The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Blue Glass Heart by Yona Zeldis McDonough, illustrated by Chiara Fedele Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Elizabeth Suneby Buy at Bookshop.org The Blue Glass Heart is a quintessential circular journey picture book. It recounts the travels of a heart-shaped shard of blue glass across oceans—from New York to Florida to Venezuela to Tel Aviv and back to New York once again—and across generations, from Sarah who mistakenly broke her grandmother’s vase to her great granddaughter Ruth who receives the shard as a token of friendship and says to her mother, “Maybe this is a piece of Great-Grandma Sarah’s bowl.” The story and illustrations are sweet and simple, likely to appeal to a young child who will enjoy hearing about the unlikely spots in which the shard appears in between its time in the sea—atop a sandcastle, hiding in a basket of clams, in fish stew, a pocket, and a lobster’s claw—and tickled that the blue glass makes i...

 The Woodcarver's Daughter by Yona Zeldis McDonough Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Mozer Buy at Bookshop.org The Woodcarver's Daughter is the story of a Russian Jewish family that is forced to immigrate because of pograms in Russia. But Batya's story isn't about the challenges of immigration or fitting into a new world, it's about the difficulties of being a girl in this time period. Batya's love of woodcarving, and the way society prevents her from enjoying her passion, is contrasted with her older brother who is forced into that apprenticeship even though he has no interest. Batya's willingness to continue to push her elders to see how capable she is a good lesson for anyone who is being told they cannot do something. I hope this book will be considered for a Sydney Taylor book honor because the book has literary merit. It has a positive and authentic Jewish religious or cultural content. Th...