The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

One of The Shmooze's co-admins, Heidi Rabinowitz, is the host of The Book of Life Podcast. Heidi interviewed fellow co-admins Susan Kusel and Chava Pinchuck, about The Sydney Taylor Shmooze, and you can listen to the episode below. Other mock award bloggers from Calling Caldecott, Heavy Medal, and Guessing Geisel shared their thoughts, and you'll find a bonus episode with more of that conversation HERE , where you'll also find transcripts and links to lots more information about mock awards.

The Sydney Taylor Book Awards recognize the best Jewish children's/YA books each year. The mock awards will be announced January 21 and the real awards will be announced on January 25. Attend this free Zoom event to get background on the real award and learn about the Sydney Taylor Shmooze mock award blog and how you can vote for the mock awards. Presented by: The Association of Jewish Libraries When: Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 7:30pm ET Where: Please preregister for this free event at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvdO6prjsiHNejZCjixxgpYN3V3pkPR5Jh/success?user_id=MNB0BrgSThOaOFFqWidcaQ&timezone_id=America%2FLos_Angeles

  We want to thank our dedicated team of volunteer book reviewers! They've been doing a great job evaluating Jewish children's and YA books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze throughout 2020. Read their reviews so you'll be ready to VOTE for the Mock Sydney Taylor Book Awards, starting January 4, 2021! If you're interested in joining our reviewing team, CLICK HERE .   Todah Rabah to:   Laurie Adler Sarah Aronson Freidele Biniashvili Kathy Bloomfield  Belinda Brock Anna Caplan  Leah Cypress Meira Drazin Michelle Falkoff Karin Fisher-Golton  Rachel Fremmer Beth Gallego  Jeff Gottesfeld Judith Greenblatt Bridget Hodder Ruth Horowitz  Rachel Kamin Mirele Kessous Jane Kohuth Stacy Mozer Stacy Nockowitz  Gigi Pagliarulo Fern Richardson Sylvie Shaffer Rachel Simon Lila Spitz A.R. Vishny Sandy Wasserman Meg Wiviott

If I Lived with Noah by Pamela Moritz, illustrated by MacKenzie Haley Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Belinda Brock Buy at Bookshop.org This playful twist on the Bible story of Noah and the Ark is told in rhyme that children will enjoy listening to and adults will find fun to read. As the book opens, a young boy is comforting his stuffed animals as they all shelter under a blanket tent during a fierce rainstorm. He begins to tell his animals a story, inviting them (and the reader) to imagine themselves seeking passage on Noah’s Ark. The book goes on to relate the story of their successful voyage. Although this is a simple story that preschoolers will like, many discussion-worthy themes run through this book: how to connect, collaborate, contribute, and communicate during challenging times. In fact, while not intentional, this book offers timely lessons for periods of quarantine. Of course, all is not work on this voyage—time is also devoted to the clever ways the boy and the animals

It's My Party and I Don't Want To Go by Amanda Panitch Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel Simon Buy at Bookshop.org Ellie Katz has a plan. Well, many plans. Her bat mitzvah is coming up and she does not want to have it. Sometimes she can’t breathe when she has to do things in front of people, like when she went up to light the candles at her sister’s bat mitzvah two years ago. She can’t imagine having to read from the Torah, say the blessings, and give a speech at her own bat mitzvah. So together with her best friend Zoe, Ellie devises ways to make sure her bat mitzvah doesn’t happen. From canceling the venue to shocking the DJ to starting a food fight to deter the caterer, Ellie’s sure her bat mitzvah won’t go through. But when her parents find out what is going on and she and Zoe get into a fight, Ellie finds a way to make sure she does her bat mitzvah...her way. This middle grade book examines the themes of the Jewish rite of passage of becoming a woman in the community

A Basket Full of Figs retoldby Ori Alon, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili Buy at Bookshop.org Originally published in Hebrew, A Basket Full of Figs is a retelling of a Midrashic tale, in which Emperor Hadrian visits a quiet little village. He sees an old man, who is nearly one hundred years old, planting a fig tree sapling. Emperor Hadrian is astonished at this as he tells the old man he won’t be alive to eat the fruit from the tree. The old man tells him, “Well if I don’t, then my children will. The tree that I am planting is a gift. For years to come, children will visit this place and find a fig tree full of sweet fruit.” He goes on to explain that when he came in to the world, he found lots of trees, wonderful gifts from earlier generations. But the story doesn’t end there. Three years pass and Emperor Hadrian revisits the village, and the old man. The reader then gets to see what indeed happened with the fig tre

Beni's War by Tammar Stein Category: Middle Grade Admin's Note: The reviewer for this book submitted their notes anonymously, not wishing to be credited because they did not have time to compose a critique that met their own satisfaction. However, in order to assist readers preparing to vote for the Mock Award, we are sharing these impressions of Beni's War with you. Buy at Bookshop.org This gripping, intense Upper Middle Grade novel, focused on the experience of an Israeli boy during the Yom Kippur War, is complex, immersive and relatable. Twelve-year old Beni is being bullied in his new neighborhood, a remote collective farm in Israel. His heroic older brother Motti, who is in the army, has to save Beni from a violent beating, as Beni cannot defend himself. Beni wishes he could be like Motti...yet Beni is about to discover his own, quieter brand of heroism. When Israel is invaded by a coalition of Arab nations right in the middle of Yom Kippur, his life changes forever. I