kids books that matter.

And the Winners Are…

01/11/10

The Association of Jewish Libraries has just announced the Sydney Taylor Book Award winners for 2010. They are:

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

for YOUNGER READERS

• New Year at the Pier. April Halprin Wayland. Illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch.Dial Books for Young Readers, 2009.

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners

for YOUNGER READERS

• Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story.        Deborah Bodin Cohen.  Illustrated by Jago. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009.

• Benjamin and the Silver Goblet. Jaqueline Jules. Illustrated by Natascia Ugliano. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009.

• The Yankee at the Seder. Elka Weber. Illustrated by Adam Gustason. Tricycle Press, 2009.

• You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax? Jonah Winter. Illustrated by André Carrilho. Schwartz & Wade Books, 20

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

for OLDER READERS

• The Importance of Wings. Robin Friedman. Charlesbridge, 2009.

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners

for OLDER READERS

• Anne Frank – Her Life in Words and Pictures: from the Archives of the Anne Frank House. Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol. Translated by Arnold J. Pomerans. Roaring Brook Press, 2009.
• A Faraway Island. Annika Thor. Delacorte Press, 2009.

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

for TEEN READERS

• Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. Margarita Engle. Henry Holt, 2009.

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners

for TEEN READERS

• Lost. Jacqueline Davies. Marshall Cavendish, 2009.

• Naomi’s Song. Selma Kritzer Silverberg. Jewish Publication Society, 2009.

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book for ALL AGES

• JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible. Retold by Ellen Frankel. Illustrated by Avi Katz. Jewish Publication Society, 2009.

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It has been my honor and my privilege to be a member of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee for the past four years. My term ends with this award year. I have mixed feelings about saying goodbye to an opportunity that has brought me back in touch with my passion for Jewish children’s literature and with the people who ignite the fires for that passion in others – Jewish librarians and educators.

On one hand, I am now free to read and review whichever books I want. This means, without naming names or titles, if a self-published work comes to my door and I know just by looking at it that there is good reasons why it is self-published, I no longer have to go through the effort of reading the book, giving it a score and writing a review. It means that I am able to search for those secular books with Jewish values content that I feel are so important to have in our libraries. It means that I may, on occasion be able to sit back and enjoy reading an adult book just for myself once or twice a year.

On the other hand, I am truly going to miss my interaction with my fellow committee members. You have probably heard the joke about 3 Jews, 4 opinions. Well, imagine a committee of six Jewish women – Professional Jewish women – librarians, booksellers, authors, educators, managers – Opinionated professional Jewish women. Now imagine that these six women have spent a year reading, scoring and reviewing approximately 150 Jewish children’s books. They must arrive at a consensus as to which book will win the top prize in each of three categories: Younger Readers, Older Readers and Teen Readers. Following that discussion, an agreement about Honor books takes place and then a discussion about Notable books.

Somehow, over a period of about 7-10 days, with a group that spans the continent and all its time zones, the Committee manages to pull this off every year, professionally, amicably, tactfully. Our significant others know that during this period we are not to be far from email access, and don’t even think about  talking to us as our minds our on the books, the books, the books, the Awarding of the Books. I wonder, do the Newbery and Caldecott Committees go through similar tzuris (Yiddish for troubles)? In the end, we all agree, we are happy and next year’s books are showing up on the doorstep. The cycle begins again.

Fortunately, during my time on the Committee, I have been blessed to serve under two remarkable Committee Chairs, Rachel Kamin and Kathe Pinchuck. It takes stamina, political savvy and emotional armor to sift through all the comments and steer this group in the a direction that will lead to consensus, both Rachel and Kathe managed the task perfectly.

So now the winners have been announced. In July, I will join my colleagues in Seattle for the AJL Convention, where we will discuss some of the books that did not make the list in our presentation “The Sydney Taylor Committee Tells All.” It is one of the high points of the Conference. Would you like to join us? Become a member of the Association of Jewish Libraries and meet us in Seattle.

Happy Reading!

Kathy B.

PS  There were also twenty-two Notable Books selected by the Committee for 2010. All the Winners and the Notable titles can be found at www.sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com.

©2010 Kathleen M. Bloomfield and forwordsbooks.com all rights reserved.
Books used in this review were provided by the publishers cited.
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