The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

1, 2, 3, Nosh with Me by Micah & Joshua Siva, illustrated by Svlatoslav Franko The Collective Book Studio, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Suzanne Grossman Buy at Bookshop.org Count along with Buckwheat, an adorable dog, as he eats his way through the Jewish year. A beautiful golden challah for Shabbat and two fluffy matzoh balls in our soup are among the delicious offerings. All of the foods look scrumptious thanks to the bright and cheery artwork. All of the foods are typical of the Ashkenazi culture, but all of the special days are important to all streams of Judaism. The challah recipe at the back of the book, along with instructions for forming a round coiled challah, are easy to follow. The tradition of “taking challah” (separating and burning a small portion of challah dough before baking) is not included but the recipe does not require the amount of flour that would be necessary for this. This book would be appealing to all children, bridging cultures with our share...

White Bird: A Novel by R.J. Palacio with Erica Perl, illustrated by R.J. Palacio Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules   Buy at Bookshop.org Some readers prefer prose. For this reason, R.J Palacio’s editor suggested a novelization of Palacio’s acclaimed graphic novel, White Bird. Palacio agreed but felt that the story needed new energy for a new approach. Co-author Erica Perl has done an excellent job of offering readers an opportunity to experience this compelling story in prose format.  The novel begins with Julian from Palacio’s book, Wonder , FaceTiming his grandmother in Paris to gather information for a school project. In a refreshing change, technology connects rather than separates the generations, allowing Julian to learn Grandmére’s painful past.  Grandmére begins her story in the 1930’s when she was known as Sara Blum. Adored by two loving parents, Sara acknowledges th...

The Moving Box Sukkah by Leah Rachel Berkowitz, illustrated by Sharon Vargo Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishing), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org A few years ago on the campus of my synagogue, Adat Ari El in North Hollywood CA, Rabbi Jessica Yarkin taught a super cool religious school autumn lesson by using her car as the foundation for a sukkah. Two open doors plus the main car body plus some pine fronds, and there's room for a chair underneath. Et voilà! In The Moving Box Sukkah , author Berkowitz and illustrator Vargo do the same, in a poignant mother-son story of moving, displacement, adaptation, improvisation, and reconnection to both the distant and immediate past. The narrator is a boy whose mom has just moved him to the city from a place where sukkah-building was not hard. No dad in the picture, literally or figuratively. Here in the city, the boy longs for his transitional object from the past, a blue bla...

Miryam's Dance by Kerry Olitzky and Rachel Stock Spilker, illustrated by John Baptist Tumuhaise Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Cindy Rivka Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org Miryam wakes to the sound of drums and is lured to the place where musicians and dancers are practicing. Along the way, her family and friends remind her to do tasks to prepare for Shabbat, and they sigh when she is forgetful. Clearly this is not the first time Miryam has been distracted. She is invited to perform with the dancers that evening. As Miryam twirls, skips and cartwheels, the lively prose and dynamic illustrations propel the reader from page to page, caught up in her exuberance. At first her family is hesitant about dancing, but Miryam encourages them to experience a new, joyful way to celebrate Shabbat. The Ugandan character, Miryam, echoes the Miriam in the Exodus story, with her love of drums and dance, and her role of leading her community ...

Kayla and Kugel's Silly Sukkot written & illustrated by Ann D. Koffsky Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org Kayla and her parents are preparing for the holiday of Sukkot. Mom and Dad are building the sukkah, and Kayla, joined by her playful pup Kugel, join in the action, gathering items for the roof and making decorations. Woven in between the sukkah-building and Kugel’s silly antics are important mini-lessons about Sukkot, told with love and humor. For example, when Kugel offers a baseball bat he dug out from behind a bush for the sukkah roof, Kayla teaches him with gentleness that we only use things that grow. The affectionate tone grows along with the story, as when Kayla tells Kugel about her ancestors building and living in huts, and that we build a sukkah to remind us to be grateful for our homes. Kayla is a compassionate main character who models patience and compassion. Koffsky’s cente...

Eve and Adam and Their Very First Day by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Irina Augustinovich Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org On her very first day in the Garden of Eden, Eve (who is strong and inquisitive and not afraid of anything), meets Adam, who was made first and has a beautiful smile. Together, they wander the Garden giving names to things. Adam gives simple names. Eve prefers more imaginative ones. However, Day doesn’t last forever. The sun goes down. Night comes. Eve and Adam are nervous. It’s dark. They are new and have never seen night before. But they have faith and, together, they make it through. Kimmelman’s beautiful, lyrical language combines with Irina Augustinovich’s spectacularly sensitive illustrations to give readers a creative telling of Eve and Adam’s first day. The two have golden skin and wavy black hair, which can be interpreted as white, Asian, or Latinx. Ev...

Tzimmes for Tzipporah by Megan Hoyt, illustrated by Christine Battuz Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland   Buy at Bookshop.org It's the first year that Tzipporah is old enough to help with the early fall harvest on her family's farm. Three days before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, she rides on the tractor driven by her father, and they turn the soil. Tzipporah learns that the tractor has uncovered various root vegetables. Two days before Rosh Hashanah, our little main character helps gather the rutabagas, yams, turnips, potatoes, and carrots. She and her friends scrub off all the dirt. The day before Rosh Hashanah, Tzipporah and her folks ready the tzimmes, using an old family recipe. And on Rosh Hashanah they enjoy the tzimmes with friends and family after synagogue. A recipe and an author's note round out this sweet farm-to-table Rosh Hashanah story. The illustrations, which are bri...

Counting on Shabbat by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Petronela Dostalova Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Belinda Brock Buy at Bookshop.org Shabbat is coming and everyone is getting ready to celebrate. It appears that a senior will be observing the holiday alone (albeit with his well-loved cats). But a family joins him, bringing food and smiles to everyone’s faces as they gather around the Shabbat table. The story, told in gentle rhyme, also introduces the youngest reader to the concept of counting. In fact, counting does double duty in this delightful board book. A toddler can practice counting from one to ten, but will also learn that we count on each other for kindness. This year has seen the release of several Jewish-themed board books and that is a good thing. In general, we need more Jewish board books, and specifically, more like this one. Somehow, the author has managed to combine the concept of counting, a positive...

She's a Mensch! Jewish Women Who Rocked the World by Rachelle Burk and Alana Barouch, illustrated by Arielle Trenk Intergalactic Afikomen, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Intergalactic Afikomen In this collection of short biographical sketches, authors Rachelle Burk and Alana Barouch (a mother and daughter team) tell readers about twenty Jewish women of extraordinary achievement. Yes, the book includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a few other well-known luminaries, but She’s a Mensch also offers readers a glimpse into the lives of women whose stories are not often told. Some of the stars of the book are people readers have probably never even heard of, such as Australian mountaineers Cheryl and Nikki Bart, a mother-daughter team who climbed the highest peaks of all seven continents. Activist April N. Baskin and scientist Nalini Nadkarni are examples of Jews of color discussed. Each of the nineteen, two-page spreads includes a four-line poem, a paragraph of ...

Beni's Tiny Tales: Around the Year in Jewish Holidays written and illustrated by Jane Breskin Zalben Christy Ottaviano Books (imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Arlene Schenker Buy at Bookshop.org It’s clear from the Author’s Note that writing this latest Beni book during the pandemic was a labor of love for Jane Breskin Zalben. The first book in this series about a family of anthropomorphic Jewish bears was published 35 years ago and the last 25 years ago.  The book is not a picture book as we think of picture books today. It is reminiscent of the ‘treasuries’ that were popular a couple of generations ago, and is similar in that regard to Zalben’s Beni’s Family Treasury , a compilation of five Beni classic holiday books. This new treasury is 140 pages long, chock full of short stories (one for each of the ten included holidays), crafts, holiday music, recipes, etc. An explanation of each holiday precedes the “tiny tale.” Th...

Two Tribes written and illustrated by Emily Bowen Cohen Heartdrum (imprint of HarperCollins), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Eva L. Weiss Buy at Bookshop.org This middle-grade graphic novel is a creative reimagining of the author's life story. Emily Bowen Cohen was born to a Jewish mother and an indigenous American father, a member of the Muscogee Nation. The author's real-life father died when she was nine years old, but in the novel, the father of Mia, the 12-year-old protagonist, is alive and well in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The plot turns on Mia's decision to run away from her mother and stepfather's home in California to visit her father in Oklahoma after her bat mitzvah. She resents their sincere but heavy handed efforts to immerse her in Jewish culture to the exclusion of the other half of her identity. The narrative authentically unfolds the raw conflicts of Mia's dual identity as she comes of age and fiercely desires to renew her ties with her father, his fa...

Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler Wednesday Books (imprint of Macmillan), 2023 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Emily Roth Buy at Bookshop.org The summer before her senior year of high school, Natalya has a choice to make. She can stay with her dad in Manhattan, find a part time job, and maybe flirt with the Redhead she’s been running into all over town. Or, she can move to LA for the summer to live with her estranged mom, accept an internship at her mom’s marketing firm, and have an entirely new adventure.  In a clever stylistic choice, Going Bicoastal splits off into two alternate realities, showing how both of Natalya’s possible choices would play out.  In New York, Natalya does flirt with the Redhead, whose real name turns out to be Elly, leading to a very sweet romance. Natalya also discovers that she has a talent for working with children and reconnects with her mom through a two-person book club. In California, Natalya discovers a passion for graphic design and has an ene...

Big Bad Wolf's Yom Kippur by David Sherrin, illustrated by Martin Morón Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books  Reviewer: Doreen Klein Robinson Buy at Bookshop.org Big Bad Wolf’s Yom Kippur is a delightful story that twists the conventional tale on its… tail! Author David Sherrin does a clever job mashing up two favorite fables: Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. The story takes place during Yom Kippur, but for Big Bad Wolf it’s just another day of being bad, until he accepts Raccoon’s invitation to go to synagogue. Rabbi’s hug and Cantor’s cheerful singing might just make a big bad wolf change his ways. But then he remembers that wolves don’t like hugs, or singing, or changing. Big Bad Wolves like being bad. His encounter with Little Red Riding Hood and her Granny has him almost apologizing, a sign that he is starting to change. As he heads home, he feels something warm in his heart. Then he sees the Three Little Pigs, but...