Review: One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor
One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor
by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Sarah Green
Calkins Creek (imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers), 2024
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz
Buy at Bookshop.org
As readers of The Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog know, Sydney Taylor was the author of the All-of-a-Kind Family series, the first popular mainstream books to feature Jewish characters. The Association of Jewish Libraries' children's book award is named in Taylor's memory. One of a Kind is a picture book biography of Sydney Taylor, detailing her childhood, relationships, influences, career moves, and the fulfillment of her dream to become an author.
Taylor's complex and active lifetime has been skillfully simplified here, with straightforward language and a thematic throughline of Syd's desire for social justice, manifested at last in the publication of All-of-a-Kind Family. The facts are based closely upon Taylor's own writings and family recollections. Colorful and expressive digital gouache illustrations give a good sense of time and place. An Afterword and Author's Note with photos of Syd and her family offer additional details about Sydney, husband Ralph, daughter Jo, and about the significance of the All-of-a-Kind Family books in publishing history. A short Bibliography establishes the veracity of the story, and a lovely message to readers from daughter Jo appears on the back cover.
Text and art both include details about Sydney's Jewish neighborhood and family customs. We also learn how antisemitism impacted her life and attitudes; one spread even addresses the Catch-22 of antisemites characterizing Jews as being both poor and lazy as well as rich and powerful, which may be a first for a picture book.
While Sydney herself was not religiously observant, Judaism played a significant role in her life, and she has played a significant role in the life of the Jewish community. As the Afterword says, Sydney Taylor's books "both showed and helped shape American Jewish identity in the twentieth century."
A very welcome addition to Michelson's roster of Jewish picture book biographies, which will touch the hearts of All-of-a-Kind Family fans everywhere.
As readers of The Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog know, Sydney Taylor was the author of the All-of-a-Kind Family series, the first popular mainstream books to feature Jewish characters. The Association of Jewish Libraries' children's book award is named in Taylor's memory. One of a Kind is a picture book biography of Sydney Taylor, detailing her childhood, relationships, influences, career moves, and the fulfillment of her dream to become an author.
Taylor's complex and active lifetime has been skillfully simplified here, with straightforward language and a thematic throughline of Syd's desire for social justice, manifested at last in the publication of All-of-a-Kind Family. The facts are based closely upon Taylor's own writings and family recollections. Colorful and expressive digital gouache illustrations give a good sense of time and place. An Afterword and Author's Note with photos of Syd and her family offer additional details about Sydney, husband Ralph, daughter Jo, and about the significance of the All-of-a-Kind Family books in publishing history. A short Bibliography establishes the veracity of the story, and a lovely message to readers from daughter Jo appears on the back cover.
Text and art both include details about Sydney's Jewish neighborhood and family customs. We also learn how antisemitism impacted her life and attitudes; one spread even addresses the Catch-22 of antisemites characterizing Jews as being both poor and lazy as well as rich and powerful, which may be a first for a picture book.
While Sydney herself was not religiously observant, Judaism played a significant role in her life, and she has played a significant role in the life of the Jewish community. As the Afterword says, Sydney Taylor's books "both showed and helped shape American Jewish identity in the twentieth century."
A very welcome addition to Michelson's roster of Jewish picture book biographies, which will touch the hearts of All-of-a-Kind Family fans everywhere.
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