The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

My First Baal Shem Tov Book by Yosef Kaufmann, illustrated by Mira Simon Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili    Buy at Hachai In clearly written rhyming verse, My First Baal Shem Tov Book is about the little boy Yisroel, affectionately called Yisrolik, who grows up to become the renowned Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement in the early 18th century. As a child, he learned from his father, “That Hashem is always with him – That there’s nothing else to fear.” This is the message that Yisrolik passes on to the other children as well, in the rhyming refrain that author Yosef Kauffman smoothly incorporates throughout the story. Mira Simon’s illustrations are gentle and breathtaking, especially the ones depicting outdoor scenes. Children will be able to relate to the message of the Baal Shem Tov (which means Master of the Good Name) as the story and illustrations end in contemporary times with fears that are common to many children, such as ex

  Happy Llamakkah! by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Lydia Nichols Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel Kamin Buy at Bookshop.org Llamas started showing up on goofy Hanukkah sweaters, t-shirts, greeting cards, wrapping paper and more since as early as 2016 so it was only a matter of time before someone turned the catch phrase "Happy Llamakkah!” into a children’s book. With a simple rhyming text, a family of llamas and their friends light the menorah, spin the dreidel, fry latkes, sing songs, and eat donuts and chocolate gelt. Adorable, bright, festive illustrations depicting a multi-generational llama family add to the fun and a rather comprehensive author’s note adds value to this quirky, gimmicky addition to the “animals celebrating Hanukkah” canon that began in 1988 with Jane Breskin Zalben’s bears ( Beni's First Chanukah ), rabbits ( Hanukkah Delight! by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Amy Husband, and Hoppy Hanukkah! by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Daniel Howarth), gorill

Recommended for You by Laura Silverman Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer   Buy at Bookshop.org From its adorable title to its meet-cute, race-against-the-clock plot, and (mostly) happy ending, Recommended for You by Laura Silverman is a fun, enjoyable romp that deploys several holiday rom-com tropes to good effect. Shoshana Greenberg and her new coworker Jake at the local bookstore hate each other on sight, but predictably, end up falling in love. The stakes are raised with a book-selling competition, tension between Shoshana’s parents, Shoshana’s efforts to save enough money to fix her much-needed car, Jake’s efforts to raise the funds needed to visit his father, and a well-intentioned gesture by Shoshana to help a friend, that is not received as she had hoped it would be. Shoshana’s relationship to Judaism feels somewhat cut-and-pasted - a little Yiddish here, some latkes there - and the pieces are mismatched. Perhaps it’s my own limited exposure talking but I don’t

There Was a Young Rabbi: A Hanukkah Tale by Suzanne Wolfe, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org Liberal Judaism merits as many excellent religious female role models as it can muster, and Wolfe and Ebbeler tell and depict the story of an versatile and knowledgeable one in this tale that takes readers from the first night of Hanukkah to the last. The heroine is a young female rabbi who brings her family along through the joys of the holiday, in energetic rhyme that will have kids reading along with whomever is recounting it to them, or reading it aloud on their own. All the highlights of Hanukkah are here -- latkes flying above the rabbi's stove top in a four-latke flip; the menorah lit by the rabbi and her son and daughter (all in kippot, mind you); the rabbi's ten-pound-at-least kosher brisket coming out of the oven; dreidel victories; visits from the mishpocha; a brief history lesson; and even the rabbi leining a

The Eight Knights of Hanukkah by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Galia Bernstein Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Laurie Adler   Buy at Bookshop.org My calendar tells me that it’s time to start thinking about Hanukkah. The Eight Knights of Hanukkah , by established author Leslie Kimmelman and illustrator Galia Bernstein, is an entertaining story and a perfect holiday refresher for children from kindergarten through third grade. The story begins in the Renaissance-style kingdom of Lady Sadie. It’s the last night of Hanukkah, and the entire village is preparing for a gala celebration. But alas! A dastardly dragon named Dreadful is roaming the countryside and foiling the party preparations. Oh no! Fair maiden Lady Saidy calls upon the Eight Knights of Hanukkah to “fix things with some deeds of awesome kindness and stupendous bravery” and save the day. Along the way the diverse group of knights replace a scorched dreidel, peel potatoes for latkes, and do a variety of mitzvot before vanqu

The Abba Tree by Devora Busheri, illustrated by Gal Shkedi Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili   Buy at Bookshop.org The Abba Tree opens with a passage from the Babylonian Talmud, in which Honi sees a man planting a carob tree and asks him how long it will take for the tree to bear fruit. When he replies "seventy years," Honi asks if he will live seventy more years to eat this fruit. The man says, “I found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted trees for me, I too am planting for my descendants.” The story then begins with Hannah searching for a tree to climb. Her father, who is resting under a young carob tree, suggests she plant one, as it is soon to be Tu B’Shevat. But Hannah wants “to climb a tree now.” And so she goes searching for a tree to climb, trying unsuccessfully with three other types of trees. She returns to her father who then suggests she plant an Abba Tree, which she does by “planting” her father into the gr

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,