DIY Menorah Craft Round-Up

 

Have you seen the post on Facebook or Instagram yet about Project Menorah? I have had several Jewish friends post it asking for support. It is rather simple. To show support for the Jewish people they are asking us to hang a menorah in our windows along with our other season decorations. Why should we do this? According to Project Menorah, antisemitism is up 388%. Many Jews are feeling afraid and isolated. In fact, one of the bloggers that shared a craft mentioned that this is the first year she is not going to put her menorah in her window due to fear and discomfort. Our Jewish friends and neighbors need our support. Hanukkah begins tomorrow (December 7th)!!

The Librarian of Auschwitz -- Nonfiction Graphic Novel Perfect for Women's History Month & More

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

On the news last week while I was on vacation in Florida, I heard about an arrest of a New Jersey man who threatened a kill a Florida sheriff after he publicly denounced hate groups and antisemitic groups after white supremacists were recording holding antisemitic signs over a speedway here in Florida. Swastikas were also found as graffiti in a local school. (Source) It amazes me in this day and age how much antisemitism there still is. The Holocaust ended 78 years ago! We need to educate ourselves and our youth about the truth of the Holocaust so it won't be repeated. Today I am sharing a new nonfiction graphic novel about a brave woman who survived being in Auschwitz. The book is The Librarian of Auschwitz based on a novel by Antonio Iturbe, adapted by Salva Rubio and translated by Lilit Zekulin Thwaites and illustrated by Loreto Aroca. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12.

We Survived the Holocaust: The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story -- New Graphic Novel Review with Craft Ideas

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

It is hard to believe there are people who do not believe the Holocaust actually happened. But there are. If we do not study history, we will repeat it and the Holocaust is not a part of history I care to ever have repeated. With this in mind, I am sharing today's book. It is We Survived the Holocaust: The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story by Frank W. Baker with Tim E. Ogline and Esther Goldberg Greenberg, Karl Goldberg, and Henry Goldberg. It is a graphic novel, and it shares the stories of survival of Bluma and Felix Goldberg. They lived through the concentration camps and so much more of World War II. At the end I will share some crafts to go with this book.

The Crystal Beads Lalka's Journey -- a new picture book with a different story from the Holocaust

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Purple Butterfly Press with this post and will receive a small stipend for it. All opinions are my own.

There are so many untold stories from the Holocaust. Today I get to share a new book that shares a story I haven't heard previously. The book is The Crystal Beads Lalka's Journey by Pat Black-Gould with illustrations by Katya Royz. Below you will find out about the book, my review, a giveaway as well as some crafts to go with this book.

Shlemiel Crooks -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today we continue with this year's reviews of books for Multicultural Children's Book Day. The big day is Friday!! Stop by and see the links to all the reviews. There are many great books being shared that day. Today we are focusing on a fun Jewish story based on a true story. It is Shlemiel Crooks by Anna Olswanger and Paula Goodman Koz. 

Multicultural Children's Book Day Review--Greenhorn #readyourworld

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Are you ready for another multicultural children's book review? This week I am featuring two books by Anna Olswanger that share a bit of Jewish history. Today's book takes us to New York City post World War II. It is Greenhorn and was illustrated by Miriam Nerlove. 

In this book, a Holocaust survivor from Poland is brought to a Jewish boarding school in New York City. The young survivor does not speak English and carries with him a small box all the time. One boy at the school befriends him and tries to protect him from the teasing of the other boys however the friend stutters and is often teased himself. 

The story is about friendship and bravery. It is powerful and teaches a bit about the Holocaust. It is written for 8- to 12-year-olds. Through friendship the two boys find their own voices and are able to help one another through a tough time in each other's lives. The story is well written and interesting to read. There is the typical teasing and even bullying in the story but throughout it we learn about what Jews had to go through during the Holocaust. 

Anna Olswanger provides a discussion guide for families as well as one for teachers to go with this book and there is a short film made based on it. The photographs are from this film. Here is the trailer for it. 

The book itself is short and small but the story is based on real life. At the end of the book Anna shares that the real life boys in the story meet as adults and discover that each has made his own dreams come true. This book is perfect for any unit on the Holocaust to see a side not often discussed. I hope you will check it out.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8^th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators. Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com) Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media Gold Sponsors: Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone, Hoopoe Books, KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc. Silver Sponsors: Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack-N-Go Girls Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press,  

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Poster Artist: Nat Iwata Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & Intrepids, Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club, Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series

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FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit Gallery of Our Free Posters FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

 

Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party! This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas. We will be giving away an 8-Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. ** Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter! Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Esther's Gragger: A Toyshop Tale of Purim Review

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales Press sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you know the Jewish holiday, Purim, is next week? Purim is held every spring. The date changes since the Jewish calendar is a combined lunar and solar calendar. Purim it the day to remember when Queen Esther saved all the Jewish people from death. Now you may be asking, why is a Christian blogger telling us about a Jewish holiday (possibly that I never heard of). Well the Book of Esther in the Bible tells us the story. It also happens to be Hazel's favorite story in the Bible so we have looked at it quite a bit. Queen Esther had to have faith and courage to save her people and she is someone many girls can use as a role model. An interesting side note is that God is not mentioned in the entire Book of Esther. 

Two Middle School Novels that Open Eyes to Another Time

Disclosure: Candlewick Press sent me these books in exchange for an honest review all opinions are my own. 

Looking for an interesting read for your middle schooler? These two novels by Laura Amy Schlitz answer it!! They are both set in early 1900s and both have a poor girl as the main character and narrator. We will start with A Drowned Maiden's Hair.

In this story Maud Flynn is an orphan. Her older brother and younger sister were adopted but the family would not take Maud. Maud is known at the orphanage for trouble. When the Hawthorne sisters come to adopt a young girl, Miss Hyacinth discovers Maud and decides she is perfect. However the Hawthornes are not adopting to have a child as much as that they need a child for help with their fake seances. Maud learns a lot while trying to be good for the three Hawthorne sisters and learns even more when she gets to know the woman the sisters are trying to "contact" her dead nine-year-old daughter.  It is a tale of scandal and more as well as lessons about parental love. 

This tale is engrossing. Once you get into the book there is a mystery about it. For quite awhile it is why does Maud have to be a secret child. How is she going to help these bizarre sisters. I can see a middle schooler or older loving this look at another time period and way of life. It would also bring about great discussions with questions like "Was Maud better off in the orphanage or as the Hawthorne sisters' secret child?" It brings up questions of morals and what is really needed in life.

Our next book is The Hired Girl. This book is the diary of Joan. Joan is a farm girl who lives with her father and three older brothers. Her mother recently died and her father pulled her from school since she was needed to do the women's work. Her mother wanted her to become a teacher so she wouldn't get stuck in marriage. Her father was pretty awful to Joan. One day Joan decides she needs to escape and runs away. She ends up in Baltimore and is taken in by a Jewish family. She lies about her name and age. The family soon discovers she is a hardworker and loves to read. They allow her to read the books in their library at night and give her Sunday mornings and Tuesday afternoons off. Joan wants to be a good Catholic since her mother was Catholic, but her father stopped believing in God after a bad harvest and forbid Joan to go to church.

This book brings in Joan's discoveries of the differences between Jewish and Christianity as well as recognizing anti-semitism. She is also a fourteen-year-old discovering the world and life. She has very different relationships with each member of the household. It is a coming of age story with a rush to grow up as a hired girl and figuring out the differences between the religions and stations of society. It is a wonderful tale.

I hope you will check out both of these books. Be sure to check out our review of Laura Amy Schlitz's picture book, Princess Cora and the Crocodile as well!

Merry Monday: Sweet Holiday Picture Books

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week? The holiday season is upon us. Today I am going to share with you five holiday picture books. These books have stories that are sweet. I am referring to them as holiday books because of one of them is a Hanukkah book. It combines the parents' cultures--Jewish and Indian. Talk about a multicultural mix It is Queen of Hanukkah Dosas by Pamela Ehrenberg and illustrated by Anjan Sakar. 

The Story of Passover -- Exodus

 Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this map free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am joining some other Multicultural Kid Blogs to bring you a Passover for Kids Blog Hop. This year I decided to focus on the Biblical story behind Passover. As a Christian I know this story since it is part of the Old Testament (in the book of Exodus chapters 7 through 14). To look at this story we started by looking at it in cartoon form on a DVD from the library.

Exploring Purim -- Jewish Holiday

Costume parades in the spring? What is going on? Halloween is in October and not in the spring. Well for many Jewish people costume parades and wearing costumes to synagogue in the spring (usually in March) is common. Why? Well they are celebrating a holiday called Purim. Purim is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month of Adar. The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar so it changes from our days and months each year. It is a joyous holiday with much celebration. Why do they celebrate? To remember how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people in Persia around 500 B.C. Now Esther's story is a book in the Old Testament of our Bible as well and Queen Esther happens to be Hazel's favorite woman in the Bible. We know her story well and really wish we celebrated Purim as well. In fact she dressed up as Queen Esther for our Christian Halloween Party. 

The Dreidel That Wouldn't Spin -- Book Review & Math Application

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales Press gave me a copy of this product free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Hanukkah started on Sunday at sun down and lasts eight days. It is a Jewish holiday that celebrates several miracles that occurred during a time when Judaism was outlawed and their temple was desecrated. Last month we explored Hanukkah as part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Hanukkah for Kids Series by taking a look at dreidels. I mentioned a few books we had read and one we had not gotten our hands on yet. Well today we get to share this beautiful book with you. The Dreidel That Wouldn't Spin by Martha Seif Simpson and illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard is a story that takes place in Prague a century ago that reminds us all that money does not buy miracles.

Dreidel Fun! Hanukkah for Kids

Disclosure: Daria Music gave me a copy of this book free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

As part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs Hanukkah for Kids Series we decided to explore dreidels with the help of Daria Music's Dreydel (Dreidel) Song and Game Activity. 

Dear Santa, Love Rachel Rosenstein -- Book Review

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Rachel loves Christmas!! She loves everything about Christmas--the decorations and lights and all the excitement. There is only one problem, Rachel is Jewish. What she really wants is to have Santa come to her house. Now she just has to figure out how to make it happen. This is the story of Dear Santa, Love Rachel Rosenstein by Amanda Peet and Adnrea Troyer and illustrated by Christine Davenier. 

Let the Celebrations Begin! -- Book Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

As fall arrives and school starts my attention tends to be on a few things, getting Hazel ready for school, getting clothes for the cooler weather and then I start to think about the upcoming events and holidays. Being Christians and having Hazel attend a private Christian school we do not pay much attention to the Jewish holidays, but there is Columbus Day and Halloween in October and Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving in November. This year I have Veteran's Day on my radar. The parent group at Hazel's school is planning a collection service project for the troops, so perhaps that is why. Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing Once a Shepherd by Glenda Millard and published by Candlewick Press as well. This book helped explain the sacrifices of the soldiers and their families. This year I am going to share with you Let the Celebrations Begin!: A Story of Hope for the Liberation by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Julie Vivas. 

Learning about Rosh Hashanah - Jewish High Holidays for Kids

As a former teacher I always thought the new year should start in September with school. Next week it will be Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Then ten day after it is Yom Kippur. Many of the local schools give the teachers and students the Jewish high holidays off. Hazel's does not since it is a private Christian school. However I like to teach Hazel about other cultures which includes other religions. This post is part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs Jewish High Holidays for Kids Blog Series. To learn about the Jewish high holidays we did what we do to learn about any new culture, we went to the library. The first find was this DVD on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It was a great introduction for Hazel to the holidays.

We also found many books on Rosh Hashanah and some on Jewish holidays. These are the ones we decided to focus on. (For a round-up of books about Rosh Hashanah, check out All Done Monkey's post in this series.)

The Story of Queen Esther -- Exploring Iran/Persia

Do you know the story of Queen Esther? Many people do not even though Esther is a book in the Old Testament as well as one of the great female Bible heroes. She even has a Jewish holiday where they celebrate her and her courage to save the Jews of Persia. Her story is Hazel's favorite Bible story and Hazel was very excited when I explained that Esther was Queen of Persia which is now called Iran and the country we have been exploring with Global Learning for Kids this month. 

Queen Esther by Edwin Long 
[Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sharing Saturday 15-14

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I am blown away by all the great ideas!! With this weekend being the beginning of Passover and Easter Sunday, my feature topics are: Passover, Easter Eggs, Easter, Spring, and a couple of favorites. Be sure to check these out and go back and see the many ideas I didn't have room to feature this week. There are many more inspiring ones!!

A Seder Dinner: Exploring Passover

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

As a Christian I have only been to a Seder Dinner twice in my life. The first was as a child and the second was as an adult. Both were held at churches. I have always been fascinated by it. Perhaps it is because of the Last Supper being a Seder Dinner. Our exploration has brought with it many questions from Hazel with things like why don't we do this if Jesus did, but that is another story. My goal for this year was to look at what is involved with a Seder Dinner. We of course first looked at books like we always do.

Sharing Saturday 15-10

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! There were so many great ideas. I had a hard time choosing features, but with all the snow outside, I am ready for spring. So my features this week are Rainbows and St. Patrick's Day and a few of My Favorites. Be sure to check back at last week's party for even more in these themes. This is just a sampling.