The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Roadside Seder by Anna Levine, illustrated by Naama Lahav Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Arlene Schenker   Buy at Bookshop.org   Roadside Seder is a lively, joyful story about improvising a seder and making it meaningful for all different kinds of Jewish celebrants. Benjy and his family are on the way to their seder in Jerusalem, but they soon realize the traffic jam they’re in is no ordinary one. A giant palm tree has fallen and blocked the road. Benjy’s family is not alone in having their seder plans upended. After all the stopped cars pour out their many kids and adults, the throng tries to move the immovable tree. Even Benjy’s dog, Matzah, pitches in--but to no avail. As the sun is setting, the families wonder how they can celebrate the holiday. Benjy, outfitted as Moses, raises his cane, and announces his grand idea: use the tree trunk as a table, and have everyone contribute whatever seder ritual objects and fo...

Dandelion Snow by Rinat Primo, illustrated by Maya Ish-Shalom, translated by June Amikam Green Bean Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shirley Reva Vernick Buy at Bookshop.org This Israeli author/illustrator team brings a life-affirming story about a kindergarten class in an Israeli town. Every Friday, the teachers take the children to play in nearby verdant fields bursting with wildflowers. The children’s favorite blossoms are the dandelions because of their bright yellow color and their white seed heads that flutter like snow when blown on. One day, though, the children learn that the fields will be closed off for the construction of new homes; quickly, the fields start getting dug up. The youngsters worry about what will become of their beloved dandelions. In a stroke of compassionate genius, they decide to gather some of the remaining dandelions and blow their seeds all along their walk back to school. The children know that next year, there will be flowers all over the ...

The Treasure of Tel Maresh by Tammar Stein, illustrated by Barbara Bongini Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus   Buy at Bookshop.org What a delightful story about a family trip to Israel. The Treasure of Tel Maresha shares two stories of young girls in Israel at different times in history. Becca Goldstein is on vacation with her family, visiting an archaeological dig site in Tel Maresha, Israel. She has come reluctantly on this trip with her brother, Ben and their parents. She feels like she is missing something more fun with her friends back home in Massachusetts. Becca perks up as she begins to learn about the ancient civilization that existed in this area centuries ago. The tour guide explains how families built homes of limestone dug from the ground and the resulting caveswere cool places for storage of food and other goods. In an alternate storyline, Rebeka and her brother Benjamin are living in Mares...

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...

100 Rooms by Haya Shenhav, illustrated by Yirmi Pinkus Kalaniot Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Suzanne Grossman Buy at Bookshop.org The prolific Israeli author Haya Shenhav, recipient of the highest honors of juvenile literature in Israel, joins the esteemed Israeli illustrator Yirmi Pinkus to bring us this funny and engaging tale of a man who desires an ever-expanding house. When it is finally completed there are 100 rooms, each designated for a different item. There’s a room for forks, a room for chairs, a separate room for every item he owns, leaving enough for one extra empty room. But he is alone and lonely. Taking one of each item, he furnishes the remaining room. He lives in this room and sells the rest, including their contents, at very low prices. Having simplified his possessions he ventures outside to greet his neighbors who are happy to meet him. The cartoon style digital art with bright vibrant colors enhances the absurd humor. There is minimal Jewish repres...

A Feather, a Pebble, a Shell written and illustrated by Miri Leshem-Pelly Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Elizabeth Suneby Buy at Bookshop.org Join an exuberant, nature-loving protagonist as she enjoys exploring the varied landscapes of Israel. Written in first person, this picture book introduces children to the natural beauty of Israel as well as to the importance of preserving nature, leaving the land as you find it. The protagonist brings that point to life for readers, writing: "Whenever I hold something small in my hand--a feather, pebble, a shell--I leave it where it belongs... for you to find." Simple, sparse, lyrical language and colorful watercolor paintings convey the author/illustrator's love of Israel and nature. Sidebars with factual information about the indigenous items the protagonist encounters add another layer of learning. The back matter adds more factual information about the natural div...

A Boy from Baghdad by Miriam Halahmy Green Bean Books, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sarah Sassoon Buy from Bookshop.org A Boy from Baghdad is a heartwarming, authentic story about an Iraqi Jewish boy, Salman Shasha, who is suddenly uprooted with his family and the entire Iraqi Jewish community when they move from Baghdad to Israel. Not only does Salman’s family lose everything with the move to the refugee tent camps in Israel (home, language, identity), but Salman also loses his dream to be an Olympic gold swimmer for Iraq. The Iraqi Jewish world is little known and Halahmy paints a vibrant, colorful picture of the smells and sounds of the souq, the beautiful, wide Tigris River which is Salman’s swimming haunt, and the close-knit family and communal everyday life and traditions, such as the lighting of seven homemade wicks in sesame oil for Shabbat. She also captures the tensions for the Jews with the rising antisemitism and anti-Zionism which culminated in more than 120,000 ...

Barefoot in the Sand by Hava Deevon, translated by Gilan Kahn-Hoffman, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Green Bean Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ronda Einbinder Buy at Bookshop.org This heartwarming story is about the bond between two men, who appear different on the outside but have both dreamed of moving to the Land of Israel.  Young Saul is bundled in his orange coat and brown shoes standing on the snow-capped mountain imagining himself climbing rocky hills. Dressed in the coat, his feet are bare in his dreams. Saul grows older learning about the land of Israel in his Romanian Jewish school. Luscious green trees with orange figs are drawn with Saul standing barefoot with a shovel. Now old enough, he devises a plan to travel by boat. Years pass and he crosses the sea, kicking off his boots to feel the soft sand between his toes. Illustrations of succulents and purple grapes are drawn. He says the Hallel prayer, a Jewish psalm of praise and thanks. Tel Aviv was a small ...

Just One More Thing... And Then Bedtime written and illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt, translated by Romy Ronen Green Bean Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Naomi Morse Buy at Bookshop.org Toddler Naomi is delaying her bedtime, telling her father there is just one more thing she is thankful for. Some of her examples are far fetched: she’s glad she has two legs and not three, and she’s glad the moon is in the sky, and not down on the ground.There are more conventional thanks too: various colors and sounds, the rest day of Shabbat. Her dad looks harried as he tries to put her to bed. There’s a baby sibling in the picture too, and according to the illustrations, dad is the first to fall asleep. Colored drawings show cartoon-like children and their dad at the end of the day. The color red predominates. Illustrations and text present a lighthearted look at the blessing of gratitude for the world God created. Some families and teachers may find this reminder to be thankful to be...

The Miracle Seed by Martin Lemelman Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (imprint of William B. Eerdmans), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel Simon Buy at Bookshop.org The Miracle Seed follows the story of a Judean date seed that was germinated by two female scientists, centuries after the tree had gone extinct.  In 1963, an archeologist named Yigael Yadin did a dig with sixteen other volunteers at the top of Masada in Israel. They discovered a clay jar that held date palm seeds that were 2,000 years old. However, instead of being immediately studied, they were locked away in a drawer until 2004 when Dr. Sarah Sallon, together with Dr. Elaine Solowey, attempted to bring the date seeds back to life. They successfully planted the seeds on Tu’Bshvuat in 2005 and they eventually grew. The scientists were able to share the pollen with others and crossed with a modern date, they able to produce strong trees and dates, starting in 2011.   Written and illustrated by Martin Leme...

The Lost Spy and the Green Dress by Alex Paz-Goldman, translated by Linda Yechiel Green Bean Books, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org The world around Motti Friedman is full of intrigue. It is 1964, he is 12 years old, and he is absolutely certain there are spies living in his neighborhood outside of Ramat Gan. With his best friend Reuven, he will follow in the footsteps of the heroes of his favorite books - The Secret Seven, The Young Detectives , and Eight on the Track of One - and reveal at least one hidden spy. Trailing a suspect through the streets is much more exciting than doing his homework in the tiny, run-down apartment where his mother is forever at her sewing machine, and his father, unable to work since his recent stay in a convalescent home, sits reading the newspaper. Embarrassed by what he sees as the weaknesses of his parents, Holocaust survivors who rarely speak of the past, Motti wants to prove himself brave, strong, and cleve...

Strangers in Jerusalem by Kerry Olitzky & Inas Younis, illustrated by Maryana Kachmar Brandylane Publishers, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva Buy at Bookshop.org Strangers in Jerusalem is, at its core, a book about kindness and embracing people who are different from oneself. Three girls, strangers at first, help each other locate holy sites in Jerusalem. Each has been asked to visit a house of worship that is not her own: Muslim Leila visits a church for a Christian friend, Jewish Rachel visits a mosque to give charity on behalf of a Muslim neighbor, and Muslim Asma visits the Western Wall to place a note for a Jewish friend. Differing backgrounds are no barrier to friendship here, as kindness and helpfulness bond the girls in friendship. The story shows an idealized and hopeful world of peaceful co-existence, where commonalities are more important than differences. The innocence of the children, who are naïve to the frictions between religious groups in Israel,...

Once More with Chutzpah by Haley Neil Bloomsbury YA, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Evonne Marzouk Buy at Bookshop.org Tally and Max are eighteen year old twins recovering from a tough year. Max was involved in a tragic car accident, in which he survived but the drunk driver did not. Will a winter youth trip to Israel through their synagogue help them get back on track? Narrator Tally is intending on it. Her goals for the trip include helping her brother out of his grief-stricken depression and supporting him to apply to attend Boston University with her. As the story progresses, Tally begins to accept her own grief as it relates to Max’s accident as well. Tally is introduced to Israel through the iconic moments of most Israel teen tours: a swim in the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, a kabbalistic lesson in Tzfat, the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, camel-riding and camping in a Bedouin tent, climbing Masada at sunrise, and putting notes in the Western Wall. The participants also...

Avi and Ahmed Play Football in Jerusalem's Sacher Park  by Kerry Olitzky & Inas Younis, illustrated by Leticia Saad Dixi Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Eva L. Weiss Buy at Dixi Books The plot of this pleasantly illustrated and simply told picture book focuses on misunderstandings between friends—nearly six-year-old Jewish Avi and his Arab friend Ahmed. The story is set in the heart of Jerusalem and the two boys enjoy playing together on the grassy lawns of Jerusalem’s largest public park, Gan Sacher. The misunderstandings are gentle: an American cousin introduces confusion about the terms football and soccer and Avi worries when his Ahmed doesn’t show up for his birthday party in another Jerusalem park. Avi calls his parents by the Hebrew terms Abba and Ima and we see a small kippa on Avi’s head. Ahmed’s culture is given a nod when it is explained that he knows the hour he is expected to go home when he hears the call to prayer from a nearby mosque. Alas, that is a...

My Israel and Me by Alice Blumenthal McGinty, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Kalaniot Books (imprint of Endless Mountains) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This is the perfect book for introducing the diversity that exists in Israel. In gentle rhymes and careful detailed illustrations, the young picture book reader is introduced to Israel’s bustling city life, kibbutz life, Bedouin life, Arab/Muslim life, Christian life, and Jewish life, all coexisting. Even the cats in Israel play a part in this book, along with the history of how there came to be so many cats. Theres’s the varied geography of this nation (the size of New Jersey), the Negev’s geography, and the story of Israel’s farms and fields, and animals. A double page spread for the tourist enhances the reader’s inclusion in Israel’s story. Some books have back matter for the parent or teacher; this book offers additional information in a small paragraph accompanying each double page...

 And a Cat from Carmel Market by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel Kamin Buy at Bookshop.org When Bubbe goes shopping on Friday afternoon in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, she comes home with challah, candles, chicken, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and wine as well as a parade of stray cats. But when the cats start to yowl and disrupt her Shabbat meal, Bubbe agonizes over shooing the cats away. Surprisingly, as soon as she lights the candles, “all the cats settled down before her eyes” and Bubbe and her guests are able to enjoy a delicious, and peaceful, meal. The simple rhyming text is a pleasure to read aloud and young children will join in the refrain “. . . and a cat from Carmel Market!” They will also delight in finding, and counting, all of the cats, in various sizes and colors, that follow Bubbe home. The cheery, detailed and textured illustrations by Israeli art...

Soosie: The Horse That Saved Shabbat by Tami Lehman-Wilzig, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Kalaniot Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org This charming book is based on a memory from the grandson of the owners of Angel Bakery in Jerusalem, the largest commercial bakery in Israel. When the baker’s delivery boy gets sick and cannot deliver the Shabbat challah to the residents of Jerusalem, his horse, Soosie, takes over and “clip-clops, clip-clops” her way through the entire delivery route on her own. The delightful, cartoon-like illustrations reflect the diverse nature of Jerusalem in the early 20th century with Jews from all over the world, illustrated by their clothing styles and physical features, coming together for their Shabbat challah. This true story turned folktale is a wonderful look at Israel prior to the founding of the State. “Some Notes from the Author” in the back of the book provide historical background, Information about Shabba...

Beni's War by Tammar Stein Category: Middle Grade Admin's Note: The reviewer for this book submitted their notes anonymously, not wishing to be credited because they did not have time to compose a critique that met their own satisfaction. However, in order to assist readers preparing to vote for the Mock Award, we are sharing these impressions of Beni's War with you. Buy at Bookshop.org This gripping, intense Upper Middle Grade novel, focused on the experience of an Israeli boy during the Yom Kippur War, is complex, immersive and relatable. Twelve-year old Beni is being bullied in his new neighborhood, a remote collective farm in Israel. His heroic older brother Motti, who is in the army, has to save Beni from a violent beating, as Beni cannot defend himself. Beni wishes he could be like Motti...yet Beni is about to discover his own, quieter brand of heroism. When Israel is invaded by a coalition of Arab nations right in the middle of Yom Kippur, his life changes forever. I...

A Zombie Vacation by Lisa Rose, illustrated by Ángeles Ruiz Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lila Spitz Buy at Bookshop.org Everyone needs a break from their daily routine now and then, especially when you are not yourself. That’s why you might go on a vacation. But sometimes it is hard to know where to go to rejuvenate yourself. In A Zombie Vacation by Lisa Rose, the undead Israeli narrator takes readers on a tour throughout Israel to find the perfect place to relax. The zombie visits tourist destinations in Israel such as the Sea of Galilee, the Israel Museum and Luna Park in Tel Aviv. But they are all too beautiful or joyful for the Zombie to relax. Then, the undead traveler sees an advertisement for the Dead Sea in a tourist magazine, and eureka, the perfect vacation destination has been found. Upon arriving at the Dead Sea, the zombie delights in the decay of his temporary dwelling when he describes, “The hotel was crumbling into a sinkhole. Roaches roamed the lobby. My bed was...