The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Bird Brain by Joanne Levy Orca, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sarah Aronson Buy at Bookshop.org If you love smart kids with unusual pets, you are going to rip through Joanne Levy’s Bird Brain . This middle grade novel is about bullying, science and scientific research, and a really great family. When the book begins, Arden Sachs wants a dog or a cat. She wants to make the STEM team, win the competition, and go to STEM camp with her best friend, Cabbage. Standing in her way is mean Marni Olsen, who has never been kind to Arden. When her cool, popular boyfriend compliments Arden and gets interested in auditioning for the STEM team, the bullying gets worse. Levy deals with bullying and the actions kids, families, and schools must take when bullying takes place. And she does this in an honest voice—without sacrificing humor and heart. Throughout the novel, the reader wants Arden to stand up to Marni. We understand and groan when she messes up on purpose at the STEM team tryouts, to...

P is for Pastrami: The ABCs of Jewish Food written and illustrated by Alan Silberberg Penguin Random House, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Mirele Kessous Buy at Bookshop.org Food alphabet books for children have been trendy for some time, but now we can all celebrate Jewish heritage with P is For Pastrami: The ABCs of Jewish Food . Each page presents a Jewish food that begins with a letter from A to Z. Bright, humorous illustrations will appeal to young children, and the bubble captions help explain unfamiliar foods to newbies. The book bills itself as portraying foods all over the world (injera makes an appearance), but it does lean Ashkenaz. The main focus is Jewish food, but it would be relatable to non-Jewish readers and educational too. It’s cute and snappy and delightful–exactly what you’d want in a board book for the younger kinderlach. I even learned a thing or two. Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze?  Click here! Reviewer Mirel...

Harry and the High Wire: Houdini's First Amazing Act by Julie Carpenter, illustrated by Laura Catalán Green Bean Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva Buy at Bookshop.org Picture book biography Harry and The High Wire takes place during Houdini’s childhood, when he became enthralled with a tightrope walking act at the circus. For an ordinary boy, this taste of the extraordinary sparked his first interest in the performative arts. Harry became obsessed with mastering the tightrope walk, and with the encouragement of his supportive mother, he began practicing. The message from Pirkei Avot that “according to the effort is the reward,” shows the value of putting time into following a passion and developing a craft. Central to Harry’s eventual success were the failures along the way, when perseverance and self-belief propelled him to continue. The fully fold-out book is cleverly laid out so that the art continues on the pages that eventually lay out to 4 meters wid...

Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan's Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants by Norman H. Finkelstein, illustrated by Vesper Stamper Holiday House, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeanette Brod Buy at Bookshop.org We are a nation of immigrants, but we rarely consider the obstacles to Americanization faced by new arrivals to our country. Abraham Cahan’s gift to new immigrants was a passion to help them navigate their complicated and confusing relationship to a new home. In Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan’s Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants , an award winning author and an award winning illustrator have given us a masterful biography about an important voice in American Jewish history whose legacy is probably more well known than his name. If your family was connected to the waves of immigration from Eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century, they probably read The Forverts in Yiddish. Despite their place of birth or national language, the Jews of those gen...

Mighty Micah by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Steliyana Doneva Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org As Micah returns home from a Purim party, he recalls how powerful he’d felt when he whirled his gragger (Purim noisemaker). With it, he could “stand up to anyone – even that bad man Haman!” That night, while Micah is asleep, his gragger is carried off by a raccoon, then a fish, then a heron. Before school that morning, however, it is returned to the lawn in front of Micah’s home. In school, Micah shows the gragger to his teacher, Mrs. Mack, who tells the class how Brave Queen Esther saved her people from the evil Haman. Mrs. Mack adds that “everyone needs to feel powerful sometimes” and gives the gragger to the smallest girl in the class. Story and language are cute and clear, combining elements of a “lost mitten” folktale with an anti-bullying story and a tie-in to Purim. A rhyming refrain abo...

Benjy's Messy Room by Barbara Diamond Goldin, illustrated by Rita Tan Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules Buy at Bookshop.org Benjy is a pack rat and his bedroom is littered with toys. This is not a good combination the day before Passover. His big sister, Naomi, warns him that their parents expect a clean room before the Passover hunt for breadcrumbs that night. Hoping for the fun of last year, when he was allowed to lead the hametz hunt with a candle, Benjy decides to tackle the big job of cleaning his room. When his little sister, Shira, interrupts his resolve with a plea to play, Benjy comes up with a game to practice for the hametz hunt. He hides balls of paper around his room for Shira to find. In the process, big brother and little sister clean up a messy bedroom just before dark. With colorful, expressive illustrations, Benjy’s Messy Room is a joyous story of preparing for Passover. Benjy teaches his ...

Matzah Man to the Rescue! by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Charlie Fowkes Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Julie Ditton Buy at Bookshop.org “Never Fear, Matzah Man is here.” Eric Kimmel is one of the most prolific picture book authors around. With over 150 books to his credit, he has been delighting children for fifty years. Many of his books about Jewish holidays or topics, but most are folktale retellings. Now we have something completely different. Instead of a folktale, he has spun a modern Passover story based on pop culture superheroes. Kids might recognize Superman or Batman, but older family members will recognize Underdog as well. This wacky book has Matzah Man flying around the world to help save three different seders with missing symbols. Along the way, readers will learn about vegetarian alternatives to the shank bone, varieties of matzah, and the differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic charoset. Matzah Man co...

On All Other Nights: A Passover Celebration in 14 Stories edited by Chris Baron, Joshua S. Levy, & Naomi Milliner Amulet Books (imprint of Abrams), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org On All Other Nights: A Celebration of Passover in 14 Stories is exactly that - celebration of the many ways we celebrate, challenge, question, and find humor and deeper meanings in our shared traditions. The stories are organized as if we are sitting around the same Passover table (if only!), with each story representing a step of the seder and offering a brief lesson, as well as asking thought-provoking questions. I can imagine families supplementing (or even replacing) their Haggadot with this special collection. I know our family will. Written by a remarkable line-up of contemporary Jewish children's literature luminaries, each story presents a unique aspect about Passover. The entries are diverse, surprising, and universal. To name only a few of the gems - Mar...

Too Many Golems by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Maya Shleifer Chronicle Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland Buy at Bookshop.org The set-up for this appealing story about golems is that the Rabbi’s son, Abi, in his obliviousness, gets in trouble repeatedly. When he takes an old, tattered scroll from the synagogue basement, he innocently practices the words…sings the words…reads the words…and, fourth time being the charm, summons not one, but ten golems. So, what to do? He does what every well-taught rabbi’s son does: he welcomes the stranger(s). The golems tell him they are there to fight on his behalf. Abi asks them for help in his losing battle with Hebrew. The golems end up tutoring Abi weekly in Hebrew while throwing in some golem songs and stories as well. Years later, Abi’s Hebrew at his Bar Mitzvah is stellar. The golems are as proud as could be. Now that Abi doesn’t need them anymore, the golems slip away. Back matter addresses the origin of the golem le...

Tyrannosaurs Tsuris: A Passover Story by Susan Tarcov, illustrated by Elissambura Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland Buy at Bookshop.org Susan Tarcov and Elissambura team up in this delightful Passover story set among the dinosaurs. All the dinosaurs are preparing their Passover seders, each one confronting tsuris, a Yiddush word for trouble. But no one’s tsuris is as great as that of Tyrannosaurus. None of the dinosaurs wants to come to his seder because they are afraid of him. At the end, the dinosaur community decides that together they are safe around Tyrannosaurus. They each solve their own sources of tsuris by pooling their resources for one grand seder. In so doing, they help Tyrannosaurus fulfill the mitzvah of having guests at the seder. A brief author's note reviews the basics of Passover.  The story does a wonderful job of defining tsuris, giving multiple examples. It recounts preparations for...

Afikotective written and illustrated by Amalia Hoffman Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Eva L. Weiss Buy at Bookshop.org In Afikotective , the cub in a family of bears reveals his invention for finding the afikomen, the Passover matzah that is traditionally hidden by a family member and, if not discovered, is redeemed with a gift so that it can serve as the dessert for the seder. In this first-person tale, the cub, who tells his story in the first person, enlists his toy elephant as the afikomen detective, or Afiko-sniffer, since elephants are known for their acute sense of smell. This simple story is lightheartedly told with cut-paper illustrations in opalescent colors that are pleasing to the eye. The toy elephant's search uncovers seder foods, from apples to eggs and bitter herbs, but the afikomen remains elusive until the final plot twist. The scents are not described, and we may be meant to overlook that neither ma...

Happy Purim, Grover! by Joni Kibort Sussman, illustrated by Tom Leigh Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Julie Ditton Buy at Bookshop.org Happy Purim, Grover! is a perfect Purim board book for Jewish toddlers. This book presents the familiar Sesame Street character as he celebrates Purim. Don’t expect the whole Megillah. This is a board book after all. But in just a few pages, little ones see these adorable characters doing all the things that they would do. After Grover bakes hamantaschen with his mommy, he celebrates with his friends. They deliver Purim goody baskets, dress up for the costume parade, listen to the Megillah reading and shake their groggers. Of course, they finish the day enjoying the fresh hamantaschen. Joni Sussman has included the key elements of the holiday that are important to the little ones. Children will delight in the bright colorful pictures, created by Tom Leigh who has illustrated numerous Sesam...