the Association of Jewish Libraries. Our expert committee, Amy Lilien-Harper, Robbin Friedman, and Sylvie Shaffer, compile seasonal Holiday Highlights lists representing the best Jewish children's holiday books each Spring and Fall. We tell you all about the project, and about the amazing Passover picture books on the Spring 2022 Holiday Highlights list.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-unfinished-corner.html
 




The Unfinished Corner, a National Jewish Book Awards finalist, is a graphic novel that challenges a bat mitzvah girl and her group of diverse Jewish friends to finish a corner of the universe left unfinished by God, in order to rid the world of evil. It's a bold premise, brilliantly carried out with a mix of ancient folklore and modern thinking. I was excited to speak with author Dani Colman to learn more.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/02/good-grief.html
Today I've got a group interview for you, with three authors whose books each take a different and fascinating angle on dealing with grief. It's a difficult topic to talk about with young people but these books handle it with grace and sensitivity. Tyler Feder, author of the Sydney Taylor Book Award winning graphic memoir for young adults, Dancing at the Pity Party, middle grade novelist Emily Barth Isler, whose debut book is called Aftermath, and returning guest Joanne Levy, who was on the show in October 2020 to talk about Fish Out of Water, is back with her new middle grade novel Sorry for Your Loss, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-2022-sydney-taylor-book-award-blog.html
Welcome to this special edition of The Book of Life, recorded as a part of the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! Visit https://jewishlibraries.org/ to find the full schedule of interviews with the gold and silver medalists, published February 7th to 11th, 2022 and available thereafter to read at your convenience.

I had the pleasure of speaking with the gold medalists: Susan Kusel and Sean Rubin, author and illustrator of the picture book The Passover Guest, Veera Hiranandani, author of the middle grade novel How to Find What You're Not Looking For, and Aden Polydoros, author of the young adult novel The City Beautiful. I hope you'll enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-2022-sydney-taylor-book-awards.html
Martha Seif Simpson is the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She joined us to discuss the 2022 winners of the award, which annually recognizes the best Jewish literature for children and teens.