The Whole Megillah- Agent’s Notebook | Emily Mitchell, Wernick & PrattThe Whole Megillah first came into contact with Emily Mitchell when she was at Charlesbridge, editor of the Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers, Susan Goldman Rubin’s Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein. Here’s her bio and her path … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- The Whole Megillah Illustration Contest | Announcing the WinnersJewish-themed Illustration Contest Names Winners The results are in from contest judge, Anna Olswanger. Thanks to all of you who submitted your artwork to The Whole Megillah Illustration Contest. Judging criteria included the ability of the illustration to: Tell a … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | Leslea NewmanLesléa Newman introduced herself to me after my Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) panel on “The Whole Megillah: The Jewish Experience in Children’s Books.” I was so honored to meet her and we discussed an interview for this … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Two-in-One Notebook Special | Author Leanne Lieberman and Editor Sarah Harvey, Lauren Yanofsky Hates the HolocaustThe Whole Megillah caught up with Leanne Liebermann and her editor Sarah Harvey to talk about the new YA novel, Lauren Yanovsky Hates the Holocaust (Orca, 2013, 240 pp.). The Whole Megillah (TWM): What was your motivation for approaching the … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Illustrator’s Notebook | Ann D. Koffsky, Thank You for Me!The Whole Megillah (TWM): How did the opportunity to illustrate Thank You for Me! come about? Ann Koffsky (AK): Rick Recht, a well-known Jewish musician, had a hit song, “Kobi’s Lullaby,” which he wanted to make into a children’s book. … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Four-in-One Author’s Notebook | A Cyber Roundtable about Writing Jewish Children’s BooksAt the 2011 Highlights Foundation workshop, “Writing Jewish-themed Children’s Books,” I had the pleasure of meeting four talented writers: Lois Barr, Marcia Berneger, Dede Fox, and Joan Seliger Sidney. I’d like to introduce them to you through this interview. The … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | Austin Ratner, In the Land of the LivingAs a representative of the Association of Jewish Libraries, I had the unique opportunity to interview Austin Ratner about his new novel. His previous novel, Jump Artist, received the Jewish Book Council Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature in 2011. Barbara … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Attention Illustrators! Announcing The Whole Megillah Illustration ContestDear Illustrators, Finally, a contest for you! Enter The Whole Megillah Illustration Contest. How? Just send in a JPG of your finest Jewish-themed artwork and win a copy of The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats. You … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Winners of the 2013 The Whole Megillah Picture Book Contest AnnouncedMazel tov to the winners of the 2013 The Whole Megillah Picture Book Contest: Grand Prize Winner: Joan Seliger Sidney, Elsa’s Pillow Finalists: Ellen Emerman, Where Is the Tzedakah Box? Michael Herman, The Secret of the Sabbath Stew Honorable Mention: … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | Maryann MacDonald, Odette’s SecretsMaryann MacDonald is the author of the newly published Odette’s Secrets (Bloomsbury), the story of a young Jewish girl in France forced into hiding during World War II. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What drove you to write this book in … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Agent’s Notebook | Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt
Category Archives: Book Reviews
New Jewish Children’s Books Group on Goodreads
Fellow Jewish children’s books writers and readers, I’ve set up a group on Goodreads where we can engage in discussion about the Jewish children’s books we’re reading or have read. These can range from classics to the latest books published. … Continue reading
Book Review | Sons of the 613 by Michael Rubens
Sons of the 613 by Michael Rubens Clarion Books, 2012, 303 pp., Grades 6+ Isaac’s bar mitzvah nears as his parents take off for a two-week convention in Italy and enlist older brother Josh to stand in to help Issac … Continue reading
July 2012 Jewish Book Carnival
The Whole Megillah once again hosts the monthly Jewish Book Carnival! Here are this month’s links: On My Machberet, Erika Dreifus explains how an online essay-review helped rekindle her interest in the fiction of Israeli author Etgar Keret. From the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Uncategorized
Tagged Alice Hoffman, Amy Ariel, Boof of Life, Dovekeepers, Erika Dreifus, Etgar Keret, Here in HP, Jeffrey Magee, Jewacious, Jewish Book Carnival, Jewish book reviews, Jewish Journal, jewishfiction.net, Joe Lieberman, Michal Mahgerefteh, My Machberet, Nora Gold, Origin of Sorrow, Poetica, Reuven Firestone, Robert Mayer, Susan's Literary Cafe, The Gift of Rest, The Whole Megillah, Yotzeret Publishing
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Book Review | Hiding Places by Diane Wyshogrod
Hiding Places: A Mother, a Daughter, an Uncovered Life By Diane Wyshogrod Excelsior Editions/State University of New York Press, 2012, 298 pp. The good stuff Intraspection—Perhaps because Wyshogrod is a psychologist, her in-depth questioning of herself helps the reader understand … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged Diane Wyshogrod, Hiding Places, Holocaust memoir, Jewish memoir, mother-daughter memoir
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Book Review | Jean Laffite: The Pirate Who Saved America
Jean Laffite: The Pirate Who Saved America Written by Susan Goldman Rubin Illustrated by Jeff Himmelman Abrams, 2012 The good stuff Ahoy, matey – a Jewish pirate! Historical context – Rubin points out the motivation behind the piracy and privateering … Continue reading
Book Review | When Jackie and Hank Met by Cathy Goldberg Fishman
When Jackie and Hank Met Written by Cathy Goldberg Fishman and illustrated by Mark Elliott Marshall Cavendish Children, 2012 The good stuff Ingenuity — The idea to write about the meeting of baseball greats Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg, who each … Continue reading
Book Review | Here’s What Happened
No, Here’s What Happened is not the name of a new book. I posted a review last night of Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox and within minutes received an email from a The Whole Megillah reader informing me of the “flack this … Continue reading
Book Review | Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots By Deborah Feldman Simon & Schuster, 2012, 254 pp. With this book review, The Whole Megillah happily ventures into adult literary. Unorthodox is an engrossing read by writer Deborah Feldman, a former … Continue reading
Book Review | Blue Thread by Ruth Tenzer Feldman
Book Review | Blue Thread by Ruth Tenzer Feldman Ooligan Press, 2012, 305 pp. In this debut novel, fifteen-year-old Miriam Josefsohn grapples with suffrage, her brother’s death, a traditional father, and a family heirloom with special powers in 1912 Portland, … Continue reading
Book Review | Requiem: Poems of the Terezín Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko
Requiem: Poems of the Terezín Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko (Candlewick Press, 2011, 102 pp) There’s a special place in my heart for this book. Perhaps it’s because I had just been in the Czech Republic and had personally visited … Continue reading
