SHOPPING GUIDE

 

Literary Ideas for Children and Adults

to Help with Your Gift List

 

by

Ellen Cole,

Library Educator, Temple Isaiah in West Los Angeles

President, AJLSC

Co-Editor, Children’s Literature, AJL Newsletter

 

as first presented at

First Wednesdays

a new program of the

Jewish Community Library of Los Angeles

on November 5, 2003

 

The list below is based on a survey of children’s Jewish books published in 2003.  Suggestions include books from 2003 and earlier.  Where a 2003 publication was not as good as an earlier book, I chose the older story.  Emphasis here is on a good read rather than the newest toy on the block!

 

 

Literary Gift Ideas for Children

 

HANUKKAH STORIES

 

PICTURE BOOKS

Hartt-Snowbell, Sarah              Yesterday’s Santa and the Chanukah Miracle

Kimmel, Eric                            Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblin

Krulik, Nancy                           Is It Hanukkah Yet? (Easy Reader)

Lanton, Sandy                          Lots of Latkes

Newman Leslea                        Runaway Dreidel

Schuman, Burt                          Chanukah on the Prairie

Schur, Maxine                          The Peddler’s Gift*

Schwartz, Bett                         Where’s My Dreidel? (Lift Flap)

Spinner, Stephanie                    It’s A Miracle

 

OLDER READERS

Bunting, Eve                             One Candle**  (also Holocaust)

Chaikin, Miriam                        Alexandra’s Scroll: Story of the First Hanukkah

Hesse, Karen                           The Stone Lamp  (History more than Hanukkah)

Kimmel, Eric                            A Hanukkah Treasury

Koss, Amy                               How I Saved Hanukkah

Zalben, Jane                             The Magic Menorah

 

 

BEYOND HANUKKAH

 

PICTURE BOOKS

Baer, Julie                                I Only Like What I Like

Blanc, Esther                            Long Johns for a Small Chicken

Davis, Aubrey                          Bagels from Benny

Fowles, Shelly                          The Batchelor and the Bean

Harel, Nira                               The Key to My Heart

Hershenhorn, Esther                 Chicken Soup by Heart*

Howland, Naomi                      The Matzah Man

Koralek, Jenny                         The Moses Basket

Krulik, Nancy                           No Matzah for Me!

Lehman-Wilzig, Tami                Tasty Bible Stories

Pinkney, Jerry                           Noah’s Ark**

Rael, Elsa                                 Rivka’s First Thanksgiving*

Rouss, Sylvia                            Sammy Spider’s First Trip to Israel**

Seeger, Pete                             Turn! Turn! Turn!

Silverman, Erica                        When the Chickens Went on Strike

Sper, Emily                               The Passover Seder

Stampler, Ann                          Something for Nothing

Steig, William                           When Everybody Wore a Hat

Vorst, Rochel                           The Sukkah That I Built

Wasserman, Mira                     Too Much of a Good Thing

 

 

OLDER READERS

 

BOOKS WITH PICTURES

Cooper, Ilene                           Jewish Holidays All Year Round

Deedy, Carmen                        The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark

Geras, Adele                            My Grandmother’s Stories (new illustrations by Lobel)

Hautzig, Esther                         A Picture of Grandmother**

Hirschfelder, Arlene                  Photo Odyssey: Solomon Carvalho’s Remarkable Western Adventure

Levine, Karen                           Hana’s Suitcase*

Pasachoff, Naomi                     Niels Bohr: Physicist and Humanitarian

Patz, Nancy                              Who Was the Woman Who Wore the Hat

Reef, Katherine                        Sigmund Freund : Pioneer of the Mind*

Rubin, Susan G.                        Searching for Anne Frank        

Sendak, Maurice                      Brundibar                    

Schwartz, Howard                    The Day the Rabbi Disappeared…Tales of Magic

Schwartz, Howard                    Invisible Kingdoms

Stone, Tanya Lee                     Ilan Ramon, Israel’s First Astronaut

Waldman, Neil                         The Promised Land

 

NON-FICTION

Feinstein, Ed                             Tough Questions Jews Ask

Gellman, Marc                         And God Cried Too

Roseman, Kenneth                   Jeremiah’s Promise

 

NOVELS, SHORT STORIES

French, Jackie                          Hitler’s Daughter

Hest, Amy                                Love You, Soldier**

Kanefield, Teri                         Rivka’s Way

Kornblatt, Marc                       Understanding Buddy

Levitin, Sonia                            Room in the Heart

Matas, Carol                            The War Within

Matas, Carol                            Rosie in New York City: Gotcha!

Miklowitz, Gloria                      The Enemy Has a Face

Orlev, Uri                                 Run Boy, Run

Ruby, Lois                                The Moxie Kid

Spinelli, Jerry                            Milkweed

Vogiel, Eve                               Facing the Music

 

_______________

*SYDNEY TAYLOR AWARD WINNER

**SYDNEY TAYLOR RUNNER-UP HONOR BOOK

 

 

 

Literary Gift Ideas for Adults

NOVEL

 

Horn, Dara                               In the Image

Kellerman, Faye                       Stone Kiss

Krich, Rochelle                         Dream House

Liss, David                               The Coffee Trader

Pears, Iain                                The Dream of Scipio

Pogrebin, Letty                         Three Daughters

Roiphe, Anne                           Secrets of the City

Rosenstone, Robert                  King of Odessa

Roth, Philip                               The Human Stain

Sherwood, Francis                   The Book of Splendor

Silva, Daniel                             The Confessor

Wilson, Jonathan                      A Palestine Affair

Zucker Benjamin                      Green (Sequel to Blue)

                                               

SHORT STORIES

Babel, Nathalie, ed.                  The Complete Works of Isaac Babel

Brownstein, Gabriel                  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt. 3W

Leegant, Joan                           An Hour in Paradise

Reiffler, Nelly                           See Through

Roth, Joseph                            The Collected Stories of Joseph Roth

Vapnyar, Lara                          There Are Jews in My House

 

NON-FICTION

Barenboim, Daniel                    A Life in Music

Bingham, Emily                         Mordecai: An Early American Family

Dershowitz, Alan                      The Case for Israel

Frantz, D & Collins, C             Death on the Black Sea

Goldman, Ari                            Living a Year of Kaddish

Lee, Carol Ann                        The Hidden Life of Otto Frank

Leepson, Marc                        Saving Monticello

Maddox, Brenda                      Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA

Oney, Steve                             And the Dead Shall Rise (Leo Frank Case)

Segev, Tom                              Elvis in Jerusalem

Weller, Sheila                           Dancing at Ciro’s

Von Drehle, David                    Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

Zurawick, David                       The Jews of Prime Time