The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Ella KVELLephant and the Search for Bubbe's Yiddish Treasure written and illustrated by Jen Kostman Kalaniot Books (imprint of Endless Mountains Publishing), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Arlene Schenker   But at Bookshop.org A day at the beach with Bubbe and Zayde Kvellephant turns into a treasure hunt for little Ella. When Bubbe reminisces about going to the beach with her Bubbe, she realizes that she has lost most of her Yiddish. This is good news for Ella because she loves a treasure hunt and is great at finding lost things. She reassures Bubbe that she will find her Yiddish for her and is eager to search "every sandy shore and every salty sea." After a walk on the boardwalk to get ice cream, Ella begins to build her ship of sand. Sadly, it is washed away by a giant wave. Bubbe comforts her after her water mishap, and Ella falls asleep dreaming of pirate adventures on the ocean searching for the lost language. But it is soon time to pack up and go home, and

The Librarian of Auschwitz Based on the novel by Antonio Iturbe, adapted by Salva Rubio, translated by Lilit Žekulin Thwaites, illustrated by Loreto Aroca Godwin Books, 2023 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Emily Roth Buy at Bookshop.org The Librarian of Auschwitz: The Graphic Novel by Salva Rubio is adapted from Antonio Iturbe’s 2017 novel, a fictionalized account of the life of Dita Kraus. When fourteen-year-old Dita is imprisoned in Auschwitz, she is assigned to Camp BIIb, where inmates can keep their own clothes, their heads aren’t shaved, and they can stay with their families. Camp BIIb even has a school for children, where Dita is given a special job due to her ability to speak fluent German and Czech: librarian of eight illegal books. The spark of hope the library provides infuses the rest of the story, even as the threat of Dr. Josef Mengele and his experiments loom over everything, even as Dita witnesses the deaths of her friends and family, and even as the real, devastating p

A Gift of Feathers by Ken Schept, illustrated by Romina Galotta Feiwel & Friends (imprint of Macmillan), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org In his debut picture book, Ken Schept creates a sensitive and age-appropriate template for young children to process their feelings at the loss of someone close to them. In the metaphor of birds and feathers woven through the narrative and the illustrations, Schept and illustrator Romina Galotta present a concrete way for the protagonist, her sister, and readers to process many complicated emotions.    When Talula finds the drive to the city to visit Grandma Dot boring, wondering how birds can live there, loving pigeons show us how. Grandma Dot keeps a vase of feathers on a table near her door. According to Talula, the young narrator, these feathers resemble her beloved grandmother. Grandma Dot’s feathers give Talula and her sister Rhea ways to play and interact with their grandmother as she talks about her o

A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer Union Square Kids, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The pitch for Susan Lynn Meyer’s A Sky Full of Song writes itself: Little House on the Prairie , but Jewish! This exceptional book gives readers the story of a family of Russian immigrants settling in North Dakota at the beginning of the 20th century. It’s 1905, and eleven-year-old Shoshana, along with and her mother and sisters, joins her father and older brother who have already started a new life on the vast American Plains. Meyer fills Shoshana’s story with powerful descriptions of the lush landscape and the harsh, day-to-day life on the prairie. Shoshana finds the land beautiful and exciting, if a bit mysterious, while her dear older sister Libke has difficulty adjusting. Their American classmates at their one-room schoolhouse express ignorant ideas about Jews, and the girls face physical danger at the hands of the school bullies. Should they turn aw

Dream Big, Laugh Often, and More Great Advice from the Bible by Hanoch Piven and Shira Hecht-Koller, illustrated by Hanoch Piven Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Ann Koffsky Buy at Bookshop.org Dream Big, Laugh Often explains its mission on its first page, saying that, “even though the stories of the Bible are very old, there is still a lot that we can learn from each of these characters." With that premise set up, the book describes fourteen biblical characters. Each one has an illustration and a brief text. The headers include the character’s name, followed by the lesson to be learned. (For example: Noah: Be Good. Abraham: Trust the Journey.) The text references the traditional bible stories, but does not retell them. Instead, it uses them as jumping off points, highlighting the “advice’. So for example, In the profile of Jonah there is no mention of Nineveh. It instead focuses on Jonah needing a time out (inside the fish!). Most times, this appro

Nuri and the Whale by Ronit Chacham, illustrated by Moran Yogev, translated by Mekella Broomberg Green Bean Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shirley Reva Vernick Buy at Bookshop.org This captivating picture book brings a Biblical passage to life through an uplifting and heartfelt story. Every day, a young man named Nuri throws breadcrumbs into the sea because he remembers his father having told him to “cast your bread onto the water.” When Nuri accidentally falls into the ocean one day, his generosity is repaid by a fish that, having grown huge on Nuri’s bread, scoops him up, treats him to a glorious tour of the ocean, and delivers him to the lavish castle of the King of the Sea, otherwise known as Wisewhale. Wisewhale gives Nuri two gifts of comprehension: the ability to understand all animals’ languages, and a fuller appreciation of the Ecclesiastical saying, “Cast your bread upon the water, and one day it will come back to you.” When he returns to land, Nuri devotes him

Golem Goes to Camp by Todd Gutnick, illustrated by Ruth Bennett Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner Buy at Bookshop.org Emmett Cohen, a 10-year-old from Philadelphia, spends the summer at Camp Teva in Upstate New York. While he's generally excited about camp, he's annoyed that his artist parents signed him up to take a week of art classes, since Emmett is entirely disinterested in art. He spends his first day in the art shed making a clay monster. When he carves his name in Hebrew letters -- alef, mem, tav -- onto the sculpture. Later, we learn those letters also spell the Hebrew word EMET, "truth." At first, Emmett sticks it in a corner of his bunkhouse, Cabin 15. But then, it winks and smiles at Emmett's pal, Jake. When Jake freaks out about that, Emmett and Jake's conversation is overheard by Reisha, a particularly smart girl. She explains what a golem is and how Emmett accidentally mad