Blog Tour: Day 5

On our final day of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, we wrap up with two great interviews.

A Faraway Island is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers category. Read an interview with author Annika Thor at The Little Book Room with blogger Nancy Silverrod (NOT at Nancy’s Teen Reads blog, which was originally listed on the schedule - apologies for the error!).

Here’s a teaser:

Nancy: Of the many stories you could have written about the Swedish rescue of Jews during the war, what inspired you to write this particular story?

Annika: Quite a few of the Jews who were rescued from the concentration camps have written down their own memories, in the form of autobiographies or fictional stories. I feel that these stories should be told by the people who experienced them, because they are beyond the imagination of us who did not. In contrast, very little had been written by or about the children who came with the Kindertransport before the war until I started to work on this theme (a doctoral theses on the subject was published in the same year as my first book, 1996), and I felt that the experiences that they went through are in a sense more universal and more suitable to interpret for someone with a different background.

Read more…

The JPS Illustrated Bible for Children is a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for All Ages. Read an interview with author Ellen Frankel at Deo Writer with blogger Jone MacCulloch.

Here’s a teaser:

Jone: How did you select which stories to include? (I’m glad you included one of my favorites, “Jonah and the Whale”!) Is there a story you didn’t include and now wish it was in the book?

Ellen: It was hard to limit which stories to include in the volume, but I knew that this couldn’t be a fat book. Children’s hands had to be able to carry it and balance it on their laps. I also understood that there is much in the Hebrew Bible that is not narrative: poetry, prophecy, songs, psalms, genealogies, legal material, ritual and priestly material, wisdom literature, and folklore. I left all that out. And I did leave out some stories as being too violent, sexually explicit, complicated, or not especially dramatic. Although I think that the decision to leave out “The Rape of Dinah,” “Judah and Tamar,” and “Jephthah’s Daughter” was the right one, I wonder whether we underestimate our children’s ability to deal with such brutal realities. After all, they see and read about rapes, sexual intrigues, and domestic violence every day on television, the internet, and the news.

Read more…

Thanks so much to all the bloggers, authors, and illustrators who participated in the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! Keep an eye on the AJL blog People of the Books, the AJL Facebook page, or the AJL Twitter feed for announcements about more Jewish literary awards. And keep an eye on the Jewish Books for Children blog hosted by Sydney Taylor Book Award committee chair Barbara Bietz, where other Sydney Taylor related authors may be interviewed in the future.

Blog Tour: Day 4

Benjamin and the Silver Goblet is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers category. Read an interview with author Jacqueline Jules at ASHarmony with blogger Elizabeth Lipp.

Here’s a teaser:

Elizabeth: What challenges do you face as a writer? Meaning: what are those things that stand in your way when you have a particular idea you want to get across?

Jacqueline: It can often take a very long time to get a story or an idea right. I often think of my first drafts as caterpillars, crawling creatures hungrily nibbling on leaves. Sometimes those first drafts need to spend months or years in the cocoon stage until they emerge as wet butterflies, ready to learn how to fly. Every time I re-write a story or a poem, I am more pleased with it. I enjoy the process of rearranging words to tell the same story in a better way. However, it can also be discouraging to re-write something for years and years, hoping that this time it will connect with an editor and have the opportunity to find readers.

Read more…

The illustrator for Benjamin and the Silver Goblet is Natascia Ugliano. You can read a profile of this artist, and an interview about Natascia’s work with Joanna Sussman of Kar-Ben Publishing on The Book of Life with blogger Heidi Estrin.

Here’s a teaser:

Heidi: Can you reveal any behind-the-scenes secrets about Natascia’s art?

Joanna: We’re just completing work on the most recent title in this Bible series Miriam in the Desert,(coming Fall 2010) the story of Miriam’s leading the people through the wilderness and the introduction of the boy Bezalel, who becomes the artist who crafts the Holy Ark. The tricky part in working with the art for this story was deciding how the Ark should look because, of course, nobody knows what the original Ark of the Covenant looked like – was it plain or elaborate? Did it look like the one in the Indiana Jones movie? How big was it in proportion to the people? Both we and Natascia did a fair amount of research and we went back and forth on several designs before deciding on one that we thought would work.

Read more…

Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers category. Read an interview with author Deborah Bodin Cohen at Ima on (and off) the Bima: Real-Life Jewish Parenting with blogger Phyllis Sommer. This blog is also sponsoring a giveaway! Win a copy of the book by leaving a comment before February 7!

Here’s a teaser:

Phyllis: What inspired you to write Nachshon’s story?

Deborah: The Midrash of Nachshon – the first Israelite to have faith to walk into the Red Sea – has always spoken to me. Because of the Nachshon’s courage, God splits the Red Sea and the Israelites walk to freedom. The Torah mentions Nachshon ben Aminadav only a couple of times. Rabbinic creativity filled in the gaps in the Biblical text and the wonderful, classic Midrash of Nachshon was born. I love the lessons of Nachshon’s story: the power of one person to make a difference, having faith in face of adversity and taking risks for the benefit of the community.

Read more…

The illustrator for Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim is Jago. You can read an interview with him at Jewish Books for Children with blogger (and Sydney Taylor Book Award committee chair) Barbara Bietz.

Here’s a teaser:

Barbara: What was the most interesting thing you learned in the process of working on Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim ?

Jago: That I quite like illustrating horses! I’ve always avoided them before as they’re complicated to get right, but with the Pharaoh’s army riding chariots there was no getting away from them. Once I’d figured them out I quite enjoyed drawing them and now I don’t avoid them any more!

Read more…

Tune in tomorrow for the final day of the Blog Tour! You’ll see an interview with Annika Thor (author, A Faraway Island) at Teen Reads, and an interview with Ellen Frankel (author, The JPS Illustrated Bible for Children) at Deo Writer.

Blog Tour: Day 3

The Yankee at the Seder is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers category. Read an interview with author Elka Weber at BewilderBlog with blogger Laurel Snyder.

Here’s a teaser:

Laurel: I’m excited about all the new things happening in Jewish kidlit right now. I wonder if– as part of that trend– you you’d be willing to share a few ideas for things you’re working on, or works in progress. What’s the wackiest Jewish pickture book you can imagine wanting to write? They book you’d liketo write, but have a hard time imagining anyone would publish?

Elka: As you say, this is an exciting time in Jewish kidlit. The Jewish community in the US has always been diverse, but we’ve gotten better at reflecting that reality. Children’s literature in general grows more sophisticated and Jewish literature is part of that larger trend. I just hope we don’t get too sophisticated to have fun.

My next book (One Little Chicken, June 2011) is a retelling of a story in the Talmud, but with a slight twist. It’s about a rabbi who was so committed to returning a lost chicken that he sells the eggs, invests the proceeds and ends up with a houseful of animals before the original owner shows up to claim his one little chicken. In my telling, the story gets a little antic toward the end.

The wackiest Jewish picture book I’d love to write would be What Do You Mean, You Don’t Want Seconds? starring feisty Jewish grandmothers from different times and places defending their traditional cooking. Naturally, it would be narrated by a piece of gefilte fish and end up in an all-out food fight at the central bus station in Jerusalem.

I am also writing for adults. I’ve finished a book about the last voyage of Henry Hudson. His men mutinied and set him adrift in the Arctic in 1611 and he was never heard from again. There’s nothing explicitly Jewish in the book but the question of what drives good men to evil deeds is most definitely a religious issue.

Read more…

The illustrator for The Yankee at the Seder is Adam Gustavson. You can read an interview with him at Great Kids Books with blogger Mary Ann Scheuer.

Here’s a teaser:

Great Kid Books: As a book lover, it interests me: What books or authors and/or illustrators influenced you as an early reader?

Adam G: My great loves are the old Mercer Mayer books from the 1960s and 1970s, like One Monster After Another and Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo. I think a lot of my cultural awareness came from these books. For example, I would see an old fashioned mailbox, and I could grasp what it was in the context of the picture.

Read more…

Naomi’s Song by Selma Kritzer Silverberg is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers category. The late Selma Silverberg wrote this story many years ago, and it was recently published by JPS through the efforts of her daughter, Judy Vida. Read an interview with Judy at The Book Nosher with blogger Robin Gaphni.

Here’s a teaser:

Robin: Naomi is depicted as a very independent, strong-minded woman in a time when men were in charge of virtually everything. Naomi’s Song was originally written in the late 1950’s-the very dawn of the women’s movement. Would you consider your mother an early feminist? Did she have some of the similar traits as Naomi?

Judy: Yes, I would consider her an early feminist. She was quiet about it, but she was determined to develop her own character and pursue her own interests even within the confines of a traditional 1950’s family role. It never occurred to her that there was anything she could not accomplish. She had long wanted to return to college to earn an elementary education degree. At the age of 44 she started toward that goal, taking only 1 course each semester, and completed her degree at the age of 58. Like Naomi she identified tasks and goals then persevered to complete them.

Read more…

Tune in tomorrow for features on Jacqueline Jules (author, Benjamin and the Silver Goblet) at ASHarmony, Natascia Ugliano (illustrator, Benjamin and the Silver Goblet) at The Book of Life, Deborah Bodin Cohen (author, Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim) at Ima On and Off the Bima, and Jago (illustrator, Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim) at Jewish Books for Children.

Blog Tour: Day 2

The Importance of Wings is the Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers category. Read an interview with author Robin Friedman at Bildungsroman with blogger Little Willow.

Here’s a teaser:

Little Willow: You are a self-proclaimed Jersey Girl, but you were born in Israel. Have you visited Israel since leaving it at the age of five?

Robin: I’ve been back to Israel several times, including as a college student for a junior year abroad, at the University of Haifa. In that year, I literally fell in love with the landscape and the history, and learned so much about my heritage, as well as the gaps in my family’s story.

Read more…

Lost is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers category. Read an interview with author Jacqueline Davies at Biblio File with blogger Jen Rothschild.

Here’s a teaser:

Jen: In your acknowledgments, you say that it took you ten years to find a way to tell the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. What about this tragedy spoke to you so strongly?

Jacqueline: This book began with a sound. Back in 1999, I was watching Ric Burns’ documentary New York. I already knew the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. I’d studied it years ago in college. But watching that film, I heard a sound effect that was created by the sound engineer: It was his imagining of the sound you would hear when the body of a young girl strikes the sidewalk after falling eighty feet. The sound was like a combination of an overstuffed dufflebag thrown from a great height, a stack of books dropped on a hard wooden floor, and a hand smacking a face. It’s a sound I will never forget, and it had the effect of pulling me back over a century and putting me in that place, in that fire, with those girls.

Read more…

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax? is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers category. Read an interview with author Jonah Winter with blogger Lori Calabrese at Get in the Game: Read! or at Examiner.com.

Here’s a teaser:

Lori: I read that you still have all your baseball cards from when you were a boy. How did you avert such disasters as your Mom throwing away your prized collection?

Jonah: Why would my mother have thrown away my baseball cards? She’s not a sadist! I guess there are some people who, upon becoming adults, leave their cards in the attics of their parents’ homes. Well, not this pig. I’ve always carried them around with me in my 1980 census bag (my first job out of high school was as a census taker), hauling them from one residence to the next, all 28 domiciles! (I’ve moved around a lot. In fact, that’s what inspired me to write my book The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven. I still have 11 to go…!)

Read more…

Tune in tomorrow for interviews with Elka Weber (author, The Yankee at the Seder) at BewilderBlog, Adam Gustavson (illustrator, The Yankee at the Seder) at Great Kids Books, and Judy Vida, (author’s daughter, Naomi’s Song) at The Book Nosher.

THE 2010 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS
ANNOUNCED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:
New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story by April Halprin Wayland with illustrations by Stephane Jorish (Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers:
The Importance of Wings by Robin Friedman
(Charlesbridge Publishing)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers:
Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle
(Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Younger Readers:
Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story
by Deborah Bodin Cohen with illustrations by Jago
(Kar-Ben, imprint of Lerner)
Benjamin and the Silver Goblet by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Natascia Ugliano
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Yankee at the Seder by Elka Weber with illustrations by Adam Gustavson
(Tricycle Press)
You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax? by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Andre Carrilho
(Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Older Readers:
Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures from the Archives of the Anne Frank House
by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol, translated by Arnold J. Pomerans
(Roaring Brook Press/Flash Point, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
A Faraway Island by Annika Thor, translated by Linda Schenck
(Delacorte Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House)

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Teen Readers:
Lost by Jacqueline Davies
(Marshall Cavendish)
Naomi’s Song by Selma Kritzer Silverberg
(Jewish Publication Society)

Notable Books for Younger Readers:
Where Is Grandpa Dennis? by Michelle Shapiro Abraham with illustrations by Janice Fried
(URJ Press)
Around the Shabbos Table by Seryl Berman with illustrations by Ari Binus
(Hachai)
The Secret Shofar of Barcelona by Jacqueline Dembar Greene with illustrations by Douglas Chyka
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Menorah Under the Sea by Esther Susan Heller
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Today Is the Birthday of the World by Linda Heller with illustrations by Allison Jay
(Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin)
The Waiting Wall by Leah Braunstein Levy with illustrations by Avi Katz
(Hachai Publishers)
Sukkot Treasure Hunt by Allison Ofanansky with photographs by Eliyahu Alpern
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Fox Walked Alone by Barbara Reid
(Albert Whitman & Company)

Notable Books for Older Readers:
The Champion of Children: The Story of Janusz Korczak written and illustrated by Tomek Bogacki
(Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
Guardian Angel House (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers) by Kathy Clark
(Second Story Press)
Rebecca Series (American Girl Collection)
by Jacqueline Dembar Greene with illustrations by Robert Hunt
(American Girl)
Strawberry Hill by Mary Ann Hoberman with illustrations by Wendy Anderson Halperin
(Little Brown and Company)
The Mysteries of Beethoven’s Hair by Russell Martin and Lydia Nibley
(Charlesbridge Publishing)
The Man Who Flies with Birds by Carol Garbuny Vogel and Yossi Leshem
(Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner)
Clay Man: The Golem of Prague by Irene N. Watts with illustrations by Kathryn E. Shoemaker
(Tundra Books)
Elvina’s Mirror by Sylvie Weil
(Jewish Publication Society)

Notable Books for Teens:
The Disappearing Dowry: an Ezra Melamed Mystery by Libi Astaire
(Zahav Press, an imprint of Targum)
A Family Secret/The Search by Eric Heuvel
(Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother) by Micol Ostow with art by David Ostow
(Flux)
Cursing Columbus by Eve Goldberg Tal
(Cinco Puntos Press)
Puppet by Eva Wiseman
(Tundra)
The Other Half of Life: Based on the True Story of the MS St. Louis
By Kim Ablon Whitney
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House)

NOTABLE BOOK FOR READERS OF ALL AGES:
JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible by Ellen Frankel with illustrations by Avi Katz
(Jewish Publication Society)

2010 Sydney Taylor Book Awards Announced!

MEDIA RELEASE

2010 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS
ANNOUNCED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES

(New York—January 11, 2010) April Halprin Wayland and Stephane Jorisch, author and illustrator of New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story, Robin Friedman, author of The Importance of Wings, and Margarita Engle, author of Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, are the 2010 winners of the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award honors new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series. The winners will receive their awards at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Seattle this July.

Wayland and Jorisch will receive the 2010 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Younger Readers Category for New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story, published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group. The Jewish New Year is a special time of year, with a change in seasons, symbolic foods and other traditions. It is also the time for introspection and the ritual of Tashlich, when sins are symbolically cast into a body of flowing water. Izzy thinks about things for which he is sorry. He “compares Tashlich to cleaning out his toy closet, an example of the wonderful way this story conveys to children, at their own level, a contemporary version of the healthy Jewish way we start fresh at the beginning of each new year,” commented Susan Berson, a member of the Award Committee. Incoming Committee Chair Barbara Bietz noted that the “whimsical watercolor illustrations are a perfect pairing for the delightful prose.”

Friedman will receive the 2010 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Older Readers Category for The Importance of Wings, published by Charlesbridge. Ah, the drama of being in eighth grade! There’s the boy you have a crush on who likes someone else. There’s getting dressed in gym class and being picked last for teams. There’s your parents, who are so unlike Mike and Carol Brady and not even like Ma and Pa Ingalls. And there’s your hair, that won’t go in the popular feathered back style that everyone else is wearing. When an Israeli girl moves next door, Liat “not only shows Roxanne how to give her hair ‘wings,’ but she helps her ‘wing’ her way toward maturity and self-esteem,” asserted Debbie Colodny, a member of the Award Committee. Another Award Committee member, Kathy Bloomfield, affirmed this praise: “With appealing and affecting writing, Ms. Friedman grabs the reader immediately and takes her on a journey of self-discovery, confidence building and empowerment that will leave her hoping for a sequel.” Friedman’s book about male bulimia, Nothing, was named an AJL Notable Book for Teen Readers last year.

Engle will receive the 2010 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Teen Readers Category for Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, published by Henry Holt, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. After Kristallnacht, many Jews tried to leave Germany, but other countries refused the refugees. Cuba agreed to take in some of these people, but at a price. The tension of this era is seen through the eyes of several of the people affected: Daniel, a thirteen-year-old German boy whose parents put him on a boat to “the Americas,” hoping to save his life; Paloma, the daughter of a Cuban official who prefers a dovecote to her home; David, who escaped the pogroms of Russia, sells ice creams, and helps the new refugees; and Gordo, Paloma’s father, who is profiting by charging exorbitant fees for visas to stay in Cuba. “The verse and the different perspectives make the history of Cuba during the Nazi era accessible while illustrating the complicated situations and the twists and turns of political interactions,” noted Kathe Pinchuck, Committee Chair. Ms. Engle is known to readers for her Newbery-Honor book The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom, for which she also won the Pura Belpre Award.

Eight Sydney Taylor Honor Books were named for 2010. For Younger Readers, Honor Books are: Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim by Deborah Bodin Cohen with illustrations by Jago (Kar-Ben), Benjamin and the Silver Goblet by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Natascia Ugliano (Kar-Ben), Yankee at the Seder by Elka Weber with illustrations by Adam Gustavson (Tricycle Press) and You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax? by Jonah Winter with illustrations and an amazing lenticular cover by Andre Carrilho (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House). Two works in translation were named Honor Books for Older Readers: Anne Frank: Her Life in Worlds and Pictures by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol (translated by Arnold J. Pomerans) (Roaring Brook Press/Flash Point, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group) and A Faraway Island by Annika Thor (translated by Linda Schenck) (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House). Lost, a historical novel by Jacqueline Davies (Marshall Cavendish) and Naomi’s Song, a biblical fiction by Selma Kritzer Silverberg (JPS) were named Honor Books in the Teen Reader Category.

The JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible by Ellen Frankel with illustrations by Avi Katz (JPS) was named a Notable Book for All Ages. The Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee was very impressed Ms. Frankel’s retelling of biblical stories. “She succeeds in creating an age-appropriate interpretation of the most intriguing and familiar stories that allow families to gleen the essence of Jewish teachings, ethics, and history,” commented Rita Soltan, Award Committee member. “Readability, faithfulness to ‘idiomatic nuances of biblical Hebrew,’ and softly rendered color illustrations are the main features of this compilation,” noted Susan Berson, Award Committee member.

We will be promoting an author and illustrator blog tour as a way to spread the word and generate interest in these books. The tour will take place February 1st – February 5th, and the schedule will be posted at jewishlibraries.org/blog. [Note: The schedule will be posted here on this blog too.]

In addition to the medal-winners, the Award Committee designated twenty-two Notable Books of Jewish Content for 2010: eight in the Younger Readers Category, eight in the Older Readers Category, and six for Teens. Notable titles, and more information about the Sydney Taylor Book Award, may be found online at www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.org. A blog about the awards can be found at www.sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com.

Anna Levine on SLJ Blog

Sydney Taylor Honor author Anna Levine (Freefall, 2009 Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category), appears today on School Library Journal on "Bowllan's Blog." Blogger Amy Bowllan has been running a very popular "Writers Against Racism" series of interviews, and we are very pleased to see her include Judaism in the mix.

In the interview, Anna says "I am a strong believer of the power that literature can have as a way of crossing cultural and linguistic borders. As writers, if we can envision and create worlds in which people co-exist then we can plant the seeds of change." Go, Anna!

To read the full interview, click here.

To visit Anna's website, go to www.annalevine.org.

And enjoy Anna's new book trailer for Freefall below!

Interview with Richard Michelson

Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee member and blogger Barbara Bietz has posted a lovely interview on her blog with Richard Michelson, 2009 gold and silver Sydney Taylor medalist. Here's a little taste:

BARBARA: Are there some interesting facts about the relationship between Reverend King and Rabbi Heschel that you did not include in the book?

RICHARD: Reverend King was killed on April 4th, 1968, just 9 days before Passover was to begin. King’s emphasis on the Jewish Exodus in his sermons formed the basis of a strong bond between both men and King and his family had planned to join the Heschel’s at their Seder. What a wonderful holiday celebration that might have been. I am sure it would have forged further alliances between the two men.

Click here to read the entire interview!

More Honors for Richard Michelson

Image magazine, a journal that bridges "faith and imagination" has selected author Richard Michelson as Artist of the Month in their 20th anniversary issue! They say "The beauty of Michelson’s writing—whether it is in poetry or in his many award-winning children’s books—is that he always finds the human note, however paradoxical or ambivalent that note might be."

Richard, of course, won big in the Sydney Taylor Book Awards this year: he received a gold medal for As Good As Anybody and a silver medal for A is for Abraham, both in the Younger Readers category. The Image profile mentions these achievements, among many others.

Image also printed two poems by Michelson. Here's the opening verse of one of them, titled "Another Holocaust Poem" --



Another Holocaust Poem

I

I watch them enter, lined up, ark-like, two by two, chatting quietly,
and after the teacher, counting, passes, one pushes and the one pushed
begins the chase. This is how the orphans marched through Warsaw in 1942,
I tell the behaved ones, orderly and under orders, and I’m just about to start
that terrible story, the one they don’t yet know, when I pause to open the door,
as I always do, for a little air. And there they are again, arms akimbo,
like two stooges, the Angel of Death and the Angel of Forgetfulness,
those vaudeville comics, those incorrigible face-making kids,
stuck forever—you first—no you—in the undersized doorframe
of the museum I will, for lack of a better word, call childhood.

Read the full poem at Image's website. And congratulations to Richard for all his great accomplishments and for the well-deserved recognition.

Memories of Aranka Siegal

Holocaust survivor and memoirist Aranka Siegal is the author of Memories of Babi, a 2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Book. In this interview from The Book of Life podcast, she shares some of the memories on which her award-winning books are based.

Press PLAY

Great Minds Think Alike

The Jewish Book Council has announced its new crop of National Jewish Book Award winners and finalists, and it looks like they're in agreement with the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee about some of the year's top books. Take a look at our shared opinions below!

The Mysterious Guests: A Sukkot Story by Eric Kimmel, illustrated by Katya Krenina

• Sydney Taylor Notable Book, Younger Readers Category
• National Jewish Book Award Winner, Illustrated Children's Books Category

As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Raul Colon

• Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner, Younger Readers Category
• National Jewish Book Award Finalist, Illustrated Children's Books Category

Hanukkah Haiku by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Karla Gudeon

• Sydney Taylor Notable Book, Younger Readers Category
• National Jewish Book Award Finalist, Illustrated Children's Books Category

Memories of Babi by Aranka Siegal

• Sydney Taylor Honor Book, Older Readers Category
• National Jewish Book Award Finalist, Childrens & Young Adult Literature

Genesis: The Book with Seventy Faces, A Guide for the Family by Esther Takac, illustrated by Anna Pignataro

• Sydney Taylor Notable Book, All Ages
• National Jewish Book Award Winner, Jewish Family Literature, in Memory of Dorothy Kripke

Blog Touring with Cohen & Kober

Today's stops on the blog tour feature author Deborah Bodin Cohen and illustrator Shahar Kober, joint creators of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category.

Read an interview with author Deborah Bodin Cohen at Becky's Book Reviews with blogger Becky Laney.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

BECKY: What inspired you to write Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride?

DEBORAH: My daughter Arianna, who is a 7-years-old, loves everything to do with transportation. A couple years ago, she especially loved trains and train stories. In Rabbinical school, I walked past the Jerusalem train station everyday and was intrigued by it. I decided that a train story for Jewish kids might work. As I did a little research, I discoverd that the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway opened just before Rosh Hashana. And, so, Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride was born.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read an interview with Engineer Ari illustrator Shahar Kober at Into the Wardrobe with blogger Tarie.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

TARIE: What did you think of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride when you first read the story?

SHAHAR: Well, I immediately thought it would be great fun to draw the red engine! I like trains. I was also very happy with the chance to investigate the period, how people looked and dressed, how local architecture looked like, how trains looked like back then, etc. The visual research prior to the sketches stage is always my favorite part, especially in such a book which is based on history.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much to all the bloggers, authors and illustrators who took part in the first-ever Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! And thanks, of course, to all you readers out there. Please do post your comments here and/or at the participating blogs to give us your feedback so our next tour can be even better!

Remember, you can find the full list of all Sydney Taylor winners, honors and notables here. Enjoy your reading!

Blog Touring with Jules & Ugliano

Today's stops on the blog tour feature author Jacqueline Jules and illustrator Natascia Ugliano, joint creators of Sarah Laughs, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category.

Read an interview with author Jacqueline Jules at Chicken Spaghetti with blogger Susan.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

SUSAN: What are you reading these days?

JACQUELINE: What a fun question! It reminds me of an in-house school television show we once did for “Read Across America” day at the Northern Virginia elementary school where I work as a library media specialist. Our physical education teacher made a video of himself reading from morning until night. I would have made the video myself, but our students needed a male role model. Thanks for the opportunity to report when and what I’m reading this particular week.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read an interview with Sarah Laughs illustrator Natascia Ugliano at Write for a Reader with blogger Shelly. FYI, Natascia has illustrated other books by Jacqueline Jules, including Abraham's Search for God, which was named a Notable Book last year by the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

SHELLY: What are some of your favorites? Author, food, color, book, any others…

NATASCIA: My favorite authors are H. C. Andersen (for children's books), Isabelle Allende and Emily Dickinson. My favorite color is green. My favorite food is pastasciutta, an Italian food.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomorrow will be the final day of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour (although since this one has been a success, we may do another one in a few months featuring our Notable Book authors and illustrators!).

We'll wrap up with Deborah Bodin Cohen and Shahar Kober, author and illustrator of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride. Deborah will be at Becky's Book Reviews, and Shahar will be at Into the Wardrobe. Remember, all interviews will remain archived online, so once they are posted you can read them any time.

Blog Touring with Levine & Burke

Today's stops on the blog tour feature author Anna Levine and illustrator Jim Burke.

Freefall and Jodie's Hanukkah Dig were both recognized by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee: the former as a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category and the latter as an Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content in the Younger Readers Category. Read an interview with the author of both books, Anna Levine, at Abby (the) Librarian with blogger Abby.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

ABBY: In Freefall, Noah asks Aggie about her favorite sunrise. Where was your favorite sunrise?

ANNA: I used to live on a kibbutz up on the Northern border of Israel. From my window I could see Lebanon. Mornings I would get up at 6:00 AM to work in the apple orchards and I remember walking through the still silent kibbutz to the dining hall and seeing the sun rise, illuminating the sky. I would savor the stillness and beauty aware that it was fleeting (soon the hot sun would be beating down on me while I had a heavy sack around my neck reaching for an apple that would surely send me tumbling off the ladder). This is what Aggie and her friends have learned to do, to appreciate the moments of joy while they can grasp them, because life here changes so quickly.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naming Liberty is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category. Read an interview with illustrator Jim Burke at The Page Flipper with blogger Chelsea. And be sure to check out the interview with author Jane Yolen at The Boston Bibliophile.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

CHELSEA: Do you have a favorite piece of artwork that you've done? Can you describe it?

JIM: My favorite two paintings in Naming Liberty: "Bartholdi's Studio" from the full title page spread...in which I tried to capture the stillness of the studio, yet show that it's full of life. And also "Liberty's Nod" when Liberty's head was rolled down the Parisian Street with an ensuing parade. I love sticking little things in works that may not get noticed, such as "Librairie du Mirage" The "Mirage" Bookstore, pertaining to the massive head rolling down the street, nodding to folks as she goes, as well as "Cafe du Desert"--the deserted cafe, because everyone has left to cheer on Liberty.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tune in tomorrow for interviews with Jacqueline Jules (author, Sarah Laughs) at Chicken Spaghetti and Natascia Ugliano (illustrator, Sarah Laughs) at Write for a Reader. Remember, all interviews will remain archived online, so once they are posted you can read them any time.

Blog Touring with Yolen & Zenatti

Today's stops on the blog tour feature authors Jane Yolen and Valerie Zenatti!

Naming Liberty is a 2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category. Read an interview with author Jane Yolen at The Boston Bibliophile with blogger Marie. And be sure to check in at The Page Flipper tomorrow for an interview with illustrator Jim Burke.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

MARIE: We've seen a lot of books about immigration over the years; why do you feel the themes of Naming Liberty are still relevant today?

JANE: America is still a nation of immigrants. And once again, certain immigrants are being castigated, beaten, thrown under the metaphoric patriotic bus. So if this book in some small way reminds us again that--in America--outsiders become insiders. In this year, when we have elected a man who should have been an outsider--a child of two nations, two colors, two hearts in a single breast as a the pphilopsoher Montaigne once said--and who is now our most public insider, it seems the right book at the right time.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is the 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category. Read an interview with author Valerie Zenatti at Lori Calabrese Writes with blogger Lori Calabrese (of course!).

Here's a sampling of the interview:

LORI: How does it feel to receive the 2009 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award's Teen Readers Category?

VALERIE: I am very honored and proud! And very happy also, especially because my mother is sure that this is the last step before the Nobel!

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tune in tomorrow for interviews with Anna Levine (author of Freefall and Jodie's Hanukkah Dig) at Abby (the) Librarian and Jim Burke (illustrator of Naming Liberty) at The Page Flipper. Remember, all interviews will remain archived online, so once they are posted you can read them any time.

Blog Touring with Michelson & Mazellan

Our Blog Tour continues with interviews of two picture book creators: Richard Michelson and Ron Mazellan.

As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom and A is for Abraham: A Jewish Family Alphabet won gold and silver respectively in the Younger Readers Category. Read an interview with the author of both books, Richard Michelson, at The Well-Read Child with blogger Jill Tullo.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

JILL: As Good As Anybody is a powerfully inspirational book. What message do you hope your readers take away after reading it?

RICHARD: That each and every one of us has the power to change the world for the better, and that it is our duty to try to do so. No excuses accepted. That means you! As King says, “The way things are is not the way they always have to be.” And as Heschel says (all writers, me included, take heed) “Words must be followed by deeds.”

Since the book came out I have been doing many workshops with school groups. We read together, and role-play, and talk about prejudice and standing up to bullies, and how to effect change. I am always amazed at how much kids “get it.” They instinctively know what is right and what is wrong, but they feel, and often are, powerless. Hopefully As Good As Anybody will help jump-start family and classroom discussions.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As noted above, A is for Abraham: A Jewish Family Alphabet, is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category. Read an interaview with illustrator Ron Mazellan at Tales from the Rushmore Kid with blogger Tina Nichols Coury.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

TINA: When and why did you start illustrating children's books?

RON: My work as an illustrator began with working in advertising and the entertainment industry. I enjoyed the work but the art had little permanence. While illustrating children’s books, your work can have a shelf life. A great book has the possibility to last decades and inspire a family for years to come.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tune in tomorrow for interviews with Valerie Zenatti (author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea) at Lori Calabrese Writes and Jane Yolen (author of Naming Liberty) at The Boston Bibliophile. Remember, all interviews will remain archived online, so once they are posted you can read them any time.

Blog Tour Begins: Hesse & Siegal

The Sydney Taylor Blog Tour got off to a good start today with interviews on the winners in the award's Older Readers Category: Karen Hesse and Aranka Siegal.

Brooklyn Bridge is the Sydney Taylor Book Award gold medalist in the Older Readers Category. Read an interview with author Karen Hesse at Jewish Books for Children with blogger Barbara Bietz.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

BARBARA: In Brooklyn Bridge you tell the story of Joe Michtom and his parents who created the Teddy Bear. What about their story inspired you?

KAREN: I’m always interested in exploring stories with Jewish themes. So when I came across the teddy bear entry in Bill Slaven’s book I was taken not only with the step-by-step description of the construction of a teddy bear (I really am fascinated by how things work, how things are made, etc), but with the back story, the story about how this beloved toy came into creation as a result of the inspired vision of an immigrant Jewish couple struggling to make a living in America. There are millions of immigrant stories and each one is a testament to individual courage and hope. I’m so fortunate that twice now immigrant stories have come to me at a time and in a way that I was able to receive them and make literature out of them.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memories of Babi is the Sydney Taylor Honor Book silver medalist in the Older Readers Category. Read an interview with author Aranka Siegal at The Book of Life with blogger/podcaster Heidi Estrin.

Here's a sampling of the interview:

HEIDI: It's remarkable how clearly you are able to recall Babi and your childhood. Why do you think these early memories live on so strongly for you?

ARANKA: All through my internment in concentration camps I held on to my memories. These were my only identity left after all other recognition was stripped away. I would revisit Babi, listen to her voice and remember her teaching me the laws she had lived by and the things we did together. I would go over them often until, in my moments of fantasy I was back in the countryside of Komyat and be myself, instead of the skeletal figure with head shaved in a dirty, shapeless gray sack, wooden shoes, starving with hunger pains in Auschwitz, a place devoid of nature, surrounded by death.

Read more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tune in tomorrow for interviews with Richard Michelson (author of As Good As Anybody; A is for Abraham) at The Well-Read Child, and Ron Mazellan (illustrator of A is for Abraham) at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

Aranka Siegal Joins the Blog Tour

Aranka Siegal, author of Memories of Babi, the Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category, will be appearing on our Blog Tour on Sunday, January 18 at The Book of Life!

Once again, here is an updated schedule for you:

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Karen Hesse, author of Brooklyn Bridge
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Aranka Siegal, author of Memories of Babi
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category
at The Book of Life

Monday, January 19, 2009
Richard Michelson
Author of As Good As Anybody, Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
and
Author of A is for Abraham, Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Well-Read Child

Monday, January 19, 2009
Ron Mazellan, illustrator of A is for Abraham
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Valerie Zenatti, author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Lori Calabrese Writes

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Jane Yolen, author of Naming Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Boston Bibliophile

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Anna Levine
Author of Freefall, Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category
and
Author of Jodie's Hanukkah Dig, Notable Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Abby (the) Librarian

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Jim Burke, illustrator of Naming Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Page Flipper

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Jacqueline Jules, author of Sarah Laughs
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Chicken Spaghetti

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Natascia Ugliano, illustrator of Sarah Laughs
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Write for a Reader

Friday, January 23, 2009
Deborah Bodin Cohen, author of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Becky's Book Reviews

Friday, January 23, 2009
Shahar Kober, illustrator of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe

Additional Stops on the Blog Tour

I am pleased to announce two additional stops on the Blog Tour! Valerie Zenatti, author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, will appear at Lori Calabrese Writes on Tuesday, January 20, and Natascia Ugliano, illustrator of Sarah Laughs, will appear on Write for a Reader on Thursday, January 22.

Here is a full, updated schedule for you:

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Karen Hesse, author of Brooklyn Bridge
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children

Monday, January 19, 2009
Richard Michelson
Author of As Good As Anybody, Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
and
Author of A is for Abraham, Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Well-Read Child

Monday, January 19, 2009
Ron Mazellan, illustrator of A is for Abraham
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Valerie Zenatti, author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Lori Calabrese Writes

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Jane Yolen, author of Naming Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Boston Bibliophile

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Anna Levine
Author of Freefall, Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category
and
Author of Jodie's Hanukkah Dig, Notable Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Abby (the) Librarian

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Jim Burke, illustrator of Naming Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Page Flipper

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Jacqueline Jules, author of Sarah Laughs
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Chicken Spaghetti

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Natascia Ugliano, illustrator of Sarah Laughs
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Write for a Reader

Friday, January 23, 2009
Deborah Bodin Cohen, author of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Becky's Book Reviews

Friday, January 23, 2009
Shahar Kober, illustrator of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe

Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2009 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour! Here is the preliminary schedule:

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Karen Hesse, author of Brooklyn Bridge
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children

Monday, January 19, 2009
Richard Michelson
Author of As Good As Anybody, Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
and
Author of A is for Abraham, Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Well-Read Child

Monday, January 19, 2009
Ron Mazellan, illustrator of A is for Abraham
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Jane Yolen, author of Naming Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Boston Bibliophile

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Anna Levine
Author of Freefall, Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category
and
Author of Jodie's Hanukkah Dig, Notable Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Abby (the) Librarian

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Jim Burke, illustrator of Naming Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at The Page Flipper

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Jacqueline Jules, author of Sarah Laughs
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Chicken Spaghetti

Friday, January 23, 2009
Deborah Bodin Cohen, author of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Becky's Book Reviews

Friday, January 23, 2009
Shahar Kober, illustrator of Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride
Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Younger Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe