arts&life
books
Faces Of All
Places And Races
D
ebra Darvick celebrates
diversity in the Jewish
community and wants
children to do the same.
Years ago, while waiting for
her own two youngsters during
Hillel Day School dismissal, she
looked closely at the different
Jewish faces, and the experience
inspired a picture book showcas-
ing what she saw and carrying
that into racial diversity.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
I Love Jewish Faces resulted
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
from considerable research, and
now, nine years later, she has
reimagined the
content to become
We Are Jewish Faces
(Apples & Honey
Press; $15.95). The
book, for children
ages 2-6, has a
changed rhym-
ing text and new
photos — one
Debra Darvick
spotlighting a col-
lege graduate who
was in the first edition as an
elementary school student and
Local author
Debra Darvick
celebrates Jewish
diversity in a
new children’s
picture book.
32
July 19 • 2018
jn
another focused on her own
granddaughter beginning school
years.
“This book is stronger because
I had more access to photos,
which helped inspire the rewrit-
ing of the text,” says Darvick,
who developed the “Dear Debra”
column for the Jewish News. “I
believe people are more aware of
the racial diversity in the Jewish
community, and kids of color
need to see themselves in books
with Jewish themes.
“The underlying message is
that no person should ever tell
a kid of color he or she doesn’t
look Jewish. My own niece and
nephew are blonde and blue-
eyed, and people could say
that to them. There are African
American families who have
been Jewish for generations,
and many Jewish families have
grown through international
adoptions.”
Darvick, who lives in
Birmingham and belongs
to Temple Beth El and
Congregation Beth Ahm, tapped
into her husband’s photographic
skills to help with the book.
Martin Darvick, a retired attor-
ney, has been exploring artistic
photography; he is represented
by a gallery in Arizona and has
been juried into the local Our
Town Art Show & Sale.
“I found many photos through
database research,” says Darvick,
a Kenyon College graduate
who has worked for New York
publishing houses and an array
of Jewish publications. “I got in
touch with the people repre-
sented in and by the pictures
to get their permission for use,
and that included parents and
staff at a number of Jewish day
schools.”
Besides emphasizing racial
diversity, Darvick shows age
diversity and references place
diversity. People are photo-
graphed as they engage in reli-
gious and secular activities.
Among the sources of pho-
tos are two local rabbis: Dan
Horwitz (son of JN Publisher
Arthur Horwitz) and Steven
Rubenstein.
Darvick is building on this
recent book experience by
working on two more children’s
manuscripts and promoting
conversation workshops devel-
oped with her husband. Picture a
Conversation offers photo-featur-
ing cards to prompt face-to-face
talk — whether among family
members, friends or co-workers.
“Each card in a set has an
image on the front and a state-
ment with three questions on
the back to invite conversation,”
Darvick says. “We’ve tested them
with kids, and I would love for
them to be a part of bringing
disparate groups together.”
While We Are Jewish Faces is
now available on Amazon, cop-
ies also are being distributed by
PJ Library, part of the Harold
Grinspoon Foundation. The
library provides free children’s
books for subscribers delving
into Jewish culture. •