The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Rembrandt's Blessing by Tami Lehman-Wilzig, illustrated by Anita Barghigiani Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sarah Clarke   Buy at Bookshop.org Rembrandt's Blessing is a historical nonfiction picture book that explores Rembrandt’s friendship with Rabbi Menashe Ben Israel during their overlapping time in Amsterdam. After making some money with his art, Rembrandt bought a home in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam. He learned that many of the Jews who lived here had come from Portugal and Spain, and they looked like People of the Book to Rembrandt! When the neighborhood children caught wind of Rembrandt’s biblical costumes, they begged to come over and play with them. One youngster brought along his uncle, who turned out to be Rabbi Menashe Ben Israel! While Ben Israel offered to help Rembrandt get the small details correct in his biblical paintings, he asked for a favor to be repaid in the future. That favor turned out to be illustra...

The Girl with the Secret Name: The Incredible Life of Doña Gracia Mendes Nasi by Yael Zoldan Green Bean Books, 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili   Buy at Bookshop.org   Although The Girl with the Secret Name refers to a girl in the title, this inspiring book is about the life of Dona Gracia Nasi well beyond her youth. It is the year 1522 in Lisbon, Portugal and the night before Beatriz (Gracia) de Luna's twelfth birthday. Like most girls her age, she is excited about her party the next day, as well as the new dress she has been waiting to wear. Her whole world shifts, however, when her parents reveal to her that their family are secret Jews. This is shocking and terrifying news to Beatriz who is told that the punishment will be death if the truth is discovered. Drawing on the strength of her parents and grandmother, however, she bravely faces her new reality. By age 18, Gracia has married and soon suspects that her husband's business is not...

Golda's Showtime Scare (Golda & Ezra series) by Hollie Michaels, illustrated by Claudio Cerri Picture Window Books (imprint of Capstone Publishing), 2025 Category: Early Chapter Book Reviewer: Katie Dawson   Buy at Bookshop.org Golda and Ezra are back, this time during the Chanukah season in Golda’s Showtime Scare . The siblings are hard at work preparing for the Chanukah play with their Tia Ilana at the community center, when the two leads playing the shamash candle and the dreidel get sick and are no longer able to participate in the play. Golda and Ezra volunteer to step in and take on the roles! But, it is not quite as easy as they anticipated. Golda and Ezra tackle their fears and practice hard for the play. Thankfully, Bubbe is also helping out, imparting lots of advice and helping to get them ready for the big day. When it is finally time to perform, Golda and Ezra take Bubbe’s advice and tell themselves what their Zeyde used to say when he was nervous for a show: ‘The...

Golda and Ezra's Dinner Dilemma (Golda & Ezra series) by Hollie Michaels, illustrated by Claudio Cerri Picture Window Books (imprint of Capstone Publishing), 2025 Category: Early Chapter Book Reviewer: Katie Dawson   Buy at Bookshop.org In this installment in the early chapter book series, Golda and Ezra take on the mitzvah of helping their neighbor distribute an enormous basket of vegetables to the local senior center. At first they aren’t sure what to make with the vegetables, but while kneading his challah dough, Ezra is inspired to make pizza. On Sunday afternoon they bring dough, sauce, and toppings to the senior center for the big pizza making event, where they work together to figure out how to keep the pizzas organized for all of the participants and enjoy their delicious mitzvah together. The book opens with a one page description of Ezra and Golda’s diverse blended family, so that we learn who they are, their backgrounds, and what they love to do. This introductory p...

A Forgiveness Stone for Ezra (Golda & Ezra series) by Hollie Michaels, illustrated by Claudio Cerri Picture Window Books (imprint of Capstone Publishing), 2025 Category: Early Chapter Books  Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules   Buy at Bookshop.org This early chapter book opens with a one-page introduction of the characters: Golda Gene Fisher, her stepbrother Ezra David Gomez, their parents, Ima and Aba, and their cats, Bagel and Lox. Ezra and Ima have brown skin. Golda and Aba have white. The illustrations show a multicultural school setting. Chapter 1 starts with Golda eating a large lunch and commenting how “she can’t stop noshing” because yesterday she fasted for Yom Kippur for the first time. Since her class is eating outside, she has a view of the playground. Golda’s stepbrother Ezra is hanging on the monkey bars, clearly frightened. His classmates are beneath him, waiting to see what happens. When Ezra falls to the ground and hurts his wrist, Golda runs over to help. In the...

The Fisher Family Beach Project (Golda & Ezra series) by Hollie Michaels, illustrated by Claudio Cerri Picture Window Books (imprint of Capstone Publishing), 2025 Category: Early Chapter Book Reviewer: Katie Dawson   Buy at Bookshop.org This early chapter book, an installment in the Golda & Ezra series, is about a blended family of four: Ezra, Golda, Ima and Aba. Ezra and Golda are step-siblings, and they have a pair of kitties named Bagel and Lox. This entry in the series takes us to the beach with the family around the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat. The reader can empathize with Ezra, who is a bit hesitant at first to participate in beach day due to all the stuff they have to schlep for their sandcastle contest, his dislike of getting sand in his hair, and his resistance to having to endure putting on sunscreen. As the family goes through the routine of getting themselves settled at the beach, they realize with a start that the beach is really messy– there is trash everyw...

A Ring for a King: A Tale of King Solomon by Martha Seif Simpson, illustrated by D. Yael Bernhard Wisdom Tales, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner   Buy at Bookshop.org   When King Solomon's (fictional) cup-bearer Ezra brings the king his evening wine one night, the king complains that he has two problems: "I struggle to find the right words to make a sad person hopeful or a proud person humble." Ezra decides he will help King Solomon by asking the other workers in the palace for advice. However, his quest distracts him from his job, and Ezra is sent away by the cook after he causes a tray to crash to the floor. Believing that the only way to redeem himself is to solve King Solomon's problem, he wanders around asking people "What can make a sad person hopeful and a proud person humble?" Most people have no answer. However, when Ezra helps a farmer pick up the pomagranates that have tumbled from his basket, the farmer offers him a ring wi...