children's books -

Stories of ghosts, grief and Shabbat gladness win top prizes in Jewish children’s literature

January 26, 2026January 27, 2026Jesse Orine

Anna is a misunderstood sixth-grade girl who communicates with the ghosts of her Jewish ancestors. Teased by her classmates and worried-over by her family, she finds comfort and understanding with her Bubbe and her beloved Jewish traditions. “Neshama,” Marcella Pixley’s lyrically written novel-in-verse, won the gold medal for Jewish children’s literature for middle-grade readers from […]

From golems to Horton to banana menorahs: This year’s Hanukkah kids’ books light up the imagination

November 28, 2025November 29, 2025Jesse Orine

From Who-ville to Schmoozeville, and from island getaways to cozy homes, this year’s crop of Hanukkah books for kids of all ages take families on journeys to imaginative settings, some familiar from the pantheon of children’s literature and Jewish ideas. Families from across the diverse Jewish spectrum will enjoy the new titles that celebrate the […]

In new Passover children’s books include a mystery, Obama’s White House seder and a graphic novel from writer Dara Horn

March 4, 2025March 4, 2025Jesse Orine

An endless Passover seder takes center stage in “One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe,” by writer Dara Horn and illustrator Theo Ellsworth, award-winners who teamed up for a humor-filled, time-travel graphic novel for young people. The tale of an epic seder — it drags on for six months — joins a new crop of children’s […]

Teen novel about women vampires wins a top prize for Jewish children’s books

January 27, 2025January 28, 2025Jesse Orine

By day, sisters Molly and Clara appear to be modern-day New Yorkers, living in an indie cinema that was once home to a Yiddish theater. At night, they transform into estries — owl-like women vampires who prey on men. Molly and Clara — whose alter egos are based on figures from Jewish lore — are […]