The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Becca and Benj (Becca the Brave, Book 1) by Judith Henderson, illustrated by Amy Jindra Reycraft Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Judy Ehrenstein Buy at Bookshop.org The first book of a new series for newly independent readers, Benj tells of life’s little events alongside his pal Becca. Among the highlights is celebrating Shabbat nearly every week with Becca and her family, and battling classmate “Warren the Worst.” Benj is short, chubby, and appears to be African American; taller Becca is white, Jewish, and brave “like a Maccabee”. These friends support and celebrate each other in a very genuine 1st-3rd grader way. Yiddish is sprinkled throughout as are some excellent vocabulary building words, each with definition and pronunciation worked smoothly into the text. An incident with a mildly antisemitic tone (Warren calls Shabbat “Shabbat-butt-butt”) is rectified with gentle guidance by a neighbor: “‘It’s good to invite your enemies for matzah ball soup,” Mrs. Lieberman said...

My Mezuzah written and illustrated by Ann D. Koffsky Apples & Honey Press (Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Judy Ehrenstein Buy at Bookshop.org A young rabbit jumps up and down in an effort to touch an interior mezuzah in this board book. After several not-quite-high-enough attempts, Mommy comes to save the day by little up her little bunny, and the mezuzah is kissed at last. Uncluttered illustrations feature a palette of bright blue, yellow, and orange. An afterword depicts several designs of mezuzot and a brief explanation of what one is and how it marks a Jewish space. This is clearly a book for a Jewish audience, as a knowledge of why a child would want to kiss a mezuzah is needed; there is nothing in the text or endnote to explain why this is done. The persistence shown is fairly brief and there is no problem-solving included before the mother steps in to assist. This book has a very limited text and the majority of the explicit Jewish content is in the e...

Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy Katherine Tegan Books (imprint of HarperCollins), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Leah Cypess Buy at Bookshop.org Two very different boys. One (literally) never-ending bar mitzvah weekend. Finn and Ezra seem to have nothing in common, except that both boys are inexplicably trapped in a time loop that has them living their bar mitzvah weekends over and over and over and… Ezra is the middle child in a large Orthodox family, feeling like an afterthought even at his own bar mitzvah. Finn is the suffocatingly adored only child of secular Jewish parents. Ezra is laid back, avoidant, and hasn’t done much to end his time loop… until he meets Finn, who is competitive, likes to be in charge, and is determined to get to the bottom of the problem. Even if some of Finn’s ideas for how to escape the time loop strike Ezra as a little dubious, it doesn’t really matter, does it? No matter what they do, time will always re-set. Or will it...

The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Dial (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sarah Aronson Buy at Bookshop.org “We don’t choose how we feel, but we choose how we act. Choose courage.” The Night War is a story about the Holocaust. It’s a story about bravery at a time when choices were not clear. But mostly, it’s a story of strong women and girls at a time when strength was needed. The novel follows twelve-year-old Miriam Schrieber, a Jewish girl fighting to survive the horrors of WWII. At the start of the story, she lives with her family in occupied France. When the adults are rounded up, Miriam and her neighbor’s two-year-old daughter Nora, escape in the chaos. Nora’s mom implores her to be brave—and to meet them in Zurich. Saved by a Catholic nun, the children are sent to Chenonceaux, at the border of occupied France and French-controlled Vichy. Nora goes to a young Catholic couple wanting to start a family, while Miri—pretending to be Chri...

Waiting for Lumpy by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Teresa Ramos Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishers), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules   Buy at Bookshop.org Waiting for Lumpy begins in winter when Ella’s parents announce that a new baby is coming. As the current baby of the family, Ella isn’t sure she likes this news. Her older brother, Robby, on the other hand, is happy to suggest names for the new baby such as Frogella or Horseradish after his favorite Passover food. In summer, when Mommy’s figure becomes round, Ella says they should name the baby, Lumpy. She also complains that there is not room anymore for her to sit on her mother’s lap. Finally, it is Rosh Hashanah and the family welcomes their long awaited new addition. They choose both an English name and a Hebrew name to announce at a naming ceremony held in the synagogue on Shabbat.    This delightful early reader in seven short chapters goes through not only ...

The Effects of Pickled Herring by Alex Schumacher Mango, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Remember the days of trying to fit in, in middle school, trying to make friends, participate in sports and get your homework done? Reading this graphic novel will help any teenager who is grappling with the changes that are happening to them, and the changes that happen to our grandparents as they age. Micah Gadsky and his sister Alana are preparing for their B'nai Mitzvah. As they are learning their prayers, Torah and Haftorah portions, they are also learning many life lessons. This story follows Micah as his voice cracks while practicing his Hebrew prayers, as he worries about not remembering what to say when he gets up on the bima, and as he struggles to get up the courage to ask a girl he likes to his Bar Mitzvah. We follow Micah as he goes to school and negotiates the trials of adolescence. While Micah finds the social scene in middle school di...

Five Stories written and illustrated by Ellen Weinstein Holiday House, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org The Lower East Side holds a special place in Jewish-American history, memory, and imagination. After all, the award for best Jewish children’s books (and therefore this blog), gets its very name from the author of books set there. From those books to the movie Crossing Delancey, the Lower East Side exists both as a real location (I should know - I grew up there!) and a mythical place. But the Lower East Side was not, and is not, home to just Jews. In Five Stories , Ellen Weinstein traces the history of the different waves of immigration to this neighborhood by following one family from each wave: Jewish, Italian, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Chinese. Playing on the word “story,” she shows them residing on different floors of the same building. She emphasizes how music, food, and language kept all of these immigrants connected to their cultu...