The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    PURCHASE OR BORROW THE BOOK     🕮   The Miracle Seed is Martin Lemelman's nonfiction graphic novel about how modern science brought the Judean date palm back to life after a thousand year extinction. We met in person at the local public library's recording studio to talk about his book, his art, and the truly amazing story of how seeds found at an archaeological dig at Masada in Israel were able to be germinated after centuries, and about the significance of the Judean date palm in Jewish history. LEARN MORE: Martin Lemelman's websites TwoCentComics.com and LemelmanArt.com The Arava Institute Graphic novel about Martin's mother: Mendel's Daughter Graphic memoir: Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood Book and film: The Tattooed Torah Another recent Israel-related interview: Noa Nimrodi on Not So Shy   CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Co-sponsored by

BUY OR BORROW THE BOOK    |    BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE    |    AUTHOR WEBSITE     🕮    The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour is taking place February 5-9, 2024. Today, one of the blog tour stops is here at The Book of Life! My guest is Noa Nimrodi, author of Not So Shy , a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Middle Grade Category. Click here for a list of all books honored in 2024 . Publisher Kar-Ben says " Twelve-year-old Shai hates having to move to America. She's determined to find a way to get back home to Israel—until she starts opening up to new experiences and friendships." INTERVIEW HEIDI: Noa, welcome to The Book of Life! I understand that the character of Shai is based on a real person. Which parts of the story are based on reality and which parts did you invent? NOA: The book is a mix of truth and fiction. Shai’s character is loosely based on my middle daughter, Shai, who was 12 when we moved from Israel to San Diego, so the premise of the book is very much r

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    The winners of the 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, recognizing the best Jewish children's and young adult literature of the year, were announced on January 22, 2024 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 2024 winners of the award. LEARN  MORE: Sydney Taylor Book Awards ALA's Youth Media Awards (where the Sydney Taylors are announced) ALA's YouTube channel , where you can watch a recording of the announcement Heidi's unofficial 2024 Sydney Taylor shortlist Aviva's recommendation for an Israel-related book: The Miracle Seed by Martin Lemelman Aviva's Tikkun Olam suggestion: buy Israeli products! A helpful Facebook group is Israeli Shops to Purchase From    2024 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS Scroll down to see all the winning titles listed, with links to an

  For the last two years I've done an unofficial shortlist of potential Sydney Taylor Book Award winners. These seem to be particularly popular posts, so I'm doing it again! As y'all know, I'm a former member and chair of the Association of Jewish Libraries' Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, and a cofounder of The Sydney Taylor Shmooze mock award blog, so I have a deep and abiding interest in seeking out the best Jewish kidlit of the year. I'm not actually making predictions about what will win; rather, I'm telling you that these are books that I think deserve your attention (with the caveat that while I probably read the majority of Jewish children's or YA books published in 2023, I did not read ALL of them, so there may be other titles I'd consider worthy if I'd had the chance to read them). I've listed the titles within their age categories alphabetically by author's last name. Note that some of the books were published in

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    SUPPORT ARTISTS AGAINST ANTISEMITISM     🕮    Artists Against Antisemitism is a new organization formed to give creatives of all kinds a way to fight hate. Their very first action is to hold an auction, happening December 15-22, 2023. The auction will benefit Project Shema, which trains and supports the Jewish community and allies to understand and address contemporary antisemitism, especially on college campuses. Debbie Reed Fischer, one of the founding members of Artists Against Antisemitism, joined me to talk about the organization and the auction. LEARN MORE: Bid in the auction: bit.ly/KeepTheLightGoing23 TheArtistsAgainstAntisemitism.com ProjectShema.org Debbie Reed Fischer's website 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 Facebo

Jewish Book Month takes place during the 30 days leading up to Hanukkah, which this year began on December 7, 2023. Because we are all in dire need of some Jewish joy right now, I posted on social media about  books that brings me #JewishJoy each day from November 7 all the way to the end of Hanukkah on December 15. Here are all the titles I included. Each title is linked to a past interview, book review, or other information about the book. November 7, 2023 A HAT FOR MRS GOLDMAN by Michelle Edwards, a literally warm and fuzzy picture book about little Sophia who learns to knit from her beloved Jewish neighbor.    November 8, 2023 THE JAKE SHOW by Joshua S. Levy, a hilarious middle grade novel about a boy with a duel Jewish identity and his determination to attend summer camp in secret.  November 9, 2023 WHEN THE ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY by Sacha Lamb, a delightful Jewish YA twist on Good Omens.    November 10, 2023 THIS IS MY SHABBAT by Chris Barash, a lovely relaxing pic