The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

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...

So THAT Happened... But Maybe You Already Knew That by Tami Sussman Walker Books, 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rochelle Newman-Carrasco   Buy at Bookshop.org   So That Happened…But Maybe You Already Knew That? is more than a title. It’s the inner voice of the delightfully unsure protagonist Natalie Sellek, known as Nutty to her family and friends because of a love for Nutella. She is constantly coming up against intense or puzzling things that would make a person want to say “so that happened.” But, because Natalie is aware that what might be a novel observation or idea for her may or may not be commonplace to you, the reader, she's quick to add the disclaimer: "but maybe you already knew that?" Natalie is also a lover of new words, and cultural exchange – which also prompts a “maybe you already knew that?” as she brings in Hebrew words, Yiddish words, and other cultural ideas from her homeland Australia and more. In other words, she is a curious, empathetic youn...

Claudia Said Sí!: The Story of México’s First Woman President by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, illustrated by Carlos Velez Aguilera Apples & Honey Press Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lauren Kasiarz   Buy at Bookshop.org This biography of the current president of Mexico starts with Claudia Sheinbaum as a young girl living in Mexico City. The winter butterfly migration occurs, signaling to Sheinbaum that it is almost time for Hanukkah. From there, the book follows Sheinbaum’s progression, or “metamorphosis”, from schoolgirl to scientist to politician. Readers follow her environmental contributions as a scientist, as the Secretary of the Environment, then as the Mayor of Mexico City. The story concludes with Claudia Sheinbaum  becoming President - the first woman, Jewish person, and scientist to lead the country of Mexico. This picture book biography captures a tremendous amount of information about Mexico’s President in chronological order, with a reading level...

Elsa's Chessboard by Jenny Andrus, illustrated by Julie Downing Neal Porter Books (imprint of Holiday House), 2025 Category: Picture Books      Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall   Buy at Bookshop.org Inspired by a true-life experience, Elsa's Chessboard is the heartwarming story of Elsa, a young girl in Vienna who dreams of playing chess and, for her tenth birthday, receives a boxed chessboard with carved pieces from her family. Growing up, she meets someone who shares her love of chess. Edward and Elsa marry, have a baby, and continue to play chess. But trouble is brewing in Europe and, as Jews, they must flee. They begin a new life in San Francisco where playing chess helps them make new friends because they share a common language: the language of chess. But time passes, Edward dies and Elsa moves. In the move, the beloved chessboard somehow disappears. Elsa, now a grandmother, plays games with her grandchildren. Lots of games, but never chess. A new chessboard is...

The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Michelle Falkoff   Buy at Bookshop.org Amy Alterman expected she’d have to do some apologizing after getting drunk at the big pre-senior-year party at her boarding school and fighting with Sarah, her best friend and roommate. Instead, she woke up to find their shared dorm room covered in blood. Sarah and her boyfriend had been murdered, and the knife Amy had borrowed from her townie boyfriend was missing. Liz Charles had never fit in at Meadowbrook, and the only way she’d be able to afford college would be if she won a big newspaper scholarship. But nothing ever happened at boarding school that was worth writing about, at least not until the murders. Now she had a story to report on, a story big enough for a win, if only the school would let her write about it. Neither Amy nor Liz would ever have imagined they’d become friends, but as suspicion for the murders increasingly began to ...