The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour features interviews with the gold and silver medal-winning authors and illustrators. Links to all participating blogs can be found on the Association of Jewish Libraries website at JewishLibraries.org/Blog , as well as below. Enjoy! BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2024 Richard Ho and Lynn Scurfield, author and illustrator of Two New Years Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Picture Book Category at 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal   Elissa Brent Weissman and Omer Hoffmann, author and illustrator of Hanukkah Upside Down Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Picture Book Category at The Pragmatic Mom Tziporah Cohen and Yaara Eshet, author and illustrator of Afikomen Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Picture Book Category at Out of the Box at The Horn Book Elisa Boxer and Amy June Bates, author and illustrator of Hidden Hope Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Picture Book Category at Picture Books Help Kids Soar TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024 Susan

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

Two more Sydney Taylor Honor Books are featured on today's Blog Tour stops. In the Picture Book Category: Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued written and illustrated by Peter Sís , an illustrated biography of a Righteous Gentile. In the Young Adult Category: The Last Words We Said by Leah Scheier , an exploration of grief among a Modern Orthodox group of friends. Here are today's blog tour stops: Nicky & Vera at Vivan Kirkfeld's Blog The Last Words We Said at Kayla Reads and Reviews The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 7-11, 2022 Click here for full blog tour schedule

Today's Blog Tour stops bring you three more Sydney Taylor Honor Books. In the Picture Book category: The Christmas Mitzvah by Jeff Gottesfeld , illustrated by Michelle Laurentia Agatha , a holiday story of bridge building across religions. In the Middle Grade category: The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin , a whimsically illustrated memoir of life behind the Iron Curtain. In the Young Adult category: The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds , a summer romance and the discovery of family history. Here are today's blog tour stops: The Christmas Mitzvah at Pragmatic Mom The Genius Under the Table at Jewish Books for Kids The Summer of Lost Letters at Bookishly Jewish The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 7-11, 2022 Click here for full blog tour schedule

On Day 2 of the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, we meet three of our Honor Books. In the Picture Book category: Dear Mr. Dickens by Nancy Churnin , illustrated by Bethany Stancliffe , a historical tale of a single activist reader impacting the writing of Charles Dickens. In the Middle Grade category: Linked by Gordon Korman , a contemporary story of kids banding together to fight antisemitism. In the Young Adult category: Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero by E. Lockhart , illustrated by Manuel Preitano , a graphic novel that introduces a new Jewish teen superhero with canine powers to Batman's hometown. Here are today's blog tour stops: Dear Mr. Dickens at Good Reads with Ronna Linked at 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal Whistle at A Fuse #8 Production at School Library Journal The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 7-11, 2022 Click here for full blog tour schedule

We kick off the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour with the gold medalists! In the Picture Book category: The Passover Guest by Susan Kusel , illustrated by Sean Rubin , a retelling of I.L. Peretz's "The Magician."  In the Middle Grade category: How to Find What You're Not Looking For by Veera Hiranandani , an exploration of Jewish intersectional identity set during the Civil Rights movement. In the Young Adult category: The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros , a gothic fantasy thriller. Here are today's blog tour stops: The Passover Guest at the Horn Book's Out of the Box blog How To Find What You're Not Looking For at Mr. Schu Reads The City Beautiful at the Jewish Book Council's blog, The Paper Brigade The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 7-11, 2022 Click here for full blog tour schedule

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be showcasing its 2022 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 7-11, 2022! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. Interviews will appear on the dates below, and will remain available to read at your own convenience. Below is the schedule for the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave them plenty of comments! MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2022 Susan Kusel and Sean Rubin , author and illustrator of The Passover Guest Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Picture Book Category at Out of the Box at The Horn Book Veera Hiranandani , author of How to Find What You're Not Looking For Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Middle Grade Category at Mr. Schu Reads Aden Polydoro s, author of The City Beautiful Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Young Adult Category at Paper Brigade Daily at The Jewish Book C

Anya and the Dragon by Sofia Pasternack (Middle Grade Honor Book) is a historical magical fantasy set in 10th century Russia. Dissenter on the Bench by Victoria Ortiz (YA Honor Book) is a biography of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Both have strong female leads who care passionately about justice. What 2020 books about strong girls or women are you looking forward to? Leave us a comment. Anya and the Dragon at From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors Dissenter on the Bench at Jewish Books for Kids And the traditional Blog Tour finale, a virtual roundtable with the whole gang: Blog Tour Wrap-Up at The Whole Megillah The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 9-13, 2020 Click here for full blog tour schedule 

Two out-of-the-box books are featured on the blog tour today. Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz (YA Honor Book) is a romance with two Jewish leads, a disability #ownvoices story, a sicklit book in which nobody dies - all unusual traits. Games of Deception by Andrew Maraniss tells the unexpected true story of the invention of basketball and its intersections with Jewish history. Are there any 2020 Jewish kids' books coming out that you think break the mold? Tell us about them in the comments. Today's Blog Tour stops: Sick Kids in Love at Good Reads with Ronna Games of Deception at A Fuse #8 Production at School Library Journal The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 9-13, 2020 Click here for full blog tour schedule

Lesléa Newman and Amy June Bates received a Sydney Taylor Honor in the Picture Book category for Gittel's Journey . They are both past Sydney Taylor Book Award winners, having received the gold medal in 2016 for Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed . Lesléa also has quite a few Notable Books to her name:  Here Is the World in 2015, A Sweet Passover in 2013, Runaway Dreidel in 2002, and Fat Chance in 1994. Even more special, Lesléa was named a Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award winner this year for her overall contributions to the genre of Jewish children's literature. You can see past Body-of-Work Award winners here . Who else do you think would make a good Body-of-Work Award recipient? Today on the blog tour: Gittel's Journey on Mr. Schu Reads All the Authors and Illustrators on The Children's Book Podcast The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 9-13, 2020 Click here for full blog tour schedule

One more gold medalist is interviewed today on the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, and then we move on to silver medalists. These two books have interesting settings: Shanghai for Someday We Will Fly by Rachel DeWoskin (the YA gold medalist), and Bosnia for The Key From Spain by Debbie Levy (an Honor picture book). What benefits or hurdles do you think might accrue to an author if they are not from the place where their book is set? Leave your thoughts in the comments. Someday We Will Fly at Out of the Box at The Horn Book The Key from Spain at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 9-13, 2020 Click here for full blog tour schedule

It's the first day of the 2020 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! These interviews with the most recent winners of the Real Award provide a great opportunity for us to see the qualities the Real Committee is looking for. Today we look at the gold medalists in the Picture Book and Middle Grade categories, respectively, The Book Rescuer by Sue Macy with pictures by Stacy Innerst, and White Bird by R.J. Palacio of Wonder fame. The Book Rescuer at 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal   White Bird at The Paper Brigade Daily at The Jewish Book Council These are both stories about various kinds of rescue: saving books, saving human beings, saving language, saving culture. Does Jewish children's literature perform a rescuing function in the world? Do book awards? Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think. The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour February 9-13, 2020 Click here for full blog tour schedule

Before we move onto reviewing books eligible for next year’s award, it’s time to celebrate the ones that won in 2020. The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be showcasing its 2020 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 9-13, 2020! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. Interviews will appear on the dates below, and will remain available to read at your own convenience. Below is the schedule for the 2020 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave them plenty of comments! SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2020 Sue Macy  and  Stacy Innerst , author and illustrator of  The Book Rescuer Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Picture Book Category at  100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal R.J. Palacio , author of  White Bird Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Middle Grade Category at  The Paper Brigade Daily at The Jewish Book Coun