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READ THE TRANSCRIPT    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Ambika Sambasivan is the publisher at Yali Books, which opens a window to South Asia –India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives —and invites the rest of the world to learn more about the incredible diversity of this region. Maxine Rose Schur is the author of Brave with Beauty, a picture book biography of the the 15th century Queen Goharshad of Afghanistan, published by Yali Books. She's also the author of several Jewish books for children, including the 1999 Sydney Taylor Book Award winner, The Peddler's Gift. This interview with Ambika and Maxine is part of the Through the Window Diversity Exchange sponsored by The Book of Life and the Association of Jewish Libraries, in which Jewish and  non-Jewish partners meet and converse to look through the window at each other's culture. LEARN MORE: Through the Window: A Diversity Exchange Yali Books Maxine Rose Schur's website Book trailer for Brave with Beauty Goharshad World Award Freedom for Immigrants - Ambika's Tikkun Olam suggestion  "Sometimes" poem by Mary Oliver - Maxine's Tikkun Olam suggestion Past "Through the Window" exchange: On Jewish Women's Archive: Interview with Author Ameya Narvankar, Ritu Weds Chandni On Yali Books: Building Inclusivity at My Jewish Day School CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate Your feedback is welcome! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473. https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2021/04/through-window-brave-with-beauty.html

Linda Elovitz Marshall was excited to get her COVID-19 shot, and back in the day she was glad to be vaccinated for polio too. That gratitude led her to create the picture book biography The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine illustrated by Lisa Anchin, a 2020 Sydney Taylor Notable Book.  LEARN MORE: Linda Elovitz Marshall's website Buy The Polio Pioneer at Bookshop.org The Salk Institute "Race and the Politics of Polio" in the American Journal of Public Health  Ritualwell and Central Reform Congregation's COVID blessings CDC information on COVID-19 vaccines www.bookoflifepodcast.com

My good friend Susan Kusel has been on the podcast before, to talk about The Sydney Taylor Shmooze,  and to announce the Sydney Taylor Book Award winners in 2018 and 2019. She also appeared in Beyond the Holocaust and Holidays, a 2019 episode about the Highlights Foundation's writing symposium, and in the 2020 episode The Mitzvah of Voting: Part 1.  This time she's here along with illustrator Sean Rubin to talk about their debut picture book, The Passover Guest, an AJL Holiday Highlights book. See below for the list of fine Passover picture books recently recommended by the Association of Jewish Libraries. LEARN MORE:  Susan Kusel's website Sean Rubin's website Sean's work on Redwall AJL Holiday Highlights AJL's 2021 Passover Children's Book Recommendations The Passover Guest by Susan Kusel Meet the Matzah by Alan Silberberg The Four Questions by Lynne Sharon Schwartz Welcoming Elijah by Lesléa Newman Miriam at the River by Jane Yolen CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate Your feedback is welcome! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473. https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-passover-guest.html

Aviva Brown is the author of Ezra's BIG Shabbat Question and Not Now, Mara! These picture books portray Jewish children of color without making a big deal about it, something we don't see often enough in kidlit. Listen to Aviva as she talks about her inspiration, about self publishing, and about winning Mother of the Year Award for the state of North Carolina. LEARN MORE: Aviva Brown's website Mother of the Year Award CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate Your feedback is welcome! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473. https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2021/02/ezras-big-shabbat-question.html

Rebecca Levitan is the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She joined us to discuss the 2021 winners of the award, which annually recognizes the best Jewish literature for children and teens.  AJL is an affiliate of the American Library Association, so the Sydney Taylor Book Awards are announced at ALA's Youth Media Awards press conference, being held virtually this year on January 25, 2021. You can watch a recording of the announcement on ALA's YouTube channel. Here's the official 2021 Sydney Taylor Book Award press release and the printable list of winners, honors, and notable books. The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour will take place February 8-12, 2021. Details will appear soon at JewishLibraries.org. We also spoke about AJL's Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award. The 2021 winner is Cats and Honey Cake by Sonja Spear. We mentioned AJL's new Holiday Highlights recommended reading list, which recognizes the best juvenile Jewish holiday books as they are coming out. The inaugural list has been published, recognizing four titles being published in Spring 2021. You can read the press release HERE. You can watch a YouTube video of Rebecca Levitan, Susan Kusel, and Heidi Rabinowitz on AJL Presents: The  Sydney Taylor Real and Mock Book Awards. In the introduction I brought up Susan Kusel's interview on Kidlit These Days with Matthew Winner, in which she offers guidance for teaching children about the Holocaust. You can hear the episode Remembrance on Book Riot.   https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-2021-sydney-taylor-book-awards.html

The Sydney Taylor Shmooze is a mock book award blog that reviews Jewish children's and teen literature and invites readers to vote for the titles that they think will win the Sydney Taylor Book Award. In the last episode of The Book of Life, I spoke with my fellow admins of The Shmooze, Susan Kusel and Chava Pinchuck, about the whys and hows of this project. We also heard some good advice from the folks at other mock award blogs: Calling Caldecott, Heavy Medal, and Guessing Geisel, but we couldn't include everything they said. Here now, is your chance to hear my full conversation with Julie Danielson of Calling Caldecott, Steven Engelfreed of Heavy Medal, and Amy Seto Forrestor of Guessing Geisel. Have a listen, and don't forget to go and vote for the mock Sydney Taylor Book Awards between January 4 and 15, 2021 at sydneytaylorshmooze.com. The Sydney Taylor Shmooze Vote for the 2021 Mock Sydney Taylor Book Awards Calling Caldecott Guessing Geisel Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog Transcript

The Sydney Taylor Shmooze is a mock award blog created in Spring 2020 by Susan Kusel, Chava Pinchuck, and me, in order to encourage discussion of Jewish children's and teen literature eligible for the Sydney Taylor Book Award. In this podcast episode, Susan and Chava join me to talk about how it's going and about how YOU can vote for the mock awards. We also get some advice from other mock award bloggers from Calling Caldecott, Guessing Geisel, and Heavy Medal. The Sydney Taylor Shmooze Vote for the 2021 Mock Sydney Taylor Book Awards Calling Caldecott Guessing Geisel Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog Transcript

In December 2020, the world received a wondrous Hanukkah gift: Daveed Diggs’ “Puppy for Hanukkah” video. I see Puppy for Hanukkah as an excellent model for creating terrific Jewish children’s literature! Read full essay at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-puppy-test.html

Theodor Bikel, of blessed memory, was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist and political activist. Journalist Aimee Ginsburg Bikel is the wife of the late Theodore Bikel, and she brought to life Theo's story, City of Light.

Anya and the Dragon is Sofiya Pasternak's debut, a middle grade Jewish historical fantasy novel. It was recognized by a 2020 Sydney Taylor Honor Award. It will be joined on November 10, 2020 by a sequel, Anya and the Nightingale. Join me for a fascinating conversation with Sofiya about the history behind the fantasy. See full show notes at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/11/anya-and-dragon.html

Welcome to the third and final entry in our series, The Mitzvah of Voting. It's October 2020 your favorite Jewish kidlit authors want all eligible US citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, and listeners around the world to vote in their own local elections. My author guests will be sharing why they vote and they'll give you some recommendations for ways to keep democracy healthy. This time, we will leave you with some musical inspiration to carry you through Election Day. Once again, I want to remind you that, as always, the views expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of our host organization, Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida. One of today's guests, Sarah Aroeste, is not only an author, she's also a singer songwriter who performs in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that became the tongue of Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. I'm excited to tell you that Sarah is sharing a full song with us today, the title song from her album Gracia. The word GRACIA means THANKS and GRACE but it's also a tribute to the medieval Sephardic heroine, Doña Gracia Nasi who lived in the 1500s and saved hundreds of Jews from the Inquisition. The main idea of the song is that activists of the past inspire us to activism in our own time. See the lyrics below.  Guest authors include: Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted and A Ceiling Made of Eggshells Lesléa Newman, author of Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story Evan Wolkenstein, author of Turtle Boy Sue Macy, author of The Book Rescuer Sarah Aroeste, author of Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom and singer/songwriter of Gracia  Resources mentioned by guests include: The Matthew Shepard Foundation SURJ: Standing Up for Racial Justice Reclaim Our Vote Doña Gracia Nasi CLICK HERE TO READ THE TRANSCRIPT Read the English translation of Gracia CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band    Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast     Twitter: @bookoflifepod  Support the Podcast: Ways to Donate  

Welcome to Part 2 of our 3 part series, The Mitzvah of Voting. It's October 2020 your favorite Jewish kidlit authors want all eligible US citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, and listeners around the world to vote in their own local elections! My author guests will be sharing why they vote and they'll give you some recommendations for ways to keep democracy healthy.  Guest authors include: Elissa Brent Weissman, author of The Length of a String Lee Wind, author of Queer as a $5 Bill and No Way, They Were Gay? Barbara Bietz, author of Sweet Tamales for Purim Jane Breskin Zalben, author of A Moon for Moe and Mo Jacqueline Jules, author of The Generous Fish, Never Say a Mean Word Again, The Hardest Word Anne-Marie Asner, author of the Matzah Ball Books series  Suggestions from guests in this episode: Become a poll worker Add your Representative and Senators to your cell phone and call regularly on issues you care about Confirm your voter registration at Vote.org CLICK HERE TO READ THE TRANSCRIPT Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band    Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast     Twitter: @bookoflifepod  Support the Podcast: Ways to Donate  

This episode is a call to action for U.S. citizens eligible to vote, and a reminder to listeners everywhere that voting is your superpower. If you are a U.S. citizen eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, please do so! For information about how to vote, visit VOTE.ORG. In this special 3-part series, some of your favorite Jewish kidlit authors will be sharing why they vote and they'll give some recommendations for ways to keep our democracy healthy.  In each episode of The Book of Life, I ask guests to suggest a tikkun olam action, a way to help repair the world. This special series is MY tikkun olam action. Please help me inspire more people to vote by sharing this podcast as widely as you can, today.   By the way, you should always assume that the opinions expressed on The Book of Life podcast are not necessarily those of our host organization, Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida, but because this episode is more political than most, I'll just remind you of that fact right now. Guest authors include: Marjorie Ingall, author of Mamaleh Knows Best Linda Epstein, author of Repairing the World Jeff Gottesfeld, author of No Steps Behind Leslie Kimmelman, author of The Eight Knights of Hanukkah Susan Kusel, author of The Passover Guest Tziporah Cohen, author of No Vacancy Here are the resources named during this episode: Vote.org ChooseDemocracy.us The Count Every Vote Act HR 8492 Hold the Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights Jews for Racial and Economic Justice  The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society VoteRiders.org  CLICK HERE TO READ THE TRANSCRIPT CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band    Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast     Twitter: @bookoflifepod  Support the Podcast: Ways to Donate  

For this "Pond Life" episode, I paired the books Turtle Boy with Fish Out of Water, to highlight the similar themes I saw in both middle grade bar mitzvah novels. Wonderfully, authors Joanne Levy and Evan Wolkenstein really hit it off and they actually helped to interview each other!  For complete show notes, please visit https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/pond-life-fish-out-of-water-turtle-boy.html

Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children's Literature, edited and translated by Miriam Udel, comes out from NYU Press on October 6, 2020. We didn't have the chance to do an audio interview but I did want you to know about this worthy book, so I interviewed Miriam by email. I hope you will enjoy reading all about Honey on the Page at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/honey-on-page.html.

Muslim author Saadia Faruqui and Jewish author Laura Shovan joined me to talk about their jointly written middle grade contemporary novel, A Place at the Table. This is a book about immigration, about friendship, and it will make you hungry. Full show notes at: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-place-at-table.html

Multi-talented mensch Patricia Portillo is an artist who works with fiber, clay, and other materials. She is also a voice artist and professional opera singer, and she dabbles in the culinary arts. She rendered The Book of Life's dancing man logo as a crocheted doll so we are interviewing her to learn more about her crafting abilities. Today's episode is available as a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJrTjZeQFNY&feature=youtu.be Find all Show Notes at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/08/video-episode-artist-patricia-portillo.html 

No Vacancy is Tziporah Cohen's debut middle grade novel. It's a story of friendship across boundaries, the importance of community as a bulwark against prejudice... and a Virgin Mary sighting. Full show notes at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/08/no-vacancy.html

We hear from David Raphael, co-founder of the Jewish Grandparents Network, and we enjoy the audiobook Bubbe & Zaide, written and voiced by Anne-Marie Asner along with the famous actor Ed Asner as Zaide. For links to more resources, including our guests' Boosting Black Voices reading recommendations, visit bookoflifepodcast.com.

Lee Wind is the author of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill and blogs at I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read? He is Heidi's partner in the Through the Window diversity exchange program sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries. Please visit https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/06/through-window-lee-wind.html for extensive show notes with lots of great links.