Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Sydney Taylor Award

Our group came upon the same places to find information about this award. The Sydney Taylor Award is given to honor Jewish literature for children or young adult. The award has been around since 1971, and has honored many different writers. Some of the most recent authors as well as their books are:

2007:
Title: Hanukkah at Valley Forge
Written by Stephen Krensky,
Illustrated by Greg Harlin

Title: Julia’s Kitchen
Written by Brenda A.Ferber

Title: The Book Thief
Written by Markus Zusak

Title: The White Ram: A Story of Abraham and Isaac
Written by Mordicai Gerstein

The rational behind this award is connecting Jewish children to children form other cultures, as well to build pride in culture. To be eligible, the books must be about Jewish customs, traditions, and/or experiences. Also, the book can be either fiction or non-fiction.

The books are judged on their significant contributions to Jewish literature, positive Jewish content and focus, as well as authentic details and accurate research. Also, the quality of writing and the ability to engage interest of the target age group is incorporated. One book is chosen for younger children, and one is also chosen for adolescents. A panel of Judaic Children's Librarians are who chose the winners, and to get on the committee you must be a Judaic Children's Librarian. The sponsor for the award is The Association of Jewish Libraries.

There were many sites about this award, and the ones that were the most helpful were:

This site is the most helpful when it came to finding the book list, as well as the history of the award, and current information about it.

This site was the most helpful when looking for books that have received the the award, as well as finding out what areas they received the award in.
http://www.jclla.org/awards.htm

Hopefully we will also have some of the books to share in class as well!

2 comments:

Heidi Rabinowitz said...

Hi Katie! I'm glad you found our web site about the Sydney Taylor Book Awards. You can get full lists of past winners at the site, and we are also starting a searchable database at LibraryThing.com/catalog/stba.

I also want to let you know about The Book of Life podcast, which I host. On this monthly audio program, you can hear interviews with authors of Jewish books, as well as interviews and reviews relating to Jewish music, film, and websites. Listen at www.jewishbooks.blogspot.com.

All the best,
Heidi Estrin
Past Chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee

Valerie W. said...

You might think of writing Heidi Estrin back with any questions you have about the award.

I have some suggestions about how you might revise your post to make it more helpful to readers. We can talk in class!