The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Hanukkah (Celebrations & Festivals series) by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Words & Pictures (imprint of The Quarto Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Award winning author Lesléa Newman has gifted us a fine attempt at all-inclusive book to illuminate the celebration of the holiday of Hanukkah. With a few caveats, this book is a good place to start — full of history, traditions, recipes and rituals. It follows a child named Lior (a Hebrew name translated here as “my light”) when he and his family celebrate Hanukkah with their extended family and friends, and with their wider community. Their preparation begins with decoration, cleaning, descriptions of the Hanukah menorah (hanukkiah) and of the dreidel game, and a retelling of the historical story of Hanukkah. As the guests start arriving, laden with holiday gifts, they join the family in lighting their many hanukkiot and reciting the blessings (included in English and trans...

Challah for Shabbat Tonight by Sara Holly Ackerman, illustrated by Alona Millgram Algonquin Young Readers (imprint of Workman Publishing), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org A warm connection between a girl and her grandmother is revealed, as they bake challah together and prepare for a diverse gathering of Shabbat dinner guests. Using simple rhymes and action words, the lively activities of the girl and her grandmother are mirrored in the dynamic movement of Alona Millgrim's illustrations, skillfully propelling the reader from one page to the next. The retro colors and details of the illustrations give the story an old-timey yet timeless feel. The action is enhanced by the addition of an equally lively cat and bird, that the child reader can follow through the pages. In this portrayal of the preparation and rituals for a Shabbat meal, Jewish content is central to the narrative, and works well across the wide spectrum of Jewish observance. The illu...

The Color of Sound by Emily Barth Isler Carolrhoda Books (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Rosie is on strike. Until now her life has been all about music. As a 12-yr old violin prodigy she has played Carnegie Hall, but all she wants is a normal life. Born with synesthesia, she senses music not just as sound, but also as colors, smells, tastes, and textures. It’s hard for her to figure out who she is without music, so, against her parent’s wishes, she’s taking a break from playing. Usually, her summers are spent at a prestigious summer music camp, but with nothing else to do, Rosie ends up spending the summer at her grandparents’ home with her mother.  The summer ahead does not feel promising to Rosie. She has just lost her best Julianne because of her music. She doesn’t know her grandparents very well - Grandpa Jack rarely talks, and ailing Grandma Florence has advanced Alzheimer’s. Rosie has no idea what to d...

Counting on Naamah: A Mathematical Tale on Noah's Ark by Erica Lyons, illustrated by Mary Reaves Uhles Intergalactic Afikomen, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org In Counting on Naamah , Erica Lyons creates a playful modern midrash, (defined in the back matter as “a tale that begins with a story from the Torah”) answering some of the questions Lyons has about life on Noah’s ark. By centering the story on a very contemporary depiction of Noah’s wife, Lyons also adds a note of female empowerment. Noah’s wife is barely mentioned in the Torah, but the back matter also notes that according to rabbinic midrashim her name was Naamah, meaning pleasant. In their midrash, Lyons and illustrator Mary Reaves Uhles make Naamah more than just pleasant. She is a STEM genius, able to facilitate Noah’s implementation of G-d’s plan through her math and science knowledge. The author imagines the building of the ark and the activities that the pair come up with to keep ...

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R. Shrum & Sara Waxelbaum Inkyard Press (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2023 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Margo Zimmerman thought she knew who she was and who she would be. She was the popular, high-achieving, fashion-loving, student council president, champion swimmer, and future veterinarian, who's dating the quarterback of the football team. That was until a game of spin the bottle sends her into a tailspin. When Margo ends up kissing a girl, she has an epiphany — she’s gay. Margo has always been well prepared for every aspect of her life, but she has no idea “how to be gay.” After failing with the advice given to her by her queer brother Mendel, Margo approaches Abbie Sokoloff, a fellow swim team member who is decidedly not one of her many friends. Uncharacteristically awkward, Margo says to Abbie “You’re gay…I want you to teach me…how to be gay.”  In this zippy, readable, queer rom-com, once A...

Luis de Torres Sails to Freedom by Tami Lehman-Wilzig, illustrated by Oliver Averill Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org On the eve of the date when all Jews must leave Spain, July 31, 1492, Yosef ben HaLevi Halvi faces a choice. He must leave the country or become a converso, a hidden Jew who is publicly Christian. He had already taken the Christian name Luis de Torres, but de Torres chooses to leave. Taking a position as a translator on a ship heading to the Far East, he hopes to find a place where he could openly practice his Judaism. When de Torres says goodbye to his family as they celebrate Shabbat in a hidden room, his nephew Jacobo presses a good luck charm in his hand, a silver hamsa. Jacobo hopes it will keep his uncle safe.  Arriving at the ship that will take him from Spain, the commander tells him they will leave on July 31. That day is Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning comme...

The Rabbi and His Donkey by Susan Tarcov, illustrated by Diana Renjina Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org The Sultan’s personal doctor, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, rides from his town early every morning to visit the Sultan in his palace in Cairo. The Rabbi has an exhausting, busy day of seeing many patients — from the Sultan to those who were waiting for him at his home even as he is dismounting from the animal who brought from the palace. As writer Susan Tarcov explains in the endnotes, The Rabbi and His Donkey is based on letters written by Rabbi ben Maimon, also known as Rambam or Maimonides, the renowned 12th century rabbi, physician, and philosopher. In this fictional narrative, Maimonides’ hectic life is seen through the eyes of a donkey named Hamor. Every day, Hamor bring the Rabbi to and from the palace, listening to Maimonides talk through his wise ideas. As he listens, the donkey becomes ...

A Gift of Feathers by Ken Schept, illustrated by Romina Galotta Feiwel & Friends (imprint of Macmillan), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org In his debut picture book, Ken Schept creates a sensitive and age-appropriate template for young children to process their feelings at the loss of someone close to them. In the metaphor of birds and feathers woven through the narrative and the illustrations, Schept and illustrator Romina Galotta present a concrete way for the protagonist, her sister, and readers to process many complicated emotions.    When Talula finds the drive to the city to visit Grandma Dot boring, wondering how birds can live there, loving pigeons show us how. Grandma Dot keeps a vase of feathers on a table near her door. According to Talula, the young narrator, these feathers resemble her beloved grandmother. Grandma Dot’s feathers give Talula and her sister Rhea ways to play and interact with their grandmother as she talks ab...

Afikomen by Tziporah Cohen, illustrated by Yaara Eshet Groundwood Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org As author Tziporah Cohen writes in the back matter of this wordless picture book, when each Jew celebrates the Passover seder, they should see themselves “as if we, not just our ancestors, were the ones to escape Egypt.” In this graphic novel for the youngest readers, Cohen and illustrator Yaarah Eshet guide the reader into the Passover story, along with the three young children and their dog, on a time traveling voyage to help bring baby Moses safely down the Nile to Pharoah’s daughter. The children begin their illustrated adventure at a multi-ethnic intergenerational seder as they follow their tradition of stealing the afikomen, the last bit of matzah eaten at the seder meal, from the leader of the seder. When the dog steals the afikomen from the children and dives underneath the expansive blue tablecloth, the children follow him. They soon fin...

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org   In the summer before World War II begins, Charlotte “Charlie” Kraus, chafing under Hitler’s regulations, follows her best friend Angelika, “Geli,” the daughter of a Nazi officer, to a forbidden, hidden dance club. Despite their complicated feelings for each other, Charlie and Geli feel the thrill and freedom of dancing to the “degenerate” jazz music played there. As their lives in Berlin become more restricted, Charlie and Geli, along with friends Renate and Minna, find a kind of resistance to the Nazi regime by joining the “Swingjugend” movement. Historically, these groups of mostly middle- or upper-class teens, in opposition to Nazi policies, would dance in private homes or clubs to banned American music while dressed like the British and Americans. These clubs were a response to the “Hitlerjugend,” Hitler Youth groups, that t...

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org After a bad breakup with her now ex-girlfriend, all Shani wants to do is escape to Washington DC during winter break for her dream internship: studying prehistoric fish at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. As Shani heads to DC with her mother behind the wheel, things go from bad to worse. She and her mother spend the drive arguing. That is, until their argument is silenced by a terrible snowstorm. When they leave the highway in the blizzard to head to the house where Shani will be staying during her internship, they start arguing again. Distracted, Shani’s mother doesn’t see a girl crossing the road, and hits her with the car. After making sure that the girl is not hurt, Shani can’t help noticing that she’s also very cute. Literally running into May becomes Shani and May’s, “meet cute” in this Jewish, queer, YA “Hallmark Holiday Roma...

The Stars Will Be My Nightlight: A Sukkot Story by Jen Halpern, illustrated by Chiara Fedele Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org This fine bedtime story by educator and first-time author Jen Halpern begins with a mother and her young son talking about the meaning of the holiday of Sukkot as they make decorations for their sukkah. After the boy convinces his reluctant mother to spend the night in the sukkah, Halpern uses the tradition of saying the Sh’ma prayer before bedtime to add a spiritual side to the narrative. While the narrative centers on the relationship between mother and son, the history and traditions of Sukkot are deftly explained through the words and pictures, and in the back matter. Adding a mystical quality to the narrative are Chiara Fedele’s illustrations, suffused with so many different kinds of light, from the setting and rising sun, to the electric lights in the sukkah, to th...

Jonah by Tammar Stein, illustrated by Sabina Hahn PJ Publishing, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Amazon.com In time for Yom Kippur and its focus on atonement, PJLibrary presents this early chapter book about responsibilities, repentance, and second chances. Based on the Bibical Book of Jonah, read in the synagogue on Yom Kippur afternoon, the narrative tackles the tough subject of the consequences of our actions and our obligations to make the world a better place. Author Tammar Stein begins Jonah’s story in his “classroom” under a tree, grounding the narrative in the child’s world. There Jonah teaches his students about making good choices in their treatment of others. Because of these teachings, God picks Jonah as the best messenger to convince the people of the city of Nineveh to repent their wicked actions. The narrative shows that even a great teacher like Jonah can make wrong choices. When Jonah runs away from his task and is swallowed by the whale, and la...

José and the Pirate Captain Toledano by Arnon Z. Shorr, illustrated by Joshua M. Edelglass Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org José Alfaro is a smart, mischievous teen who has always felt different from those around him yet yearns to be like everyone else. Unlike other children in his time and place, 16th century in the Caribbean, his father made him learn to read, write, and speak several languages, and let him help with his work as the colonial treasurer. Then the Spanish Inquisition comes, in the person of Captain de Guzman, who arrives in Santo Domingo to repair his ship after an attack by pirates. While there, de Guzman makes wager that he will uncover a heretic before his ship is repaired. When the heretic de Guzman finds is José’s father, José learns why he was raised to be different. José’s father tells him they are hidden Jews who fled the Inquisition in Portugal when he was just ...

Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Zachariah Ohora Alfred A. Knopf (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org “Rudolph ‘Rolf’ Baer loved games.” That is the beginning and the essence of the story of the life Ralph Baer, the inventor of the first video gaming system. He and his sister Ilse had enjoyed a typical childhood in Cologne, Germany, of friends, school, and games. Then when Baer was 10 years old, Hitler came to power and everything changed. He and his family managed to escape Germany weeks before the borders closed, eventually arriving in America, changing the children’s names to the less German sounding Ralph and Jane.  There Ralph began working in various industries, from a leather factory to radio repair to designing televisions to military electronics. All this job experience combined to give him the knowledge to do what...

Sitting Shiva by Erin Silver, illustrated by Michelle Theodore Orca, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Talking about death and grief with the youngest of children is a tough task. When it is a parent who dies, it is all the more difficult. In the first-person narrative of a young girl named Jenny who is dealing with the loss of her mother, Sitting Shiva presents a way to begin the conversation. By tackling this topic through the lens of Jewish mourning rituals, Erin Silver’s sensitive, age appropriate book can be helpful even to those outside the Jewish world in its emphasis on the importance of community. The narrative begins as Jenny describes how she and her father cover mirrors, tear garments, sit on low chairs, and light a yahrzeit candle. She explains how each action serves to express and symbolize their grief. But Jenny is not interested in the shiva ritual of people coming to their home sit with them. She wants to be alone with her memories o...

My Hands Make the World written and illustrated by Amalia Hoffman PJ Publishing, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach There are many, many books that depict the creation story that begins the Torah, the first chapter of Bereshit, the Book of Genesis. Yet the approach of this board book is a novel one. Board books often use simple drawings to explain simple concepts, yet this book aims to do more. The deceptively simple narrative and artwork here tell more than just the story of Genesis, they tell about creation and about creating, reaching children at their level, in a child-friendly and inspiring way. As Hoffman explains in the endnotes, everyone, including children, are created “B’tzelem Elokim” in the divine image. Therefore everyone, including children, are participants in the act of creation. The medium of colorful finger painting, a common way that a young child begins to delve into art and storytelling, is an excellent choice. On every page a child’s handprint is an ...

 Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen by Kate McGovern Candlewick Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Starting over is often harder than beginning. In the words of Maple Mehta-Cohen, being held back in fifth grade instead of going on to middle school with her friends, “ruined” her life. Until her beloved teacher Ms. Little-Chan found out her secret, Maple had been able to hide the fact that she couldn’t read from her teachers, her parents, and her two best friends, Marigold and Aislinn. That’s because Maple loves words and books and stories. She loves the look and feel of books, she loves when her father reads books to her, and she especially loves making up and recording her stories with her digital voice recorder.    But after her old friends abandon her on the first day of school, Maple finds it hard to navigate the loss of her friends, the new class of students, and her placement in Ms. Fine’s reading group with the “kids who nee...

The Golden Dreidel by Ellen Kushner, illustrated by Kevin Keele Charlesbridge Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org The Golden Dreidel , by fantasy author Ellen Kushner, is a re-issue of the 2007 book The Golden Dreydl , itself a novelization of the 2002 recording, stage show, and concert, of the same name by Kushner and the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra. Billed as “A Klezmer Nutcracker for Chanukah,” the recording, like the book, is a charming mash-up of the famous Tchaikovsky ballet with klezmer music and Jewish folklore.    The Golden Dreidel follows the plot of "The Nutcracker," with a dreidel that comes to life. The narrative begins when Sara, envious of her non-Jewish friends during the winter holiday season, reluctantly goes to her extended family’s annual Chanukah party. While Sara is playing a game of dreidel with her cousins, the mysterious Tante Miriam arrives at the party bringing gifts for all the children. At midnight, Sara’s gift...