The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

 Osnat and Her Dove by Sigal Samuel, illustrated by Vali Mintzi Levine Querido Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org Lovely, engaging prose and gorgeous pictures relate the story of Osnat Barzani, considered the first female rabbi and first female Kurdish leader. While most of the book is historical fiction, because few of her writings are extant, the author has done an excellent job of transforming what little is available into a powerful story of wisdom, courage and miracles. Starting with Osnat’s childhood, moving through her marriage and culminating in her rise to Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the School) of her father’s house of study, details of her strength of character, her passion for Torah study, and her care for the students and communities she served abound. The artwork reflects the Sephardic community in Iraq with deep colors and strong lines, bringing the story to life in bold and attractive ways. This gorgeous book has everything it needs to be a

 Houdini and Me by Dan Gutman Holiday House Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Meira Drazin Buy at Bookshop.org In Dan Gutman’s middle grade novel HOUDINI AND ME, Harry Mancini is just a regular eleven-year-old kid living in New York City. His one claim to fame is that he lives in the same apartment another Harry used to live in: Harry Houdini, famous escape artist. Things begin to get weird though when someone claiming to be Harry Houdini—who died in 1926— starts texting Harry Manicini from an old cell phone. Of course, it must be a prank. But whoever is texting this Harry knows a lot of things only Harry Houdini himself could know—like how to do some of his most famous tricks. So when Harry Houdini gives Harry Mancini a chance to change places and escape his twenty-first century life for an hour, what could go wrong? Only the fact that Harry Mancini soon finds himself in 1921 Kansas City, in a straight jacket, being cranked nine stories into the air by his feet, forced to perform Harry

We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance by Deborah Hopkinson Scholastic FOCUS (imprint of Scholastic) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org On the heels of her 2020 release, We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport , Deborah Hopkinson gives us another impeccably researched collection of Holocaust survival stories in her new book, We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance . Like We Had to Be Brave, We Must Not Forget draws on oral histories, unpublished manuscripts, memoirs, and archives to weave the survivors’ memories together into a cohesive and powerful record of this horrific time in history. But middle graders will gain even more from this reading experience because of the book’s narrative structure. We Must Not Forget is divided into three sections: stories from Germany and the Netherlands, from France, and from Poland. Within each section are chapters that recount the nail-biting

 The Great Passover Escape by Pamela Moritz, illustrated by Florence Weiser Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org Jerusalem is home to the famed Biblical Zoo, originally conceived as a place for animals named in the Tanach, but expanded to include endangered and other species. Moritz crafts a whimsical, amusing, and sometimes laugh-out-loud Passover story about three creatures in that zoo -- a kangaroo, elephant, and monkey -- who've heard about Passover from their zookeeper, and plot to escape from the zoo and attend a Passover seder. There's a lot of humor in their relative understanding of the holiday. The monkey has the facts right; the kangaroo and elephant, less so. For example, kangaroo and elephant believe that Hashem sent planes and plates, respectively to free the Hebrews from bondage. Weiser's art reflects their misunderstanding, and it's funny to see a passenger jet high

 Sarah's Solo by Tracy Brown, illustrated by Paula Wegman Kalaniot Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Mirele Kessous Buy at Bookshop.org Sarah’s Solo by Tracy Brown definitely fills a niche in children’s publishing. It portrays the Jewish wedding ceremony and after-party through a child’s eyes. Sarah is upset that she cannot attend her ballet recital, which is scheduled for the exact same day as her cousin Lizzy’s wedding. In spite of her reluctance to attend, Sarah learns that Jewish wedding music can move her in much the same way that ballet music does. It has its own dance moves, which she learns quickly. Sarah begins to enjoy herself and even performs a “solo” on the dance floor. I think that Tracy Brown could have incorporated more of the Jewish wedding ceremony (she only mentions the circling of the groom and the breaking of the glass), although she does include a glossary of wedding terms at the end. Wegman’s illustrations are whimsical, full of movement and highly ap

  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

 Hiding Baby Moses  by Judith L. Roth, illustrated by Melanie Cataldo Flyaway Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org This is a lovingly told, beautifully illustrated midrash of the “Moses in a Basket” story. Miriam is depicted as a courageous older sister looking out for her baby brother, even standing up to the formidable looking Pharaoh’s daughter and her retinue. There are, however, a few items in this version that should give the Jewish reader pause. First, as Moses’ mother (who is only referred to as Mama in the story) carries the basket to the Nile River, she sings a soothing song. The song, “The Shelter of God’s Wings” has these lyrics: “God will hide us in the shelter of a rock./ God will shield with holy feathers, hide us ‘neath strong wings./ A refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat,/ God will hide us in the shelter of strong wings,” that bear a striking resemblance to passages from Psalms (91:4, 17:8) and Isaiah (32:2), yet nowhe