Debra, Thank you!! Your message is a very important one. We did invite some of the editors of PJ Library at our conference in Charleston SC to find out exactly what their criteria were and to ask for better quality books – not the ones that cater to the lowest common denominator. I hope they heard us and are working on that. About death – how many religions have Yizkor 4 times a year to remember and celebrate the memory of the dead? Children who go to synagogue with their parents, see it all the time.
Thanks for an important conversation. We need good, strong, JEWISH literature to keep the children who are drifting away with their families. Shoshanah Shoshanah Seidman Faculty Liaison, Program for Jewish and Israeli Studies, Northwestern University Library 847-467-2914 From: Hasafran <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Debra Winegarten Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 1:57 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] speech on Jewish kidlit by Sydney Taylor honoree At the risk of sounding self-promoting, I'm wading into this discussion. For context, I'm the publisher of "Almost a Minyan," the coming-of-age story of a young Jewish girl who takes her grandfather's place in their small town's minyan after his death. I would like to see some discussion about how the Sydney Taylor Awards and PJ Library shape the types of children's books that are being published. "Almost a Minyan's" protagonist is a girl of color. We didn't say "which" color she is, and we purposely made her so that she could be considered Sephardic, African, or Hispanic, with a wonderful curly black Jewfro. Her mother and little sister are also some variation of color, in that they don't look white, Eastern European, Ashkenazi. So, that's the first rule we broke. The second rule we broke is that we had her grandfather die, and showed a gorgeous shiva minyan. But PJ Library specifically says children's books they choose to publish cannot talk about death. And excuse me for being blunt, but that's ridiculous. As Jews, you should pardon the expression, we do death "well." We understand the ridiculousness of three days bereavement, back to work, done. No, we understand the importance of saying Kaddish daily, for an entire eleven months, the rituals of shiva and shloshim, precisely because grieving takes time. But by NOT publishing books that talk about death, PJ Library "skews" the types of Jewish children's books published. That's the second rule we broke. Finally, we showed a young girl counting as part of a minyan, and wearing tallit and tefillin. We knew by doing so, we would limit our market and audience to Jews for whom that was not an issue. And my press has a strong feminist and sociological bent. That was rule number three we broke. Lo and behold, this book won NO Jewish children's book awards. But, it has now won two non-Jewish mainstream book awards, including a Seal of Approval from Literary Classics, and a silver medal from the Independent Publishers Association. I'm a little micro-publisher, living in the God-forsaken land of Texas, of all places. And I had the courage to publish a book which I'm proud to have out in our world. There were other Jewish books published this year showing Jews of color which also did not win Jewish children's book awards, but were certainly worthy of so doing. IF we are really committed to diversity in Jewish children's books, we have to reward those of us who are doing the hard work and putting them out into the world. Of course, I'm extremely biased and I recognize that. However, if we only focus on the "big name" Jewish children's book publishers and don't give us little folks a chance at recognition, I think we lose something precious and vital. If nothing else, make an award for independent publishers--call it the "Risk Takers" award or something. I'm on the front line in publishing, I've invested thousands of dollars and hours because I believe our children deserve these kinds of books and parents and grandparents will benefit from reading them, over and over. Warmly, Debra Debra Winegarten, Austin, Texas 512-789-5491 www.sociosights.com<http://www.sociosights.com> www.winegarten.com<http://www.winegarten.com> -----Original Message----- From: Sharon Elswit <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> To: Erika Dreifus <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Cc: Hasafran <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Tue, Apr 17, 2018 1:01 pm Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] speech on Jewish kidlit by Sydney Taylor honoree What a passionate talk from Katherine Locke. Thank you, Erika, for passing it along. I am remembering a non-too-distant AJL session with Jewish publishers where many librarians requested more books which portrayed Jewish protagonists without being solely holiday-centric. Yes, as Katherine says, we need to define ourselves. I am thinking she would like Carol Matas's "Wrestling with Angels," which appears in Sandy Asher's collection With All My Heart, With All My Mind. That story appeared in 2000 and concerns a teenager's grappling with whether or not to get a piercing. It seemed so unusual and strong at the time because it dealt with real-life issues and feelings. And it sounds like the need is still there. As for the inclusion of Jewish culture in multicultural discussions from outside the Jewish community, that was a wish I had when creating The Jewish Story Finder for folktales, and I think we're still waiting. However, Katherine is right, the characters and stories need to be there. Warm regards, Sharon On Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 7:42 AM, Erika Dreifus <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Shalom, chaverim: Just wanted to bring this text, a version of a recent speech by Sydney Taylor honoree Katherine Locke, to the list's attention: https://medium.com/@Bibliogato/thinking-jewish-childrens-literature-in-a-time-of-antisemitism-c77e4b00392c<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__medium.com_-40Bibliogato_thinking-2Djewish-2Dchildrens-2Dliterature-2Din-2Da-2Dtime-2Dof-2Dantisemitism-2Dc77e4b00392c&d=DwMCaQ&c=yHlS04HhBraes5BQ9ueu5zKhE7rtNXt_d012z2PA6ws&r=16SoAV47CIfZoss58D_H0doRSteNqo65SPQan5BgSVs&m=w9jvGHTaj5sUKfaFf8ssPmz2aqWjHyAkxakBgmme7nA&s=21m2ylasXQYGhxQWIc24ZgUiQA3zj5lxMUPNp0Qpdq0&e=> All best, Erika -- Erika Dreifus | Writer. Poet. Publicist. Resource Maven. 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