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Picture Books for Jewish American Heritage Month

May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and the Sydney Taylor Award is given every year to children's books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Check out this list of picture book winners and honor books. HerrickDL KidPicks

Herrick District Library

18 items

  • Amazing Abe

    How Abraham Cahan's Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants

    Finkelstein, Norman H.,
    Two-time National Jewish Book Award winner Norman H. Finkelstein and Sydney Taylor Award winner Vesper Stamper have teamed up to tell the story of Abraham Cahan, the founder and longtime editor of the Yiddish language newspaper the…
    BookNew York : Holiday House, [2024], ©2024. — J 921 Finkelstein
  • Al Rosen, a Jewish man, takes on the jobs of his Christian neighbors on Christmas Eve and day so they can spend the holiday with their families, starting a tradition that lasts for decades. A mitzvah, as Al explains, is a good deed,…
    Book[Berkeley, Calif.] : Creston Books, LLC, [2021] — Christmas Pic Gottesfeld 12/21
  • It's the last night of Hanukkah and everyone is doing their part for the big celebration, but a dragon called Dreadful has other ideas. He roams the countryside, interrupting the party preparations. Lady Sadie must call upon the Eight…
    BookNew York : Holiday House, [2020], ©2020. — Pic Kimmelman 3/21
  • Cuando Fortuna, la tía de Estrella, tiene que despedirse de su antiguo edificio de apartamentos en Miami, The Seaway, para mudarse a una comunidad de vida asistida, Estrella pasa todo el día con ella. Su tía le explica el significado de…
    BookNew York : Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2022. — jEspanol Pic Behar 3/22
  • Gittel and her mother were supposed to immigrate to America together, but when her mother is stopped by the health inspector, Gittel must make the journey alone. Her mother writes her cousin’s address in New York on a piece of paper.…
    BookNew York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019. — Pic Newman 2/19
  • What a happy day! Zachary’s baby sister will have her naming ceremony. In the temple! With his moms, the congregation, and all their friends! He’s so excited he can barely contain it. On the walk from their home, they meet neighbor after…
    BookMontclair, New Jersey : Levine Querido, 2024. — Pic Newman 6/24
  • Giving her baby brother a kiss, brave little Miriam places Moses's basket into the river. With one quick push, she sends him into the water, hoping her wish will come true and her brother will be saved from Pharaoh's orders. But will…
    BookMinneapolis, MN : Kar-Ben Publishing, [2020] — Pic Yolen 3/20
  • Moses Feldman, a Jewish boy, lives at one end of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, while Mohammed Hassan, a Muslim boy, lives at the other. One day they meet at Sahadi's market while out shopping with their mothers and are mistaken…
    BookWatertown, MA : Charlesbridge, [2018] — Pic Zalben 6/21
  • Nicky & Vera

    a Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued

    Sís, Peter, 1949-
    In December 1938, a young Englishman canceled a ski vacation and went instead to Prague to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Nazis who were crowded into the city. Setting up a makeshift headquarters in his hotel room,…
    BookNew York, N.Y. : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2021], ©2021. — j 940.53 Sis 5/21
  • It's the spring of 1933 in Washington, D.C., and the Great Depression is hitting young Muriel's family hard. Her father has lost his job, and her family barely has enough food for their daily meals, let alone for a Passover seder. They…
    BookNew York : Holiday House, 2020. — Pic Kusel 6/21
  • The People's Painter

    Ben Shahn's Artful Stories of Life in America

    Levinson, Cynthia,
    As an observant child growing up in Lithuania, Ben Shahn yearns to draw everything he sees—and, after seeing his father banished by the Czar for demanding workers’ rights, he develops a keen sense of justice, too. So when Ben and the rest…
    BookNew York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, [2021] — j 920 Sha 9/21
  • The Polio Pioneer

    Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine

    Marshall, Linda Elovitz,
    Dr. Jonas Salk is one of the most celebrated doctors and medical researchers of the 20th century. The child of immigrants who never learned to speak English, Jonas was struck by the devastation he saw when the soldiers returned from battle…
    BookNew York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2020], ©2020. — j 920 Sal 11/20
  • It's a holiday season that both Isaac, whose family is Jewish, and Teresa, whose family is Christian, have looked forward to for months! They've been counting the days, playing in the snow, making cookies, drawing (Teresa) and writing…
    BookNew York : Levine Querido, 2021. — j 296.435 Win 1/22
  • Melt into the nooks and crannies of this book’s unhurried pages, offering a place to rest and a pregnant pause for counting your many blessings—current and imminent! Here, a child and a mother measure, mix, knead, shape, and tuck their…
    BookSomerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2024. — Pic Ludwig 6/24
  • The Tower of Life

    How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Village in Stories and Pictures

    Stiefel, Chana, 1968-
    There once was a girl named Yaffa. She loved her family, her home, and her beautiful Polish town that brimmed with light and laughter. She also loved helping her Grandma Alte in her photography studio. There, shopkeepers, brides, babies,…
    BookNew York : Scholastic Inc., [2022], ©2022. — j 940.5318 Sti 5/23
  • The Tree of Life

    How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World

    Boxer, Elisa,
    During World War Two, in the concentration camp Terezin, a group of Jewish children and their devoted teacher planted and nurtured a smuggled-in sapling. Over time fewer and fewer children were left to care for the little tree, but those…
    BookNew York : Rocky Pond Books, 2024.
  • For this multicultural family, inspired by the author’s own, two New Years mean twice as much to celebrate! In the fall, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, offers an opportunity to bake challah, dip apples in honey, and lift voices in…
    BookSan Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2023], ©2023. — Pic Ho 12/23
  • Welcoming Elijah

    a Passover Tale With a Tail

    Newman, Lesléa,
    Inside, a boy and his family sit around the dinner table to embrace the many traditions of their Passover Seder around the dinner table. Outside, a cat wonders, hungry and alone. When it's time for the symbolic Passover custom of opening…
    BookWatertown, MA : Charlesbridge, [2019] — Pic Newman 8/20