The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

As we wrap up our second year of reviewing Jewish books for children and teens on The Sydney Taylor Shmooze, we are excitedly looking forward to choosing our Mock award winners! Here's what you can expect, and how you can be a part of it. Start thinking about your favorite books of the year! We will continue posting book reviews for eligible titles published in 2021 through the end of the December, 2021. Sunday-Friday January 2-7, 2022 Voting Round 1. Anyone may vote (except for current members of AJL's Sydney Taylor Book Award committee). Voters may select one favorite title in each of three categories (Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult). Every book reviewed on the blog this year will be on the ballot. Sunday-Friday January 9-14, 2022 Voting Round 2. The top books that scored highest in Round 1 will be on the second ballot, again in three categories. Thursday January 20, 2022 Mock Winners and Mock Honor Books will be announced! Monday January 24, 2022 The Real Sydney Ta

The Real Sydney Taylor Book Awards were announced on January 25, 2021! Here is the press release , and below are the real winners, honors, and notable books for 2021! Listen to a podcast interview with awards chair Rebecca Levitan on The Book of Life .   Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal. Published by Charlesbridge. This warmly illustrated, poetic book parallels the experiences of a young boy at a Passover seder and a small white kitten outdoors. When the boy opens the door to welcome the prophet Elijah, he finds a furry friend instead. Simple text, diverse characters, and a timeless feel make this a story to be treasured.   I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book by Mychal Copeland, illustrated by André Ceolin. Published by Apples and Honey Press, an imprint of Behrman House. Clear instructions on how to do different yoga poses are complemented by brief, boldly illustrated stories from the Bible. Back matter include

On January 6, 2021, the Association of Jewish Libraries held a Zoom event to do a deep dive into the history, practices, and significance of the Real Sydney Taylor Book Award (est. 1968) and of the new Mock Awards created in 2020. You can watch the hour-long program here.

    As we are sure you remember, The Sydney Taylor Shmooze is a mock award blog created to encourage discussion of books eligible for the Sydney Taylor Book Award. The purpose is to grow awareness of the genre and of the criteria for the Award, and to help readers critically consider Jewish literature for youth. Well, now we've experienced almost a full year of Jewish kidlit together and it's time to think about handing out some mock awards! Here's what you can expect in the upcoming months: We will continue posting book reviews for eligible 2020 titles through the end of the December, 2020. Monday-Friday January 4-8, 2021 Voting Round 1 . Anyone may vote (except for current members of AJL's Sydney Taylor Book Award committee). Voters may select one favorite title in each of three categories (Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult). Every book reviewed on the blog this year will be on the ballot. Monday-Friday January 11-15, 2021 Voting Round 2 . The top books th

Our next few reviews will feature Purim and Passover stories, just a little out of season. This topsy turvy posting seems fitting in our current pandemic situation, where things feel so mixed up. It made us think that this was a good time to check in and see how everyone is doing. How are you, readers? If you like, let us know in the comments. We hope that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe. We want to acknowledge the amazing job being done by our Shmooze reviewers, who are persevering despite the chaos. We hope that our continuing stream of book reviews brings a little normalcy to you, and helps showcase great titles that aren't getting their normal exposure in bookstores and libraries. Above you can see Shmooze editor Susan Kusel in a Highlights Foundation Zoom meeting held on April 27, 2020 for members of the Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook group. Panelists Susan Kusel, Linda Epstein, Becca Podos, Erica Perl, Ruth Horowitz, and Veera Hiranandani discussed

Hi, I'm Heidi Rabinowitz, one of your editors at The Shmooze. I'm also the host of The Book of Life Podcast , where I've been interviewing Real Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee chairs for many years. I'd like to share with you the last three years of "big reveal" podcast episodes, in which that year's chair announces and discusses the winning Sydney Taylor Book Award titles.Getting familiar with past winners may help you in your quest to figure out what will win this year!