AJL’s 2011 Western Regional Conference on Jewish Literature for Children revolved around the theme of graphic litrature. The event was held April 3, 2011 at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, CA.

Featured Speakers:

Sid Jacobson was editor in chief at Harvey Comics, where he created Richie Rich, and was the executive editor at Marvel Comics. His collaborations with illustrator Ernie Colon include the fascinating 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, and the new illustrated biography of Anne Frank entitled, Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography.

William J. Rubin is the executive editor of Nachshon Press and the chief architect of the National Jewish Book Award winner, Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel.

Barry Deutsch is the 2011 Sydney Taylor Award winner for Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword.

Anastasia Betts is a well-known education professional with an expertise in graphic literature.

1 hr 27 min 52 sec

With the new American Girl series, Rebecca Rubin, author Jacqueline Dembar Greene researched Ashkenazi Russian Jewish immigrant life in New York City during the early 1900s. Her picture book, The Secret Shofar of Barcelona, and her classic novels, Out of Many Waters and One Foot Ashore, draw on Sephardic history. Ms. Greene will talk about how the different historical events were turned into fiction for young readers, and how the books introduce readers to Jewish history.

Presented by Jacqueline Dembar Greene at the 2010 AJL Convention in Seattle, WA.

47 min 21 sec

Above: L-R Jacqueline Jules, Robin Friedman, Margarita Engle, April Halprin Wayland

Below: L-R Joan Schoettler with STMA committee chair Aileen Grossberg

The Sydney Taylor Book and Manuscript Awards are sponsored by Jo Taylor Marshall. The 2010 winners were honored at the Awards Banquet at the 45th annual AJL Convention in Seattle, WA on July 6, 2010. The winners are:

Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers: New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story by April Halprin Wayland, with illustrations by Stéphane Jorish

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

Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers: Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle

Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Winner: On the Run by Joan Schoettler

NOTE: Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category, Jacqueline Jules (Benjamin and the Silver Goblet) was present at the banquet and was also acknowledged at that time.

32 min 46 sec

Once upon a time there were librarians who could really make Jewish stories come alive for the yeladim (children) in their libraries; they could “lift the story off the page.” They could read books as well as tell stories with skill, passion and joy, making children want to read and learn MORE. This workshop, presented by storyteller Susan Stone, has the happy ending of bringing these joyful skills to your own library!

1 hr 10 min 16 sec

Presented at the 2009 Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago, IL by Anna Levine, author of numerous Jewish books for children and teens, including the 2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Teen Readers, Freefall, and the 2009 Notable Book for Younger Readers, Jodie’s Hanukkah Dig.

44 min 47 sec

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series.

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 winners were revealed at the 2010 council meeting of the Association of Jewish Libraries in January, 2010 in Manhattan, NY. Awards chair Kathe Pinchuck made the official announcement, and then shared her thoughts on this year’s winners.

Click here for the press release about the 2010 winners.

Click here for the complete list of 2010 awards, honors, and notable books.

17 min 02 sec

At each year’s AJL convention, members of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee participate in a panel presentation to discuss the best and worst of recent Jewish literature for children and teens. In this podcast, you can hear members Susan Berson, Barbara Bietz, Kathy Bloomfield, Debbie Colodny, Rachel Kamin, and Kathe Pinchuck sharing their delight and dismay over juvenile Judaica published during 2008, reviewed while seeking the winners of the 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award.

This panel was presented at the 2009 Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago, IL.

1 hr 33 min 02 sec

Author Richard Michelson and illustrator Raul Colon won the 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category for As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Amazing March Toward Freedom. They had the opportunity to present their book to an appreciative audience at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on July 7, 2009 in Chicago, IL.

46 min 30 sec

Author Karen Hesse won the 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category for Brooklyn Bridge. She had the opportunity to present her book to an appreciative audience at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on July 7, 2009 in Chicago, IL.

29 min 10 sec

Judaism has a built-in mechanism for coming-of-age, but are there ways that contemporary books for middle and high school readers deal with Jewish girls’ development in addition to or beyond the Bat Mitzvah ceremony? How has the Bat Mitzvah been positively and negatively portrayed in recent books? What are the pressures that Jewish tweens, teens, and young women face and how does the current body of literature address or contribute to the conflicting messages about beauty, body image, and self-esteem that are prevalent in our society?

June Cummins is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University, where she specializes in children’s literature and Jewish-American Literature. She gave this presentation at the 2009 Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago.

32 min 20 sec

Followers of children’s literature have recently witnessed an unusual amount of illustrated books about the Holocaust being published. Along with the many narratives and memoirs for older readers, there is a large subgroup of supposedly simple picture books that are being offered to a younger crowd. After taking a look at almost everything about the Holocaust published in picture book format, one could come to the conclusion that children these days are seemingly prepared to absorb much of the horrors of 20th century at a tender age. Clearly this subject cannot be hidden from children who hear references to it often, but perhaps the bibliography discussed in this presentation will be of some assistance to teachers, librarians and booksellers who are at a loss as to which of thses pictrue books are most appropriate for various age groups, grades 4 through high school.

Presented by Lisa Silverman of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.

Click here for Lisa’s bibliography of books mentioned in the presentation.

Click here for Lisa’s article in School Library Journal, “Bearing Witness Through Picture Books” March 2007.

1 hr 7 min 10 sec

How does a children’s book writer come to write a Jewish children’s book? Chicago children’s book writers Esme Codell, Ilene Cooper, Brenda Ferber, and Esther Hershenhorn answer that very question, sharing how their mindsets, heart-sets, experiences and backgrounds helped them crate their respective award-winning books (Esme: Sydney Taylor Honor Book Vive La Paris; Ilene: National Jewish Book Award winner Jewish Holidays All Year Round; Brenda: Sydney Taylor Book Award winner Julia’s Kitchen; Esther: Sydney Taylor Book Award winner Chicken Soup by Heart).

Click for links to:

• Esme Raji Codell
• Ilene Cooper
• Brenda Ferber
• Esther Hershenhorn

These authors gave this panel presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention on July 6, 2009 in Chicago, IL.

1 hr 5 min 39 sec

Author Sonia Levitin won the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category for Strange Relations. She had the opportunity to present her book and its backstory to an appreciative audience at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 24, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

45 min 59 sec

Author Sarah Gershman and illustrator Kristina Swarner won the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category for The Bedtime Sh’ma: A Good Night Book.  They had the opportunity to present their book to an appreciative audience at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 24, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

20 min 01 sec

At each year’s AJL convention, members of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee participate in a panel presentation to discuss the best and worst of recent Jewish literature for children and teens. In this podcast, you can hear members Susan Berson, Kathy Bloomfield, Rachel Kamin, Kathe Pinchuck, and Nancy Rivin (referred to as Nancy Austein in the recording) sharing their delight and dismay over juvenile Judaica published during 2007. Books are discussed in rounds:

• New Editions
• Unexplored Terrain
• But Is It Jewish Enough?
• Contemporary
• New Perspectives on the Holocaust
• Hot/Not
• Sneak Peaks

Click here for the Powerpoint slideshow/handout that accompanied the session

This presentation was given at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 24, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

1 hr 30 min 13 sec

Information about information books: do “they” pick out the pictures and write the narrative? Or do “they” write the text and find pictures to match? Find out as three recognized authors, Deborah Heiligman, Christos Nicola, and Bill Rubin, talk about the cahllenges of this genre.

Deborah Heiligman is the author of 25 books for children, including the AJL Notable books Celebrate Hanukkah, Celebrate Passover, and Celebrate Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.

Christos Nicola has devoted over 30 years to the study and exploration of caves in the former Soviet Union, as well as the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas. He is the founder of the nonprofit Ukranian American Youth Caver Exchange Foundation. His book, The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story, received a 2008 Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Older Readers.

William J. Rubin is the Executive Director/COO of the Community Foundation for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago and the driving force behind the graphic novel HOMELAND: An Illustrated History of the State of Israel.

They presented this session at the Celebration of Jewish Children’s Literature that was held in honor of the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s 40th anniversary, as part of the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention, on June 25, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

1 hr 10 min 52 sec

This panel presentation on the history, current trends, and hope for the future of Jewish children’s literature was the opening session at the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s 40th anniversary celebration, held at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention on June 25, 2008. Panelists included Evelyn Freeman, Rita Soltan, and Joni Sussman, and the session was chaired by Rachel Kamin and moderated by Heidi Estrin.

Dr. Evelyn B. Freeman is the Dean and Director of the Ohio State University at Mansfield and a Professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology. She is also President of the Children’s Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Rita Soltan has been a public librarian in New York and Michigan for over 30 years. She regularly reviews children’s books for major publications including School Library Journal, Horn Book, and Kirkus. She is the author of several books from Libraries Unlimited on reading clubs and summer reading.

Joni Sussman is Publisher at Kar-Ben Publishing, a division of Lerner Publishing Group.

1 hr 4 min 39 sec

L-R: Deborah da Costa, Jane Breskin Zalben, Sarah Marwil Lamstein

Picture book authors Deborah da Costa, Sarah Marwil Lamstein and Jane Breskin Zalben provide insight into their creative processes. Learn about their most recent books and their upcoming projects.  This panel was part of the Celebration of Jewish Children’s Literature held in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Taylor Book Award on June 25, 2008.

Among their other books, our speakers highlighted recently recognized titles. Deborah da Costa is the author of Hanukkah Moon, a 2008 AJL Notable Children’s Book. Sarah Marwil Lamstein is the author of Letter on the Wind, a 2008 Sydney Taylor Honor Book. Jane Breskin Zalben is the author of Light, a 2008 Sydney Taylor Honor Book.

54 min 52 sec

Rita Berman Frischer

It is hard to imagine the world of children’s books without Jewish women writers. In this session, Rita Berman Frischer supports what she wrote in an article published in Jewish Women in America: A Historical Encyclopedia, presenting a lively overview of Jewish women writers past and present, while noting trends and examining the contributions of specific women writers in more detail.

Rita Berman Frischer, former Director of Sinai Temple Library in West LA and Chair of the first AJL Sydney Taylor Award Committee, is a writer and reviewer of juvenile and YA literature. She has presented lectures and workshops for HUC-JIR, AJL, CAJE, and others in the US and abroad, and served as judge for numerous book awards.

25 min 20 sec

The Once Upon a World Children’s Book Award grows and expands as it plans for its 14th award in 2009. This award has been endowed by Sonia Levitin, renowned author of children’s and young adult literature, and her family, and is administered by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance Library and Archives. We larn from and are inspired by AJL’s Sydney Taylor Book Award. In this talk, Adaire Klein discusses the history and future plans of the award, and how others can share in bringing quality children’s literature to young readers, “building tolerance through literature.”

Adaire Klein is the founding Director of Library and Archival Services for the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance. She designed the Once Upon a World Children’s Book Award and has administered it since its inception. She gave this presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 23, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

14 min 07 sec