Reviews
The Singer and the Scientist
Bonds forged in the United States between Jews and non-Jews—particularly non-Jewish Black Americans—underlie two other recent picture books. The Singer and The Scientist (by Lisa Rose with illustrations by Isabel Muñoz) spotlights the friendship between Marian Anderson (1897-1993), the… View →
A Queen to the Rescue: The Story of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah
A Queen to the Rescue: The Story of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah (by Nancy Churnin with illustrations by Yevgenia Nayberg) begins with Henrietta Szold’s birth in Baltimore in 1860. The book covers Szold’s achievements even before and beyond the Hadassah era (who knew that Szold… View →
Alligator Seder
“Join the fun with a family of friendly Florida gators who are preparing for Passover in the Sunshine State. In rhyming verse they hunt for chametz, recite the Four Questions and crunch their matzah.” — Penny Shcwartz View →
Clarence's Topsy-Turvy Shabbat
“This will be a welcome addition for Jewish families as well as a good introduction to Shabbat for children who aren’t Jewish.” — Rachael Reiley, San Jose State Univ, iSch Student, BayViews View →
In the Jerusalem Forest
Based on the poem, “The Pond,” by classic Hebrew poet Hayim Nachman Bialik, this peaceful picture book follows a young girl and her mother as they walk together through the Jerusalem forest and gaze at their reflections in a pond. The trees and the sky, reflected in the… View →
Pinky Bloom and the Case of the Missing Kiddush Cup
“Penina ‘Pinky’ Bloom, a fourth grader at a Jewish day school, considers herself ‘the greatest kid detective in Brooklyn,’ and there are a few mysteries she needs to solve: Who is putting the Lotus Blossom Kosher Chinese Restaurant out of business? Why are… View →
The Six-Day Hero
“The opening scene in The Six-Day Hero takes place at a ceremony in celebration of Israel’s nineteenth birthday. Twelve-year-old Motti’s brother Gideon is on the dais being honored as an Independence Day baby. Motti can’t stand the boring, hot ceremony and wriggles out to… View →
Netta and Her Plant
“Gellman’s (Jeremy’s Dreidel) gentle, serious prose conveys profound respect for Netta’s unwavering stewardship as well as her changing emotional states. Ugliano (Benjamin and the Silver Goblet) is very much in sync, with quietly reassuring scenes of modern Jewish View →
I'm Sorry, Grover: A Rosh Hashanah Tale
“Kar-Ben Publishing, a division of Lerner Publishing Group headquartered in Minneapolis, continues to release a variety of delightful holiday books for young readers. Among the offerings this year are a well-intentioned puppy, an apologetic Sesame Street character and two… View →
“Yale Strom is an internationally-acclaimed musician and a professor at San Diego State University; he is also a gifted story-teller. His publisher, Kar-Ben, specializes in Jewish-themed children’s books, and the collaboration here of writer, artist, and publisher is ideal. View →
Dinosaur Goes to Israel
“Our AJL colleague, Diane Rauchwerger, has charmed children with stories featuring a dinosaur who celebrates Judaism. In this, her fourth book illustrated by Jason Wolff, Dino joins his human friend on a visit to Israel. The book does more than tell the… View →
“Kimmel brings satisfyingly warm detail to a well-known folktale, in an elegant picture book set long ago on the shores of Galilee. Joseph of Tiberius loves to celebrate the Sabbath by selecting choice ingredients when preparing food and inviting all to share dinner with him. When… View →
Zishe, a poor Polish Jew and a blacksmith’s son, displayed unusual strength from the time he was three years old. Able to lift heavy weights, bend steel bars and break metal chains, Zishe was soon recruited by a variety of circuses to perform throughout Europe and later the United States View →
Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah!
“. . .a great way to teach younger children the song, explain what it is about and entertain them at the same time. Perfect for reading to toddlers or preschool children.” —The Jewish State View →
Rosh Hashanah: A Family Service
“Perfect for families and synagogues planning youth services.” View →
“This colorful paperback is a great counting book. Holland cleverly mixes Hanukkah activites…with counting numbers one through eight.” View →
Always an Olivia: A Remarkable Family History
Herron offers an intriguing children’s story about a family that has a mixed background, based on her own multi-cultural family tree. Half of the family left Spain due to the Spanish Inquisition and then moved to Portugal. They lived in Portugal for many years while keeping their… View →
The Art Lesson: A Shavuot Story
“This story is based on Eastern European Jews’ custom of decorating their windows with Jewish-themed papercuts during the Shavuot holiday. Children should enjoy this cleverly imagined tale of a girl who loves spending time doing art projects with her talented grandmother. Young… View →
Passover Is Coming!
“It is a delight to find a board book with simple, uncontrived rhymes that give just the right amount of information in a lively attractive format. Tracy Newman’s text on each page consists of two brief lines that rhyme and a third line that always states,… View →
The Rabbi and the Reverend: Joachim Prinz, Martin Luther King Jr., and Their Fight against Silence
This emotional picture book captures two different men who share the same plea: do not be silent about injustice! They are from different countries, with differing backgrounds, and have faced different dangers that have turned the scars they bear into activist outreach… View →
The World Needs Beautiful Things
“Artistic passion and talent are rewarded in this delightful rendition of Exodus 31 when God tells Moses that He has chosen Bezalel, whom he endowed with a divine spirit in every kind of craft, to build the Mishkan. The picture book shows these talents. Bezalel starts as a young… View →