The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Like the Sea and the Sky: A Mysterious Mollusk and Its Magical Blue Ink by Jordan Namerow, illustrated by Michelle Simpson Brandylane Publishers, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Doreen Klein Robinson Buy at Bookshop.org We first meet Zinni while under the warmth and comfort of her mom’s tallit, with its dangling fringes that remind her of the arms of jellyfish. While her mom, a rabbi, offers a morning prayer of thanks, Zinni daydreams about the her favorite sea creatures – the mollusks that hide inside beautiful shells. When Zinni misses the school bus, we learn that she mixes up letters and numbers and is afraid to ask for help. Zinni’s mom shares that sometimes being a rabbi feels scary, too. This makes Zinni feel better, until she gets teased at recess for drawing sea creatures in her notebook. On the bus ride home, Zinni wishes she could be one of the sea creatures that squirts colorful clouds of ink to scare away its predators. At home, Zinni’s mom tells her about an ancien

Big Bad Wolf's Yom Kippur by David Sherrin, illustrated by Martin Morón Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books  Reviewer: Doreen Klein Robinson Buy at Bookshop.org Big Bad Wolf’s Yom Kippur is a delightful story that twists the conventional tale on its… tail! Author David Sherrin does a clever job mashing up two favorite fables: Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. The story takes place during Yom Kippur, but for Big Bad Wolf it’s just another day of being bad, until he accepts Raccoon’s invitation to go to synagogue. Rabbi’s hug and Cantor’s cheerful singing might just make a big bad wolf change his ways. But then he remembers that wolves don’t like hugs, or singing, or changing. Big Bad Wolves like being bad. His encounter with Little Red Riding Hood and her Granny has him almost apologizing, a sign that he is starting to change. As he heads home, he feels something warm in his heart. Then he sees the Three Little Pigs, but