The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

  Baby Moses in a Basket by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by Julie Downing Candlewick Press Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Baby Moses, set adrift in a basket by his mother, floats down the river Nile. An ibis, a hippopotamus, and a crocodile each meet the sleeping baby and, somewhat improbably, take a turn at protecting him through night and rainstorm. In the morning, Pharoah's daughter finds the baby and joyfully draws him out of the water. The narrative departs from the source material in Exodus beyond the insertion of the protective animals. The basket's journey lasts all night and seems to cover quite a distance. The baby is identified as Moses from the beginning, rather than being named Moses ("I drew him out of the water") by Pharoah's daughter. There is no mention of sister Miriam watching over her little brother and being on hand to offer her mother's nursing services to the princess, who gives no indication that s

Night Lights: A Sukkot Story by Barbara Diamond Goldin, illustrated by Amberin Huq Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Night Lights was originally published in 1995 by Harcourt Brace with illustrations by Louise August. This new edition, published by Apples & Honey Press, has been heavily edited, and has been reillustrated by Amberin Huq. The basic storyline remains the same: Daniel is nervous about spending a night in the dark in the family sukkah, even with big sister Naomi for company. After being spooked by noises and shadows, he almost heads inside, but Naomi points out the "night lights" in the sky, the same stars and moon that were seen by their ancestors when they slept in similar huts. The revised text is much tighter than the original. It's been slightly simplified and streamlined in a way that will make it more accessible to young readers. It's also been made more egalitarian: mom helps build the sukkah and dad helps p

  The Prettiest by Brigit Young Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The middle school is abuzz when a list is published on social media, ranking the 50 prettiest girls in the eighth grade. Shy Eve is catapulted from obscurity to notoriety by landing in first place on this list, garnering her much unwanted attention. Popular girl Sophie is horrified that's she's been placed in spot #2. Eve's best friend Nessa doesn't make the list at all, presumably because she's not classically thin. This scenario creates a platform for a fascinating exploration of the ways people judge each other and the assumptions people make about each other, of gender dynamics and sexism, and of other prejudices such as antisemitism and racism (though these last are touched on only briefly). Chapters switch between the points of view of Eve, Nessa, and Sophie, who eventually form an alliance to find the author of the list and bring them to justice, or at least

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 8 Nights of Chanukah by Eric Carle LLC Category: Board Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The original Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1969) is a beloved classic of secular children's literature. In recent years, the caterpillar has become something of a franchise, available as a toy, on party supplies, and in a plethora of spin-off books. Now, at long last, we get the intersection of the famed caterpillar with Jewish culture in The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 8 Nights of Chanukah . Eric Carle's signature style of painted paper collage has been employed on eight spreads, one for each night of Chanukah. On the left side of each spread, we see a menorah correctly depicted with the shamash elevated above the other candles, and with candles being added each night from right to left. On the right side, bright illustrations on a clean white background depict typical holiday activities such as eating latkes and sufganiyot,

The Littlest Candle: A Hanukkah Story by Rabbis Kerry and Jesse Olitzky, illustrated by Jen Kostman Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org A group of animate candles living in a kitchen drawer are excited about Hanukkah's approach. They enter into a lively debate about who should be lit on the first night of the holiday; the various Hanukkah candles, and oddly, the Shabbat candles, and even the Havdalah candle argue for their own suitability for this role. Only Little Flicker, the smallest candle, hangs back, instead supporting others and providing useful information. At last the rest of the candles realize that modest Little Flicker is so helpful that he should be the shamash, the helper candle. "He smiled brightly because he knew he was there to help. And that was the most important way to bring more light to Hanukkah." The logic of anthropomorphic candles who apparently survive repeated lightings is a bit shaky, and the text i

It's time to meet your Sydney Taylor Shmooze admins! Three friends run this blog: Susan Kusel (whose brainchild it was) and her partners in crime, Chava Pinchuck and Heidi Rabinowitz. You can read a bit about us in the About section but we thought you might like to get to know each of us a little better. Today it's Heidi's turn. Heidi Rabinowitz 1. Describe a day in your professional life. Purim puppet show Things I hear every day: "Miss Heidi, what are we reading about today?" "Another book, please!"  "I'm going to Disney World tomorrow!" "I have a dog!" "The! End!" "I love you, Miss Heidi." Things I say every day: "Everybody say 'Hi, Miss Heidi!'" "Do you hear the rhyming in this book?" "You get what you get and you don't get upset." "Take your finger out of your nose." "What a good question!" "I love you too." Things

Hi, I'm Heidi Rabinowitz, one of your editors at The Shmooze. I'm also the host of The Book of Life Podcast , where I've been interviewing Real Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee chairs for many years. I'd like to share with you the last three years of "big reveal" podcast episodes, in which that year's chair announces and discusses the winning Sydney Taylor Book Award titles.Getting familiar with past winners may help you in your quest to figure out what will win this year!