I am excited to share Evelyn Goldfinger’s creative work, WORDS FROM MY HEART: THE HANDS-ON JEWISH PRAYER BOOK. It’s a unique book concept that is interactive and project-based, making prayer accessible for children. Evelyn is passionate about bringing spirituality to…
I’m pleased to share my interview with David Tabatsky about his YA book, THE BOY BEHIND THE DOOR: HOW SALOMON KOOL ESCAPED THE NAZIS (Amsterdam Publishers, 2022). It tells the story of a teen named Salomon Kool, who survives against…
I am thrilled to be a stop on the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Awards Blog Tour! The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the…
Congratulation to the authors and illustrators honored by the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Awards. I am pleased to have interviewed some of the winners and notables this past year. Check out the interviews below. Interview with Mari Lowe, author of AVIVA…
THE GHOSTS OF ROSE HILL by R.M. Romero (Peachtree Teen, 2022) is a beautiful novel in verse about a teenager, Ilana, who visits her aunt in Prague. She discovers a cemetery and befriends a ghost boy named Benjamin. But befriending a ghost is not…
Sacha Lamb’s YA novel WHEN ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY (Levine Querido, 2022) follows an angel, Uriel, and a demon, Little Ash, as they leave their shtetl and journey to America to rescue a young woman who has gone missing. WHEN…
In ONLY KIDDING! MY FIRST BOOK OF JEWISH JOKES (Ideastrator Press), author/illustrator Sari Kopitnikoff offers jokes, riddles, and puns with a Jewish twist. Supplemented with colorful graphic illustrations, the playful jokes emphasize things like traditional foods, Jewish values, holidays, and…
I am delighted to welcome my friend, Deborah Lakritz, to chat about her newest picture book biography, A PLACE TO BELONG: DEBBIE FRIEDMAN SINGS HER WAY HOME (Apples & Honey Press, 2022), illustrated by Julia Castaño. Debbie Friedman’s music is…
Jonathan Sandler’s graphic novel, THE ENGLISH GI illustrated by Brian Bicknell, is based on the memoir of his beloved grandfather, Bernard Sandler. Bernard was a Jewish British teenager who was stranded in New York City in 1939 when the war…
In Jane Sutton’s new picture book, GRACIE BRINGS BACK BUBBE’S SMILE (Albert Whitman & Company, 2022) illustrated by Debby Rahmalia, Gracie’s grandmother, Bubbe, is grieving the loss of her husband, Gracie’s grandfather. When Bubbe teaches Gracie some Yiddish, the two…