The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Sky Was My Blanket: A Young Man's Journey Across Wartime Europe written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz Farrar Straus Giroux, 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Judy Ehrenstein   Buy at Bookshop.org Employing a conversational, first-person narrative, the late author and illustrator Uri Shulevitz writes in the voice of his uncle, Henri, whom he met after both survived World War II. Born Yehiel Szulewicz in early 20th century Poland, Szulewicz showed early on that he was curious about the world beyond his Polish village and wouldn’t let obstacles get in his way of seeking adventure. Striking out from home at 15 ½ years old, thinking he would walk to the Holy Land, he traveled through Poland, much of central and southern Europe, eventually landing in Spain and joining the fight against Franco, all the while either staying with fellow Jews and earning small amounts of money to help him get by, or sleeping outside, “with the sky as my blanket”. When money or official papers were...

Amazing Annie: The Spectacular and True Adventures of Annie Kopchovsky by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Adriana Predoi Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Amy Brook Cohen   Buy at Bookshop.org Amazing Annie tells the remarkable story of Annie Kopchovsky's 1894-1895 journey around the world on a bicycle. Setting off from Boston and heading eastward, she completed the trip in just over 14 months, becoming the first woman in history to circumnavigate the globe by bike. Annie faced all kinds of challenges, such as when her skirt kept getting entangled in her bike wheels. But she always found a solution for every problem. For this one, Annie went out and bought pants - not the done thing for a woman in 1894! All along her journey, Annie regaled the people she met with stories about her journey - many of them full of hyperbole or pure fabrication - she loved to spin a great story! Early in the story, we learn that Annie, a Jewi...

Just Say Welcome! by Emily Raij, illustrated by Nathalia Takeyama Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland   Buy at Bookshop.org Emily Raij’s story of welcoming immigrants is a straightforward description of one family, with assistance from the community, helping another family. A mother and her two children from Iraq come to stay with Tilly’s Jewish family for a week before moving into their own place. Tilly and her brother pitch in to prepare for the guests. The community helps by bringing clothes collected at a synagogue and a stew from a neighbor. Tilly’s family serves typical Middle Eastern food so the new family will feel more at home. Tilly’s brother and the Iraqi boy find a common interest in soccer. By the end of the week, both families have grown attached to one another. Brief backmatter describes the value of welcoming the stranger. Nathalia Takeyama’s art is soft and appealing, using a pleasing color palette. The ch...

Hallelujah! The Story of Leonard Cohen by Alicia Jo Rabins, illustrated by Gene Pendon Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Belinda Brock   Buy at Bookshop.org Hallelujah! takes the reader along on the life journey of talented singer-songwriter-poet Leonard Cohen. In particular, the book highlights Leonard’s tenacity in writing his masterpiece "Hallelujah" and his efforts to get the song released and recognized. And eventually, “the song that was inside Leonard’s heart is inside hearts all over the world.” We are introduced to Leonard as a young boy growing up in Montreal in an observant Jewish family. Music is very much a part of his life at home and at synagogue, where his grandfather is the Rabbi. Leonard is open and observant and sees both the heartbreaking beauty and pain in the world. Soon after he learns to play the guitar, he writes his first song. Writing and performing gives him the creative outlet to express h...

ABCs of Judaism by Rachel Tichauer, illustrated by Isabel Foo Grosset & Dunlap, 2025 Category: Board Books Reviewer: Ann Koffsky   Buy at Bookshop.org   The ABC’s of Judaism is cheerful board book that uses the structure of an alphabet book to introduce the youngest readers to basic concepts in Judaism. A is for Afikoman, B is for Bar Mitzvah, C is for Challah, and so on. Each item also gets a brief, two sentence explanation. (I suspect many families will find these explanations useful to grown-up readers too.) The choices of which concepts should illustrate each letter are sometimes lovely and obvious (I knew before turning the page that S would be for Shabbat! ). The surprises are also just lovely: Z is for Zachor, V is for V’ahavta, and Q is for questioning: because, “Judaism is more about the questioning than it is about the answers.” The illustrations are authentic, bright and charming. They add additional Jewish content that is not overtly mentioned in the text as we...

Kai and the Golem by Carol Matas, illustrated by Elisa Vavouri Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Susan Tarcov   Buy at Bookshop.org In this clever twist on the golem story, a boy lives with his father and his grandmother, but his grandmother is in the hospital, and without her nothing goes right, not even the weather. Then the boy remembers stories about a golem that his grandmother told him. He becomes convinced that his troubles are all due to a golem. After talking to his grandma on the phone he realizes things aren’t so bad after all. Even the golem isn’t so bad. The boy is able to make friends with him. Particularly clever is how the size of the golem in the illustrations varies according to the boy’s emotions, from monster to pet. This golem doesn’t help the Jewish people in need, he helps one little boy whose religion is unspecified. This story introduces the golem into ordinary contemporary life. Thus the golem story becomes re...