The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Duct Tape Purim by Carolyn Bernhardt & Jill Collela Bloomfield Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org The title of this book expresses exactly what it offers. It's a lovely craft book perfectly suited for Jewish children in grades 2-3, especially children who are excited about creating Purim costumes of their own with a bit of help from their parents. Though some of the text is a bit above the readability level for those grades, the colorful and attractive illustrations perfectly suit the skills of children eager to create costumes in unusual ways - using duct tape! Most families have that standard silver roll, and the authors add additional colorful tape options in addition to directions for every possible costume, from crowns to rings and bracelets, hats and shields, horses and robes, bows and carry totes. Woven throughout the directions for each costume is the Purim story and all the ...

Yummy Hamantaschen Text by Harold Grinspoon Foundation, illustrated by Elena Resko PJ Publishing, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz This is a very brief interactive board book that will familiarize babies and toddlers with the Purim treat, hamantaschen. The text addresses the audience directly, inviting them to pat, scoop, and fold to form the traditional three-cornered pastry. Die cut pages and fold-lines bring realism to the hamantaschen. This is the sort of book that will seem like a magic trick to very young children. The illustrations feature plump, inviting hamantaschen on boldly colored pages. A sprinkle of white makes the dough look floury. The black filling has a raised texture to evoke poppyseeds. The hamantaschen really do look yummy! A white child's hand is pictured on the cover but no other human elements appear in the imagery. Purim is never mentioned in the text, but a note for adults on the back cover explains the history of the holiday and the...

Read interviews with the gold and silver medalists on these wonderful blogs! Here is this year's full blog tour schedule. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Chana Stiefel and Susan Gal , author and illustrator of The Tower of Life Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Picture Book Category at 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal Mari Lowe , author of Aviva vs. the Dybbuk Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Middle Grade Category at A Fuse #8 Production at School Library Journal Sacha Lamb , author of When the Angels Left the Old Country Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Young Adult Category at Out of the Box at The Horn Book TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2023 Erin Silver , author of Sitting Shiva Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Picture Book Category at Jewish Books for Kids…And More! Sarah Darer Littman , author of Some Kind of Hate Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Young Adult Category at Good Reads with Ronna WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2023 Paul Martin , wido...