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The winner for Children’s and Young
Adult Literature is Homeland: The Illustrated History of
the State of Israel by Marv Wolfman, Mario Ruiz, and William
Rubin, published by Nachshon Press. Imagine taking a semester-long
course on the complete history of Israel, from the days
of Genesis to events as recent as January 2007. Using an
innovative method of illustration that combines photographs
and full-color digital art, Homeland is graphic nonfiction
of the very highest quality. Written from an Israeli point
of view, the text is balanced and well-documented with
end notes and a bibliography. The pages are chock full
of notable figures in Israel’s history, from Abraham and
Sarah to Ariel Sharon and Ilan Ramon. World events that
have affected Israel, such as the Holocaust, the Gulf Wars,
and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, are covered,
as are the contributions of Israelis to the arts, sciences,
and technology.
Finalists were Hitler’s Canary by Sandi Toksvig (Roaring
Brook Press), A Shout in the Sunshine by Mara Cohen
Ioannides (Jewish Publication Society ).
The winner of the Illustrated Children’s Books Louis Posner
Memorial Award is
Even Higher by Richard Ungar (Tundra Books of Northern
New York ). Reuven is put up to spying on the rabbi by
his friends in this picture book retelling of “If Not Higher”
by I. L. Peretz. They want to know if the rabbi really
goes to heaven to plead for the village of Nemirov on the
day before Rosh Hashanah as people say. Having witnessed
the rabbi's acts of kindness towards someone in dire need,
Reuven answers, "Even higher." Full color illustrations
fill the pages with an autumn palette of blazing reds and
blues, adding charming details, such as a cat curled into
curves on top of the sleeping rabbi.
The finalist was The Bedtime Sh'ma: A Good Night Book
adapted by Sarah Gershman; illustrated by Kristina
Swarner (EKS
Publishing ).
The winner of the Jewish Family Literature In Memory of
Dorothy Kripke is The
Power of Song: And Other Sephardic Tales by Rita Roth,
illustrated by Alexa Ginsburg,
(Jewish Publication Society ). Drawing on sources that
range from the Israel Folk Archives (IFA) to Judeo-Spanish
ballad chapbooks, the author spins thirteen tales from
the Sephardic tradition, some of them better known by their
Ashkenazi variants. Djoha (Joha) the trickster appears
in a story reminiscent of one about the Eastern European
folk hero, Hershele Ostropoyler, who intimidates his foes
by threatening to “do what my father did.” “Zipporah and
the Seven Walnuts” is, like Nina Jaffe’s The Way Meat Loves
Salt, a Cinderella story, with origins in Morocco. Another
familiar Ashkenazi story about the king who went searching
for a true friend is told here as a riddle tale, adapted
by the author from Babylonian and Persian Jewish sources.
Comments by the author follow each story. With a format
similar to Gershator’s Wise and Not So Wise: Ten Tales
from the Rabbis, plus the same illustrator, there are simple,
softly colored black, white, and grey illustrations inside
the book and an inviting cover in color. The length of
the stories varies, with several short ones and several
longer, more complex ones.
The finalist was A Hanukkah Present by Mark Binder (Light
Publications).
(Publication information about these titles can be found
in The Jewish Valuesfinder.)
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