ON TH E BOOKSHELF

Kid Lit

Are the kids tired of unwrapping toys this Chanukah?
Check out this selection of children's books
for last-minute gift ideas.

I Penny Schwartz

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

T

he following is a roundup of
appealing new Jewish children's
books:

Angel Secrets: Stories Based on
Jewish Legend, by Miriam Chaikin,
illustrated by Leonid Gore (Holt; $18.95;
ages 5 and up)
Chaikin reveals her master _ y of lyrical-
ly crafted, endearing stories based on
biblical interpretations about the angels
who link heaven and earth. Perfect for
reading aloud. Chaiken writes warmly of
angels of forgetfulness, alphabet angels
and the palace of love. Gore's dreamlike
illustrations accompany each story.

Dreamer from the Village: The Story
of Marc Chagall, by Michelle Markel,

Rogasky's retelling is skillful and

illustrated by Emily Lisker (Holt;
$16.95; ages 4-8)
From the attic window of his home in
a small town in Russia, the young
Moshe Chagall, better known as Marc,
sees the world differently from others.
Colors are bolder, houses float in the
sky, and fiddlers dance on rooftops.
Markel chronicles Chagall's young life
as he turns from a dreamer to an artist.
Lisker's fanciful, colorful Chagallesque
illustrations dance across the pages. A
short biography is provided at the end.

engrossing. Illustrations by the

award-winning Fisher are bold
and haunting. •

A Horn for'
or Louis, by Eric
Kimmel, illustrated by James
Bernardin (Random House;
$11.95; ages 6-9)
Leave it to master storyteller
Eric Kimmel to write a flowing
and heartwarming story about
the unique friendship between
the young Louis Armstrong and
the Karnofskys, a Jewish family
in New Orleans. Great for read-
ing aloud, this early-reader
about New Orleans' most famous
jazzman is made ever more
powerful as a portrait of daily
life long before Hurricane

Dybbuk: A Version, by Barbara
Rogasky, illustrated by Leonard Everett
Fisher (Holiday House; $16.95; ages 7-
10)
This tale, loosely based on the
famous kabbalist play by S. Ansky, is a
mysterious, intricate story of broken
promises, retribution and love set long,
long ago, in the tiny village of Brinitz.

Kid Lit on page 52

Warl

Jewish kids' books move beyond
biblical stories and the Holocaust.

Penny Schwartz

I Jewish Telegraphic Agency

K

ibitzers, dreamers, medieval
travelers and dybbuks are
among the wide array of heroes,
heroines and mystical villains in this
season's crop of Jewish children's books,
as publishers expand their offerings
beyond holiday books and biblical
retellings.
And, as Carolyn Starman Hessel of
Jewish Book World points out, the roster
of publishers is evolving as much as the
books they publish. According to her

estimate, about 160 new Jewish chil-
dren's titles were published last year, by
a growing number of mainstream and
religious publishers.
This reflects a national growth among
religious-themed books.
Ilene Cooper, the children's book edi-
tor of Booklist, a trade magazine pub-
lished by the American Library
Association, says that several years ago,
Booklist began publishing an annual
spotlight on religion books. "It was hard
then to come up with enough books to
fill the list:' she says, but not anymore.
While she agrees the situation is

improving, Natalie Blitt says some
publishers are still not convinced
Jewish children's books will sell.
Blitt is director of the relatively new
nonprofit organization Sippurim,
which ha's put together an extensive
online database of Jewish children's
books.
One of Blitt's concerns is the con-
centration, among books set in
Israel, on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Strong books such as Real
Time by Pnina Moed Kass, which

Wider World on page 53

December 29 2005

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