The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Mixed-Up Mooncakes by Christina Matula and Erica Lyons, illustrated by Tracy Subisak Quill Tree Books (imprint of HarperCollins), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sarah Aronson Buy at Bookshop.org When autumn arrives, so do two special holidays: the Mid-Autumn Festival and Sukkot. If you are a family that comes from two different cultures, what do you do? In Mixed-Up Mooncakes , you combine them. And the result: a lovely family story filled with food, traditions, and love. Matula and Lyons have written a story as delicious as the mooncake recipe that comes at the end of the book. Ruby loves both holidays. This is her favorite time of year—when the moon is the biggest and brightest in the sky. She enjoys all the activities associated with both holidays, from going to the Chinese market and picking out lanterns, as well as finding the most perfect yellow etrog for Sukkot. Of course, the reader sees them build the sukkah and hang the lanterns. There’s just one thing missing: A treat...

Saliman and the Memory Stone by Erica Lyons, illustrated by Yinon Ptahia Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Karen Shakman Buy at Bookshop.org Saliman and the Memory Stone joins a growing collection of recent books for children that paint a  diverse picture of Israeli Jews. In 1841, a young boy travels from his home in Yemen to resettle in Jerusalem as part of the First Aliyah. Young Saliman is sad to leave, afraid he will not remember his home and his village. Before he goes, he tells the goats he will always remember them and pockets a loose stone from his house and calls it his memory stone. Thus begins a journey to retain his past while heading toward his future. Lyon’s language is lyrical, capturing both the difficulty of the journey and a palpable sense of a loving family and tight-knit community, even as they must endure a long and arduous journey (which is helpfully illustrated in a map at the end of the book). Throug...

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 ...

Zhen Yu and the Snake by Erica Lyons, illustrated by Renia Metallinou Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rinat Hadad Siegel Buy at Bookshop.org In bold and expressive illustrations with old-world charm, we are artfully reintroduced to the Talmudic tale of Rabbi Akiba's daughter and the snake with a new and beautiful setting - China. Erica Lyons magnificently adapted the tale to old China and beautifully introduced the readers to the back story of the Jewish community in Kaifeng, China. Erica features the culture as well as bits and pieces of traditions of the Kaifeng Jewish community and their way of life among their non-Jewish neighbors. Little Zhen Yu and her father, Li Jian, are at the market, buying Shabbat supplies, until she gets lost. While searching for her, her father bumps into an old fortune teller who tells him where Zhen Yu is but also warns him that she will be attacked by a snake on her wedding night. Time ...

Alone Together on Dan Street by Erica Lyons, illustrated by Jennifer Jamieson Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishing), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Arlene Schenker Buy at Bookshop.org A young girl, Mira, is stuck at home in her Jerusalem apartment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her parents, while working at home, take breaks to bake cookies with Mira and her brother and play games in the evenings, but Mira still misses the noisy Jerusalem streets and her usual activities. She’s happy the family will get to celebrate Passover, but unhappy that there will be no guests this year. When she practices the four questions on her balcony (the only place she can be by herself), she hears Mr. Blum practicing on his balcony and realizes that many neighbors will be alone at their seders. Mira comes up with a clever plan for everyone to be separate but together. The mitzvah grows as Mira’s hand-made, artistic invitations are passed from balcony to balcony along with ...