The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

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 reco

The Night Before Passover (The Night Before series) by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Nathalie Beauvois Grosset & Dunlap (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Author Natasha Wing has parodied The Night Before Christmas with 40+ titles in her "The Night Before" series. The Night Before Passover is her second Jewish entry, following The Night Before Hanukkah (2014). Some Jewish readers may find the juxtaposition of Passover with a famous Christmas poem amusing, while others may find it discomfiting. That said, it's always appreciated to find Jewish titles incorporated into a non-Jewish book series. The text follows the pattern of couplets from Clement Clark Moore's original poem, but unfortunately, the meter is uneven and awkward. Forced into the rhyme scheme, concepts lose their meaning, as in this passage: "We sing psalms, recite blessings, / I sip grape juice from my cup. / I already fi

I Am a Tree: A Playful Action Rhyme by Hindy Feldman, illustrated by Patti Argoff Hachai Publishing, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Hachai This simple board book shows an Orthodox Jewish girl and her two younger brothers, enjoying the great outdoors and enacting a fun rhyming game that represents the life cycle of a tree. On each spread, we see the natural growth from seed to tree alongside the children's movements. For instance, "I am a seed, so tiny and small" shows a variety of seeds on the left side, and the children crouched down pretending to be tiny seeds on the right. The illustrations are bright, cheerful, and outdoorsy. The children are depicted in casual Orthodox dress (with the youngest in footie pajamas), and credit is given to Hashem for helping the trees grow. This action rhyme will work well with young children and be welcome at Tu B'shvat or any time of year. Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor

Eight Nights of Lights: A Celebration of Hanukkah by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Hilli Kushnir Harper (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Nine small candle-shaped paper booklets are nestled into a menorah-shaped holder in a large folder, in this Hanukkah toy/story. The Shammash booklet contains the lyrics to the traditional song "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah" and shows a diverse group of celebrating children. Other candle booklets are labeled "Night 1" and so on, meant to be read in order. The front of each booklet shows an unlit wick; the back shows a candle aflame; if one story is read each night of Hanukkah, it can then be flipped over to light the menorah. The cover includes directions and a brief history of the holiday. Each booklet contains a short story about Lena, a biracial Jewish girl who has a white father and a brown Latine mother. She celebrates various aspects of the holiday w

Challah! written & illustrated by Varda Livney PJ Publishing, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Louis, a toddler bunny rabbit, utters his first word ever at Shabbat dinner. It's "challah," of course! Throughout the rest of the week, Louis proudly uses his new word to describe puffy objects from clouds to trees to sheep. When Shabbat comes around again, he surprises and delights his parents by taking one look at the challah and saying his second new word: "Shabbat!" Young children will enjoy chiming in with the "challah" refrain and identifying the various puffy objects. The reinforcement of the days of the week (Jewishly listed from one Friday to the next) is another point of educational interest for the preschool set. Gentle line drawings in pastel colors show a cheerful anthropomorphic family of blue, pink, and green rabbits. Notes on the back cover of the board book provide more information about Shabbat and challah, inclu

Lion's Legacy by L.C. Rosen Union Square & Co., 2023 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Tennessee Russo is a young adventurer, sharing Indiana Jones style quests with his archaeologist father and filming their expeditions for a reality show. When he realizes that his dad's methods are not entirely ethical, the pair argue and Ten goes to live with his mom. Two years later, dad returns and convinces Ten to join him in a quest for the legendary (fictional) Rings of the (real) Sacred Band of Thebes, an ancient Greek army made up of pairs of male lovers. Proudly gay Ten is eager to reclaim queer history and share it with the world. Dad, Ten, and translator/love interest Leo face danger and magic in their search for the Rings, and mend family hurts along the way. L.C. Rosen states in an opening author's note that his purpose is to challenge the erasure of queer history that happens so often. He successfully achieves that goal, with a highly e

Not So Shy by Noa Nimrodi Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Twelve-year-old Shai (pronounced "shy") relocates with her family from Israel to California so that her Abba can pursue a job opportunity in a science lab developing GMO non-browning avocados. She thoroughly resents the move and resists making new friends, but ends up creating strong relationships with Korean American neighbor Kay-Lee, white non-Jewish cute geek Chris, and Muslim Hakim. After a rocky start, when Hakim assumes that an Israeli will automatically dislike him, the two realize that Shai's Iraqi-Jewish heritage bears similarities to Hakim's family background. Together, they work on science projects, deepen their friendship, and face Islamophobic and antisemitic bullying at school. Shai and her family bond with Kay-Lee's family and find ways to support each other. Shai misses her Saba and Savta deep

Yummy Hamantaschen Text by Harold Grinspoon Foundation, illustrated by Elena Resko PJ Publishing, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz This is a very brief interactive board book that will familiarize babies and toddlers with the Purim treat, hamantaschen. The text addresses the audience directly, inviting them to pat, scoop, and fold to form the traditional three-cornered pastry. Die cut pages and fold-lines bring realism to the hamantaschen. This is the sort of book that will seem like a magic trick to very young children. The illustrations feature plump, inviting hamantaschen on boldly colored pages. A sprinkle of white makes the dough look floury. The black filling has a raised texture to evoke poppyseeds. The hamantaschen really do look yummy! A white child's hand is pictured on the cover but no other human elements appear in the imagery. Purim is never mentioned in the text, but a note for adults on the back cover explains the history of the holiday and the

Yossel's Journey by Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Johnson Yazzie Charlesbridge, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Yossel's family leaves Tsarist Russia because of anti-Jewish violence, traveling to the fictional Two Red Hills Navajo reservation in New Mexico where Uncle Izzy has left them a trading post. Shy and feeling displaced, it takes a while for Yossel to warm up to his new home. When he meets Thomas, a Navajo boy his age, he comes out of his shell and the two become friends. Yossel finally feels at home when he tells a chicken joke that had been a hit with his friend Moishe back in Russia, and Thomas's family gets it. He's especially pleased that his joke caused Thomas's baby brother's first laugh, a significant event in Navajo culture. Johnson Yazzie's stylized acrylic paintings, with their earth tones and wide open skies, make every setting (from Russia to New York to New Mexico) evoke a southwestern flavor.

The Big Dreams of Small Creatures by Gail Lerner Nancy Paulsen Books (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org This fantastical story, told from multiple viewpoints, offers a vision of hope for human/insect communication. Eden (a biracial interfaith girl), August (a white, presumably Christian boy), a paper wasp queen, and an ant named Atom all contribute their perspectives as the story unfolds. August seeks to destroy insect life after his big moment in the school play is ruined by a cockroach inside his costume. Meanwhile, Eden, a budding entomologist, discovers that she can communicate with paper wasps via radical empathy and a kazoo. With opposing purposes, both children head for the Institute for Lower Learning, "Where Humans and Insects Intersect." August wants to find the deadly insecticide invented by the Institute's founder before he saw the light, and Eden wants to help insects educate humans ab

Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King Scholastic, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Mac's sixth-grade reading group discovers that their school copies of the Holocaust classic The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen have been censored with black rectangles. The blacked-out the passages, "hands over her breasts" and "She motioned toward her own undeveloped chest," take place in a harsh concentration camp setting and are in no way sexual, but their teacher is uncomfortable with these references to human body parts and thinks she is protecting the twelve-year-old readers with this action. Mac and his friends resent being dictated to, lied to, and not being taken seriously by the adults around them. They organize and bring the matter to the school board, helping their uptight town wake up: "Until we started our protests, people thought they had to follow rules no matter how weird the rules were. We reminded

The Lost Ryū by Emi Watanabe Cohen Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org This debut novel from a talented young Jewish/Japanese      author takes place in Japan twenty years after the end of WWII. Kohei's mother and grandfather both continue to suffer from their wartime experiences, and the boy believes that Ojiisan's grief may be tied to the disappearance of the large ryū or Japanese dragons. Small ryū, reminiscent of the daemons in the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, are companions and confidants to humans. When a Japanese-American Jewish girl, Isolde, moves into the building along with her small Western dragon, she and Kohei set out on a quest to help Ojiisan reconnect with life. The text is beautifully written, with magical elements effortlessly woven into a realistic narrative. Transliterated Japanese language is incorporated in a way that adds to the atmosphere, and is understandable through context. The em

Boys of the Beast by Monica Zepeda Tu Books (imprint of Lee & Low), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The familiar theme of growth and bonding during an American road trip gets a fresh treatment in Boys of the Beast . Three estranged teen cousins from a mostly Latinx family meet up at Grandma Lupe's funeral and then drive her inherited car, nicknamed "the Beast," from Portland, OR back to Albuquerque, NM, with side adventures in Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ. While three first-person voices can be a lot for readers to keep track of, nerdy gay Jewish Ethan, sincere evangelical Christian Matt, and traumatized stoner Oscar are well-rounded and sympathetic characters, all worth rooting for. Each boy is on a quest, though they may not realize it at first. Ethan's quest takes them to San Francisco where he can finally meet the boy he's fallen in love with through texting; Matt wants to see USC where he dreams of

 Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Loren Long Viking Books for Young Readers (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz   Buy at Bookshop.org Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate, is the young activist poet who won accolades for her inspiring reading of "The Hill We Climb" at the presidential inauguration in 2021. Her first picture book is Change Sings: A Children's Anthem , and it carries the same strong message of empowerment.  The nameless young narrator tells us "There is hope where my change sings" and evokes the many ways we can all work together to make the world a better place. While the lyrical text may be a bit obscure for younger readers, the realistic illustrations by Loren Long make it clear that the lovely black girl with her oversize guitar is encouraging everyone to join her in acts of tikkun olam. She hands out instruments to diverse kids to form a band, feeds

Lessons in Fusion by Primrose Madayag Knazan Yellow Dog (imprint of Great Plains Publishing)   Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz   Buy at Bookshop.org Canadian teen food blogger Sarah (pronounced SAH-rah, the Hebrew way) becomes a contestant on the TV show Cyber Chef, where she is strongly encouraged to explore the cuisine of her mother's Filipinx culture despite having been raised mostly in the Jewish traditions of her father's side. While she likes the opportunity to learn more about her heritage, she also feels somewhat unseen by the show's producers. She achieves true fusion when she finally embraces both her cultures, as a person and in her cooking.   The story takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and leans into the quarantine scenario by depicting a cooking show that is filmed in the homes of the contestants and judges. As a reviewer, this is the first YA novel I've seen to use the pandemic as a setting, and I'm pleased that this worldwide

 Is It Hanukkah Yet? by Nancy Krulik, illustrated by Monique Dong Step Into Reading Level 2, Random House Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The exuberant first person voice of a nameless little girl makes the controlled vocabulary come alive in this early reader. The child and her grandparents happily prepare for the holiday, and celebrate when the parents arrive home from work at sundown. Typical Hanukkah activities such as making latkes, reading about the Maccabees, lighting candles, playing dreidel, and eating sufganiyot are woven naturally into the story. Grandma gifts her granddaughter the music box they play with at her house ("Now you can hear our special song anytime you like!"),  which pleasantly emphasizes relationships instead of consumerism.  Originally published in 2000 with pictures by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, this new edition has energetic, rounded illustrations by Monique Dong, arranged with plenty of white space to give the ey

My Hanukkah Book of Opposites by Tammar Stein, illustrated by Juliana Perdomo PJ Publishing Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy on Amazon.com The cover of this board book, with its juxtaposition of warm and cool colors in a symmetrical design, immediately presents a feeling of balance. It also offers a conversation starter: adults can ask children to look for opposites such as tall/short and lit/unlit candles, as well as birds facing to the right or left, priming them for the theme before even opening the book. Within, six pairs of opposites manage to create a narrative, tying together the arrival of guests through the celebration of Hanukkah up until bedtime. The text makes sense chronologically: the people are cold until they go indoors and then they are warm; a platter of latkes is full until they are eaten up and then the platter is empty. Stylish, rounded illustrations depict a diverse gathering of family and friends with a variety of skin tones. Men and boys we

Sorry for Your Loss by Joanne Levy Orca Book Publishers Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org   Evie Waldman's family runs a Jewish funeral home, and Evie is eager to help in the family business. When a car accident kills both of Oren's parents, Evie is given the assignment of keeping the boy company during the summer. Still pained by the earlier loss of a friend, Evie has sworn off friendship to avoid the hurt, but mourning, injured, silent Oren turns out to be good company. Evie learns that everyone grieves at their own pace, and finally accepts that loss and life are inextricably intertwined.    Jewish funeral and mourning customs are demystified in a matter-of-fact, respectful manner, as Evie learns new information or shares her knowledge with Oren. Other Jewish practices, such as Shabbat observance, are woven naturally into the narrative. Evie attends a Jewish day school, and it is clear that the Waldman family is active within the Jew