I am a school and public librarian as well as a writer. I also serve as a member of the Children’s Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education. We review hundreds of books each year for consideration of a place on our list –The Best Children’s Books of the Year. I've chosen to recommend some lighthearted picture books with Jewish characters or themes because a number of my own books fit into this category. Mitzi’s Mitzvah, Little Red Ruthie, and Dance the Hora, Isadora! are three of my Jewish themed books. Each of these titles has been selected by PJ Library, an organization that sends a book each month to children.
A young girl learns the Hora at her cousin's wedding, then brings her new moves to dance class.
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So many Hanukkah books are super serious. I love the way Leslie Kimmelman cleverly uses wordplay to expand the story of the 8 nights of the holiday into something completely unexpected and uproariously funny. The book obviously references a Jewish holiday, but the story will have broad appeal to children of all religious backgrounds and children living in strictly secular households too.
I always recommend this genius book as a wonderful companion to my own Hanukkah book. The young audience is always one step ahead of the old woman in Kimmel’s story, and this engages them from the start all the way through to the comforting end. There’s an old-fashioned folktale-like quality to this story which makes it a sure winner!
When lighter-than-air matzah balls send Passover guests floating on the ceiling, a remedy is needed to bring them down. The author’s solution is brilliant and hilarious for anyone who has experienced cooking mishaps. There are so many Passover books that dwell on the story of the Jewish people’s escape from tyranny in Egypt and this is undoubtedly an important story to tell. But there’s also a need for holiday books that are just plain fun. This is definitely one of those.
This book reflects the author’s own experience as a child during the heyday of Yiddish theater. It’s an exciting story that will engage kids with a slice of history as they imagine themselves taking to the stage and enjoying the thrill of the limelight. So many Jewish-themed books focus on the holidays, so it’s refreshing to have others that just reflect Jewish life in the past or the present.
It’s not easy to create non-human characters that are fully believable, but Horowitz does it with the most unlikely creatures–gefilte fish who escape from their jar. Their antics are silly in the best way and the sprinkling of Yiddish terms (explained in a glossary) adds flavor and humor. The cartoon illustrations are spot on!
5,809 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Jewish history, knights, and bears.
We think you will like Hitler's Jewish Soldiers, Black Zion, and Good Talk if you like this list.
From Colin's list on true stories of survival.
Bryan has been a long-time friend and an academic colleague. His research unearthed material that was virtually unknown. The Holocaust could never be studied and presented in the same way after his book was published, and I had a small part in his research.
From Cheryl's list on Black-Jewish relations.
Too often “Black-Jewish relations” focuses on Jewish engagement in the Black civil rights struggle, a largely one-sided political narrative. This book broadens that horizon in two ways. First, it focuses on the Black experience and encounter with the other, rather than the Jewish one. Second, it explores the religious dimension that political discussions often ignore – that the Black experience with Jews and Judaism is as much rooted in religion as in politics.
From Veera's list on Jewish and South Asian representation.
This graphic memoir is one of most brilliant books I’ve had the pleasure to read. In some ways, it’s a modern version of my own parents’ story. To be very clear, it isn’t actually a children’s book, but I see it as both a YA and an adult book (probably from age twelve on up because of some mature content) that could open up important “good talks” between parents and kids. It tells the real story of author Mira Jacob as she navigates her Indian American identity, her marriage to a Jewish man, her difficult in-laws, and how she tries to communicate all this to her young biracial son who’s figuring out his own identity. The edgy illustrations make it all the more compelling. There are honest, unflinching, and even hilarious discussions about racism, colorism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism and much of it takes place during the heightened setting of the 2016 US presidential election.
