Shavuot Traditions and Activities

The holiday of Shavuot marks the important wheat harvest in Israel and commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai. It's often celebrated by eating various dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes. Below are a few more ways to celebrate!

A Cut Above the Rest
The art of paper-cutting became part of Jewish life in the Middle Ages when Rabbi Shem-Tov ben Yitzhak ben Ardutiel's ink froze while writing a manuscript. A resourceful fellow, he did the next best thing - cut the letters into the paper. In the 17th Century, paper-cutting became a popular form for small religious artifacts like the mizrach sign (for facing the direction to Jerusalem), and Shavuot decorations. Paper-cutting spread to all the corners of the Jewish world. In the late 18th Century, Eastern European cheder and yeshiva students created intricate lace patterns of flowers that they called Shavuoslekh (little Shavuot) which they displayed in the windows of their homes. For various reasons the craft disappeared. However, in the late 20th Century it began enjoying a revival that continues until today.

Learn more about the history of Jewish papercuts here.

Here find five other easy paper-based crafts for Shavuot.

Moroccan Matzah Delicacy for Shavuot
Once Moroccan Jews recite the Kiddush on Shavuot eve, they take a few pieces of matzah that they saved from Passover, break them into small pieces, then add them to a mixture of honey and milk. Everyone gets a portion of this blend, reminding us that Shavuot marks the conclusion of our Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of our collective experience when we received the Torah.

Great Reads for Shavuot

Kopecks for Blintzes
Gitele and Yankl live in the town of Chelm, where the people are so foolish that they think they think they are the wisest people in the world. Shavuot is approaching, but Gitele and Yankl have no money to buy ingredients for blintzes. So they come up with a plan. Every day, they'll each put a coin into the empty trunk. By Shavuot, they'll have enough coins to buy the ingredients. But will they be able to stick to their plan and provide their family with delicious blintzes for Shavuot?

Cheesecake for Shavuot

To celebrate Shavuot, a spring harvest festival, children in Israel make cheesecake using flour they have ground from wheat they have grown in their school garden, fresh goat cheese from the friendly petting zoo goats, and fresh strawberries from the garden.

Sadie and the Big Mountain
When her preschool plans a Shavuot hike just like Moses took up Mt. Sinai, Sadie is afraid she is too little to make it to the top, and tries to think of ways to be absent. But when the day comes, she learns that anyone can climb high enough to reach God.



No Rules for Michael

Michael thinks school would be more fun without rules and gets his wish. But is it exactly what he was hoping for?

Celebrating Israel on Yom Ha'atzmaut

Happy Yom Ha'atzmaut! Today celebrates Israel and commemorates the establishment of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.

How will you and your family celebrate Israel this year? We have a few recommendations below!

Crafts and Activities
Check out our list of activities to learn about and celebrate Israel at home and in the classroom. Great for any time of year, they particularly come in handy today!

The Celebrate Israel Parade
The annual Celebrate Israel Parade, begun in 1964, is held every spring in the heart of New York City. Over thirty thousand marchers stroll up Fifth Avenue. The parade showcases groups from elementary schools, high schools, yeshivot, synagogues, Jewish community centers, and many other Jewish institutions. Colorful floats, award winning marching bands, politicians, and entertainers also participate in the parade, showing their support for Israel. Tens of thousands of spectators cheer on the sidelines. The Celebrate Israel Parade is a colossal party, graciously hosted by New York City.

Sounds like fun, but can't make it to Manhattan? Enjoy the parade vicariously with our new fall title Meg Goldberg on Parade about a shy girl with a big imagination who finds plenty of ways to join in the fun - coming soon to bookstores near you!

Explore Israel Through Books!
We love to explore Israel through stories and illustrations, and we have many books dedicated to doing just that!

Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel, a classic fable retold in a unique environment, is the newest addition to Kar-Ben's Israel-focused collection. As good friends Hare and Tortoise embark on a race from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea, they're drawn not to well-known landmarks in Israel, but are instead seen enjoying slices of everyday Israeli life. Hare watches soccer games and street performers while Tortoise enjoys falafel and rugelach, and they see the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as well as the Judean Hills and the desert.


The "Nature in Israel" series by National Jewish Book Award-winning author Allison Ofanansky pairs holidays with celebrations unique to Israel's landscape and features beautiful full-color photographs. Titles include New Month, New Moon, Harvest of Light, What's the Buzz, and Sukkot Treasure Hunt.
 

Matzah, Trains, and Passover

Passover is just over a week away, which means there's still time to get Haggadahs and books over at the Kar-Ben website!

In celebration of the upcoming holiday, this week we have another guest blog post, this one from Deborah Bodin Cohen, author of the "Engineer Ari" series! In this post, Deborah writes about what inspired her newest book, Engineer Ari and the Passover Rush.

You can also read another guest post about creating joyful Passover traditions from author Laura Gehl, or check out these reviews of this year's newest Passover stories in The Times of Israel!

 

"My daughter, Arianna, celebrated her Bat Mitzvah this past December.  Of course I'm biased, but she has grown into a terrific young woman with interests in soccer and chess.   But, back in pre-school, she loved trains – train books, train sets, building model trains.  We could entertain her just by taking her on a subway.   I felt similarly passionate – just not about trains.  I cared about the land of Israel and sought to share my love of Israel’s rich natural beauty with Arianna and other Jewish kids like her.   So, I combined her passion and my passion and Engineer Ari was born! 

When I lived in Israel as a rabbinical student, I passed the historical Jerusalem train station each day on my walk to class. That 100-year-old station intrigued me.  Back in the 1990s, it had fallen into disrepair but you could still ride the rails from Jerusalem to Jaffa, passing down the Judean hills into the fertile valley of orange groves and wild flowers that lead to the Mediterranean.  Now, thankfully, the station has been refurbished.


postcard of Jaffa station in the Ottoman period

In each of my Engineer Ari books, I try to focus on one historical element of Jaffa & Jerusalem railway.  The Rosh Hashana Ride recreates the railway’s celebratory opening in 1892 during the period of the Ottoman Turks.  In The Sukkah Express, Engineer Ari and his friends build a sukkah with the leftover supplies from the 2-year-old project of building of the railway.  The Hanukkah Mishap revolves around a reoccurring problem – camels that sat on rails.  

In The Passover Rush, I chose to focus on how the Jaffa & Jerusalem Railway changed how “time” was treated in the land of Israel.   Before the coming of the railway, time’s passage was marked primarily by Muslim calls to worship.  But, with the opening of the Jaffa & Jerusalem Railway, the European clock became predominant.   Muslim prayer times were even standardized to fit within the structure of railway time.   Time, which had been meandering and organic, now was subject to deadlines and the need to rush. 

Railway time made me think of making matza – a process that bound to time limits and schedules. Matza, from start to finish, has to be complete in 18 minutes.   Otherwise, it is not kosher.  The J & J Railway, though, tended to follow typical “Jewish time” – in other words, it was often late.   A correspondent named Mr. Vale wrote in 1901: “There are as many different timings at Jaffa and Jerusalem as there are clocks in those towns.  The railway clocks generally are 5 minutes behind the slowest ones, but on one occasion I saw the Jerusalem Station clock being suddenly advanced by 20 minutes just as the passenger train was going to start!”

I wish you a very joyful Passover.  In Israel, the old Jaffa & Jerusalem rails are most certainly covered with beautiful wild flowers at this time of year.  If you have a train enthusiast at home, please tell him or her to pull the whistle cord: choo, choo.   And, enjoy the ride!"

Deborah Bodin Cohen

Here are few great resources for Jewish kids who love trains:

Israel Railway Museum in Haifa has online line pictures and information: http://www.rail.co.il/EN/Fun/Museum/Pages/about.aspx

The Jerusalem Train Station’s site includes a historical pictures and pictures of the restoration: http://www.firststation.co.il/en/

Haaretz newspaper wrote about the history of the word Rakevet, train engine: http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/word-of-the-day/1.538322

The Story Behind the Patchwork Torah

Our October book of the month is The Patchwork Torah, by Allison Ofanansky. There are so many things we love about this book! It has warm, beautiful illustrations that accompany a touching and unique intergenerational story. Books for Simchat Torah aren't that easy to come by, but this is a great one, as it features two celebrations of the holiday. A message about recycling means that this book is a good fit for the spring and Earth Day as well. Below, watch the book trailer and read a guest post from author Allison Ofanansky about her inspiration for this very special story!

"The story of the Patchwork Torah was inspired by a real Torah put together from rescued and repaired remnants of old and damaged scrolls. Like the scroll that David puts together in the story, this Torah contains sections that were written by a number of soferim (scribes) that lived in different times and places. We don’t know the stories behind the sections in this Torah. The stories of the scrolls that David collects in the book are made up, though some are based on real historic events (the Holocaust, Hurricane Katrina).

A real patchwork Torah was purchased by my community in Tzfat, Israel in 2009. There are many Torah scrolls in synagogues in the city of Tzfat, but these are strictly Orthodox and women can’t come up for an aliyah or read from the Torah or dance with it on holidays. So a group of friends decided to buy a Torah to which women could have access.

We held an auction to raise money. People donated things to be auctioned off. (I donated some of the books in the Nature in Israel series.) Then we bid to buy each others’ donations (I bought a funny wax sculpture). We raised a fair amount of money at the auction, but not enough for a new Torah scroll, which costs between $15,000 and $30,000. Then we heard about a ‘recycled’ Torah which had been put together with parts of several damaged scrolls to make a whole, kosher Torah. We had enough money to buy it!

Once we got this Torah, we realized how special and beautiful it is. Throughout the year, as we read through the scroll, we can see the distinctive calligraphy of seven soferim who wrote various parts (three large sections and four small ones). Some wrote simple letters, others added fancy decorations. Even though there are strict laws for writing a kosher Torah, and each letter must be perfect, there is still room for soferim to express their individual styles. This Torah suits our community, because we also come from many different places, with our own individual styles, and together make something new.

We have enjoyed celebrating with this Torah over the past few years. My daughter Aravah (whose pictures you may have seen in my Nature in Israel books) read from it at her bat mitzvah. All four of her grandparents came up for an aliyah. On Simchat Torah, women and girls dance with the scroll. I’ve seen women who never had a chance before to touch a Torah scroll cradling it like a baby, with tears in their eyes.

I’d like to imagine that David’s granddaughter, who gives him the idea to make the recycled Torah, will read from their patchwork Torah at her bat mitzvah—maybe even become a sofer herself! (On women scribes-- soferot -- see http://www.womenstorah.com/)"

Aravah reading from the real ‘patchwork Torah’ at her bat mitzvah, with both her grandmothers beside her.

Aravah holding the Torah at her bat mitzvah.

Photographs by Eliyhu Alpern, 2012

 

 

 

On Storks, Sirens, and Missles

This week's blog post is a guest piece from Tami Lehman-Wilzig, the author of many Kar-Ben favorites, such as Passover Around the World and Zvuvi's Israel, as well as the new Fall 2014 book Stork's Landing.

      

"As I sit in my office, which also happens to be our safe room in our Kfar Saba apartment, I wonder how am I ever going to focus on the fact that my new book – Stork's Landing – will be hitting bookstore shelves in less than two weeks' time. I should be excited, but the existential question of the hour is far more pressing for me as an Israeli citizen.

Just this morning, as my husband and I sat down to breakfast, we were treated to two siren alerts. Nine hours later we 'enjoyed' a bookend effect as we sat down to dinner. Lodged behind a heavy metal door, checking the minute-by-minute news on the internet, my mind wandered to the video that went viral two days ago, in which one Israeli pilot signaled another to pass over a target because children were clearly visible. I was struck by our humanity, a compassion clearly missing on the other side. Then it hit me. This is the connection with Stork's Landing. A touching nature tale set in Israel, it highlights the Jewish bent to reach out and care for the wounded through a focus on the Jewish value of kindness to animals.

It's a gentle story, beginning with the fact that Kibbutz fish farmers must place nets over their  fishponds in order to shield their fish from ravenous birds flying above. To an extent, these nets are to the fish as what the Iron Dome is to our population. They are there to protect and preserve.  Sure enough when a hungry stork comes in for a landing it gets caught in the net, breaks its wing to the serious extent that it cannot be operated on, yet the kibbutz members don't put it to sleep. They nurture and shelter it, providing a secure surrounding. A true parallel to the Palestinians being treated in Israeli hospitals, even during these worn, torn times. A fact rarely covered in the world press.

So while we hover in what I smilingly call our 'War Room,' I am now focusing on the fact that Stork's Landing is a Jewish everyman's tale and how lucky all Jews are to have the State of Israel. We live by the same book, we perpetuate the same values, and we will make sure we remain a safe haven  for all Jews.  In the meantime, come early autumn may only storks, not missiles, land on our shores."

Stork's Landing

by Tami Lehman-Wilzig
illustrated by Anna Shuttlewood

When a migrating stork gets tangled in a net in the fish ponds on Maya’s kibbutz, Maya wonders what to do. She and her father build a makeshift nest for the wounded stork, who Maya names Yaffa. The problem becomes more complicated, however, when two storks settle in a tree nearby.

 

Can Maya and her father find a way to nurse it back to health and send it back into the wild? Set in Israel, this story brings the beauty of nature in Israel to life and highlights an unusual part of Israeli life – the kibbutz.

This sensitively told nature tale focuses on the Jewish value of caring for animals, while at the same time subtly incorporates issues of adoption and acceptance of those with differences.

 

Available on the Kar-Ben website.

Keeping Summer Reading Fun!

Keep Up the Reading!
School's out, and that means time for summer fun! During the first few weeks of summer vacation, books might just be the farthest thing from any child's mind, but reading over the summer is one of the most important things a kid can do.

Research shows that children can lose as much as two months of reading skill during summer vacation. Fortunately, the best way to combat this is simply by reading!

Reading alone can help children maintain their reading skills during summer vacation, but Kar-Ben also has a set of eSources created by teachers and authors to accompany a select number of our titles. They include questions and activities for before, during, and after reading, and are available to download for free on the Kar-Ben website. Check out our eSources, including the newest addition for The Whispering Town, here.

Fun Summer Reading!
These books are perfect for summer - from going to camp to celebrating Rosh Chodesh in the beautiful Negev Desert, they make great reads after a long day outside!

Sadie, Ori, and Nuggles Go to Camp
A wonderful book from children going to sleep-away camp for the first time! For the first time, Sadie’s little brother Ori will be joining her at sleep-away camp. He’s very excited, but he wants to bring Nuggles, his favorite “stuffy,” and is worried that his bunkmates will make fun of him. Is he ever in for a surprise! The fifth book in Kar-Ben’s popular “Sadie and Ori” series.

No Baths at Camp
Another fun book about camp! Great for first-time campers who are reluctant or unsure of what to expect. "There are no baths at camp!” says Max, when his mother starts filling the tub. But as he recounts his week’s activities, he realizes that there were many fun ways he got clean at summer camp.

Picnic at Camp Shalom
This book is great for children worried about making new friends at camp, whether they're going for the first time or have been before. When Carly unthinkingly makes fun of Sara's last name at mail call, her bunkmate refuses to be consoled. But their mutual love of music brings harmony to Shabbat dinner as well as to their friendship, and Carly finally gets the chance to reveal a secret of her own.

New Month, New Moon

This newest book in the "Nature in Israel" series is set in the beautiful Negev Desert. Beautiful photos of the landscape and the Rosh Chodesh celebration will make you want to plan a camping trip of your own! To celebrate Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of a new month in the Jewish calendar, a family camps out in the desert and learns about the phases of the moon and their relationship to the Jewish calendar. A photo essay.

Ziggy's Big Idea
A great book for curious and inventive kids looking to try something new with their summer. Make bagels and invent away! Ziggy’s inventions don’t always work out, but his idea for making the baker’s buns tastier and easier to carry lead to the creation of a favorite breakfast treat – the bagel! Bagel recipe included.

Looking for a New Read?
Kar-Ben's fall books are now available on the website. These new books won't be hitting stores until the fall, but we know that sometimes summer calls for a brand new read! Head over to the Kar-Ben website's new section to check them out.

Israel at Home and in the Classroom

Yom Ha'atzma'ut is Israel's Independence Day. On May 14, 1948, or, on the Jewish calendar, the 5th of Iyar in 5708, David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the state of Israel. From that day on, the 5th of Iyar became a national holiday. Today, Yom Ha'atzma'ut is celebrated by Jewish people around the world. Israel gives the Jewish people

Some activities are perfect for Yom Ha'atzma'ut. Others are ideal for homes or classrooms that want to deepen children's connection to and love of Israel all year round.

Create a Mizrach
In many Jewish homes, a mizrach hangs on the easternmost wall as a reminder of Israel and the direction in which it lies. This is a wonderful visual for children that encourages them to think about Israel year-round. In this fun and colorful craft, children can create their own mizrach for their home (or classroom) using glue and colorful sand. Click here for directions.

From the Jewish National Fund.

Make Israeli Flag T-Shirts
Using plain white shirts, fabric paint, and cut-out sponges, children can make their very own Israeli flag shirts to wear for Yom Ha'atzma'ut festivities or on any other day of the year! Click here for directions.

From InfoBarrel.com

Decorate with an Israeli Wind Sock
This is a fun twist on making an Israeli flag. This page also has a number of other interesting activities for Yom Ha'atzma'ut, including making an Israeli lantern. Click here for directions.

From Hebrew Podcasts.




Snacks in Blue and White!

Celebrate Israel with a selection of snacks that emulate the colors of the Israeli flag! Bake a vanilla cake and ice it with vanilla frosting and blueberries, keep it simple and healthy with vanilla yogurt and blueberries, or get creative and invent your own blue and white snacks!

Speaking of Snacks . . .
You can also prepare a selection of traditional Israeli snacks and foods, such as hummus, schnitzel, and falafel. Help children connect with Israel by engaging their sense of taste!

Blue and White Painted Planters
In the United States, Yom Ha'atzma'ut aligns with the beginning of spring. Celebrate these two events together, and create a lasting reminder of Israel, with these painted flowerpots. Click here for directions.

From ReformJudaism.org.

Israel, All Year Long
Some classrooms may prefer to incorporate Israel into their classroom all year long to really develop their students' understanding of and connection to the country. Some ideas include building your very own Western Wall using brown paper lunch sacks, teaching students the Israeli national anthem and other traditional Israeli songs as part of a song-a-week or song-a-month program, decorating your classroom with photos of Israel, and inviting special visitors to the classroom to share their experiences traveling or living in Israel.

And, of course, read a good book!
Explore the Holy Land with Kar-Ben! Travel around Israel while learning the importance of the land through these engaging books. The Kar-Ben website has an entire section dedicated to books about Israel - from books that show preschoolers celebrating Yom Ha'atzma'ut to Grover and his friends cleaning up a playground. Click here to see the full selection!

You can also see a special trailer for a new Fall 2014 book about a true event in the life of Golda Meir, Israel's first female Prime Minister! Goldie Takes a Stand: Golda Meir's First Crusade is available beginning June 1!

Crafts and Activities for Celebrating Tu B'Shevat!

Tu B'Shevat, the New Year or birthday for trees, is a great day to celebrate nature and introduce children to different ways to help out the environment. For over 100 years, many Israeli institutions have planted trees on Tu B'Shevat, and today over a million people participate in the Jewish National Fund's Tu B'Shevat tree-planting activities. This has led to the day often being called "Israeli Arbor Day" internationally.

Below are crafts and activities for celebrating and teaching children the importance of Tu B'Shevat:

A Craft for Learning About Trees
This sweet craft from Joyful Jewish teaches kids about the many things that we get from trees. It's a great activity for showing the many reasons we have to appreciate trees. For younger children, you can make the tree yourself and then let them enjoy discovering the flaps, for older children, have them create the tree and perhaps share it with someone younger! Find the directions here.

An Edible Craft!
This tasty craft from The Jewish Woman lets children decorate edible trees with a variety of the fruits that grow on them! A fun and (kind-of) healthy snack that also teaches children about one of the many delicious reasons we're thankful for trees. Find the directions here.

Have a Tu B'Shevat Seder (or just bake something tasty!)
Tu B'Shevat seders have become a popular and delicious way to celebrate the holiday. Plan a seder meal, or just enjoy making a simple kid-friendly recipe with your child. In keeping with celebrating trees and the many things they provide, many Tu B'Shevat recipes include fruit. This Banana Bread recipe from Leah Cooks Kosher is full of tasty ingredients like figs and almonds.

Take a Trip to a Plant Nursery

Nurseries can be fascinating for children because there's a wide array of plants, including many that aren't seen everyday. It's a great place to introduce your child to the diversity of the plant kingdom and talk about the different uses of different kinds of plants.

Teach Your Child How to Care for a PlantWhile much of the US is too cold to plant outdoors, that doesn't mean you can't teach your child how to care for a plant. Start with a small, hearty, indoor potted plant. Teach your child how to care for the plant with daily water and sunlight, and gradually release responsibility until they are responsible for caring for the plant on their own. They'll learn an important lesson about responsibility, as well as about environmental stewardship.

Find Out How Other Nations and Cultures Honor Trees
Have you heard of Arbor Day and Earth Day? How about Shikmokil in Korea or Chih Shu Chieh in China? Many cultures understand and appreciate the importance of trees - what is similar or different about their celebrations?


Learn More About Tu B'Shevat with a Good Book
Children's books about Tu B'Shevat show the close relationship between people and trees. They celebrate the many reasons we have to be thankful for trees, and provide youngsters with a great introduction to the holiday. Some Kar-Ben Tu B'Shevat favorites include:

Netta and Her PlantOne Tu B'Shevat day in Israel, little Netta brings a plant home from preschool. Over time, Netta grows, and the plant grows too. Soon it is time for both of them to find new homes and new friends.

Thank You, Trees!
Rhyming story giving thanks for the gifts trees provide on the occasion of Tu B’Shevat, Jewish Arbor Day.

        

Sammy Spider's First Tu B'ShevatSpring is in the air and Sammy Spider watches as Josh Shapiro lowers the roots of a small tree into the ground. As spring turns to summer and summer to fall, Sammy watches Josh nurture the small tree as it sprouts tiny buds, then full blossoms, then colorful autumn leaves.

The Apple Tree's Discovery

A little apple tree in a forest of oaks begs God for stars like those glimmering on the branches of the great oak trees beside her. As the seasons pass, she learns to appreciate her own gifts and realizes that it’s possible to find a star in each of us.



Find these and other Tu B'Shevat books here!

Have a Sweet New Year with Honey Fun Facts

 

• It is a tradition on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to eat apples or challah dipped in honey as a wish for a sweet new year.
• In the Torah, Israel is called “the land of milk and honey,” because its climate is ideal for grazing animals and growing flowers.
• People have collected honey from bees since prehistoric times. In Tel Rehov archeologists found clay beehives which are over 3000 years old!
• In Israel today, there are more than 90,000 beehives in over 6,000 locations around the country. Most of the honey they produce is sold at Rosh Hashanah time.
• To make one pound (half a kilogram) of honey, bees must collect nectar from two million flowers.

Excerpted from What's The Buzz? Honey for a Sweet New Year by Allison Ofanansky and photographed by Eliyahu Alpern.

Visit a bee farm, and follow the bees, as they carry “kisses” from flower to flower, and return to their hives with their tummies full of nectar. Learn how the honey is extracted from the combs and makes its way from the hive to the table, to be enjoyed with slices of apples for a Rosh Hashanah treat.

Plan an Archaeological Dig In a Sandbox Near You!

Reading books can inspire imagination, and can even become the basis for creative programming to bring the ideas in books to life. Inspired by Jodie's First Dig, the PJ Library organization in Pittsburgh created an archaelogical dig event that had hundreds of kids digging in a giant sandbox, singing about digging up artifacts and having a wonderful time.

How much fun would this activity be for a summer day camp? Or, file it away for Yom Ha'Atzmaut next year, to go along with lessons about Israel's history and geography.

Interview with Award-Winning Author Anna Levine

Anna Levine was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. At the age of eighteen she decided it was time to leave home and she immigrated to Israel to work on a kibbutz. After a few years of picking apples, and discovering her fear of climbing (and falling) off ladders she moved to Jerusalem where she studied English literature at the Hebrew University. Today, Anna lives in a suburb of Jerusalem and writes about her life in Israel. As a writer, she looks through her Middle Eastern window with Western eyes. Anna says, “Writers are always being told, ‘write what you know.’ There is so much about Israel that I still don’t know! I use my writing as a way to discover more, to understand the past, cope with the present, and imagine the future.”

Anna has written award winning short stories and poems, Freefall (Greenwillow/HarperCollins) has just won the Sydney Taylor Honor Award and her picture book Jodie’s Hanukkah Dig was awarded a Sydney Taylor Notable Award. Anna’s latest book is Jodie’s Passover Adventure.

KAR-BEN: Why did you want to become an author or illustrator?
ANNA: I write to make sense of the world in which I live.

KAR-BEN: Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?  
ANNA: Persistence! Attention to detail. And in the words of Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The whole world, all human life, is one long story.” And we are the ones who must find a way to tell and share these stories.

KAR-BEN: Where did you get the inspiration for your latest book, Jodie’s Passover Adventure
ANNA: From where I live, which is here in Israel. Israel is a constant inspiration for my books and stories. My family has also inspired many characters and plots.

KAR-BEN: What are you most excited about promoting in your new book?
ANNA: The fun of archaeology. The adventure of discovery and the possibilities of uncovering the unknown.

Anna at an archeological dig!

KAR-BEN: How do you hope your book will impact the Jewish life of a child?
ANNA: By learning about our history this gives the child a sense of his/her roots and also, since my stories are set in Israel, a connection to modern Israel.

Get Anna's new book, Jodie's Passover Adventure!
Young amateur archeologist Jodie invites her cousin Zach on a Passover adventure to explore Hezekiah’s Tunnel in Jerusalem, the famous secret water tunnel. Sloshing through the long, creepy, dark, wet passage, they solve “the riddle in the middle” and find a shiny treasure!
Available in hardcover and paperback

Hanukkah and Olive Oil

Wonderfully unique, Harvest of Light is a Hanukkah book with no spinning driedels, no shiny presents and no glitzy parties, just the simple gift of olives from nature and the joy a young family experiences during the olive harvest. The book is newly available in paperback, and is a wonderful Hannukah gift (perhaps along with a bottle or two of olive oil) for any family.

Here is a hello from Harvest of Light author Allison Ofanansky from her home in Israel:

After a week of much-needed rain, the olives in the Galilee of northern Israel have turned plump and purple, full of oil.

Along with friends and neighbors, our family is busy harvesting the olives and taking them to the press. So far this year we have taken over 600 kilograms of olives to the press, from which we got about 180 liters of oil, and we aren't done yet!

Before I moved to Israel I never lit a hannukiah with oil, and did not know that hannukah is also a harvest holiday--the harvest of the olives for oil. In addition to lighting the hannukiah with our oil, we also love eating latkes fried in it!

How can you incorporate olive oil into your Hanukkah celebration?
Dip bread in olive oil at dinner
Bake olive oil cake
Have an olive oil tasting party
Make a facial scrub and moisturizer with olive oil and give it as a gift
Make flavored olive oils and give them as gifts
Buy or borrow a lamp that burns oil and use olive oil



 

Weaving Pictures & Words: An Illustrator's Perspective on Writing

My name is Durga Yael Bernhard, and I am an illustrator and an author.  Why did I say "illustrator" first?  Usually the author writes a book first, and then it is illustrated.  If one person does both, he or she usually says they are an author and an illustrator, not the other way around. 

But for me, pictures have always come before words.  I've always “thought visually.”  From the age of thirteen, I knew I wanted to be a painter, and by the time I was sixteen, I knew children's books would be part of my career someday.  I was a visual arts major at SUNY Purchase, learned printmaking at the Art Students' League of NY, and studied illustration at the School of Visual Art in Manhattan.  My first job, while I was in college, was at a telephone publishing company, where I learned how to paste up galleys with the latest modern invention, a waxing machine.  I worked at a slanted drafting table with a t-square, a triangle, and razor blades.  I liked the work; it left my mind free to think and wander, to listen to the radio, and to enjoy conversations with my co-workers.  Later, I started working for a magazine publisher, where I was allowed to contribute “in-house” illustrations to a variety of specialty magazines.  I drew blacksmith bellows and chainsaw blades, passengers moving through turnstiles, rabbit cages on a forklift, and fingers punching a cash register – whatever was needed – and it was the best practice in the world for a young illustrator.  I learned to be flexible, to communicate visually, and to please the reader.  Most of all, I learned the first axiom of graphic design: how to work within limitations.  Designers do not get to set parameters; they work within them. 

In my late twenties, an opportunity came my way to meet the editor-in-chief at Holiday House.  Holiday House is among the last family-owned independent children's book publishing companies.  I took the train to Manhattan, and walked with my portfolio from Grand Central Station to 425 Madison Avenue.  The editor liked my artwork, but did not have a story for me to illustrate.  At her suggestion, I wrote my first book, What's Maggie Up To?, about a painting I had done for my son's bedroom.  The painting showed a stack of colorful windows in what appeared to be a white-walled Mediterranean villa.  Each window showed someone, and something, different.  The story was written around the art.  The apartment building became home to a cast of characters who together took care of a stray cat named Maggie.  For me, each window was a graphic opportunity.  I designed the whole book, with ten little kittens to count at the end.  It was a simple story, but a good beginning. 

Over thirty books later, I still write about pictures.  Even if the writing comes out on paper first, it begins with an image, and then another image, like a slide show on a screen.  If I am illustrating another author's writing, the words instantly form pictures in my mind.  Even the sound of a title forms a picture.  In a funny way, I don't even think of myself as a writer.  It's just part of my job, sometimes, to string images together with words. 

Green Bible Stories was both a challenge and an honor, because the classic stories from Torah that I illustrated are so well-known.  How could I do justice to these ancient stories which have already formed pictures in so many people's minds?  It was difficult to choose just one or two images per story.  But I was blessed with an unexpected trip to Israel just two days after the manuscript arrived in my inbox, and got to walk the land where some of the stories took place.  I went into the Judean Desert and sketched the date palms and mesas; no photograph could have conveyed the heat and spaciousness that I experienced there firsthand.  I visited Ne'ot Kedumim, the Biblical land reserve outside Jerusalem, and did several paintings there.  These studies helped me convey the local flora, and a more palpable sense of texture and light, in the illustrations.  When I came home, the rainy weather in New York made the Biblical terrain stand out even more by contrast as I worked on the final art. 

Making a book is like weaving a tapestry.  When all the strands come together, the result is like something both man-made and natural, with a richness all its own.  Pictures and words are like the many-colored threads of a weaving.  How they come together is up to you.

Durga Yael Bernhard is the illustrator of Green Bible Stories for Children, and these images are her studies of Israel's landscape.