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Education And Resources

Jacob Rader Marcus - Courtesy of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives

 

Program & Activity Ideas

If you would like to submit a program activity or idea please email Abby Schwartz.

 

The Jewish Book Council serves to promote the reading, writing, publication, distribution, and public awareness of books that reflect the rich variety of the Jewish experience.

The following list includes recent books reviewed by The Jewish Book Council on the subject of American Jewish studies. Visit www.jewishbookcouncil.org for reviews and more information.

Click Here To View The Adults's Book List

THE JEWISH GRAPHIC NOVEL: CRITICAL APPROACHES
Samantha Baskind, Ranen Omer-Sherman, eds.
Rutgers University Press, 2010

PROMISED LANDS: NEW JEWISH AMERICAN FICTION ON LONGING AND BELONGING
Derek Rubin, ed.
Brandeis, 2010

OUR EXODUS: LEON URIS AND THE AMERICANIZATION OF ISRAEL’S FOUNDING STORY
M. M. Silver
Wayne State University Press, 2010

TERRORIST COP: THE NYPD JEWISH COP WHO TRAVELED THE WORLD TO STOP TERRORISTS
Mordechai Dzikansky and Robert Slater
Barricade Books, 2010

OUR HAGGADAH: UNITING TRADITIONS FOR INTERFAITH FAMILIES
Cokie and Steve Roberts
Harper, 2011

QUIET AMERICANS
Erika Dreifus
Last Light Studio, 2011

THE LAMPSHADE: A HOLOCAUST DETECTIVE STORY FROM BUCHENWALD TO NEW ORLEANS
Mark Jacobson
Simon & Schuster, 2010

HOUDINI: ART AND MAGIC
Brooke Kamin Rapaport
Yale University Press, 2010

AMERICAN HEBREW LITERATURE: WRITING JEWISH NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE UNITED STATES
Michael Weingrad
Syracuse University Press, 2010

AMERICAN JEWRY’S COMFORT LEVEL: PRESENT AND FUTURE
Manfred Gerstenfeld and Steven Bayme
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2010

HISTORY LESSONS: THE CREATION OF AMERICAN JEWISH HERITAGE
Beth S. Wenger
Princeton University Press, 2010

A JEWISH FEMININE MYSTIQUE?
Hasia Diner, Shira Kohn, Rachel Kranson, eds.
Rutgers University Press, 2010

NEW ESSAYS IN AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY
Pamela S. Nadell, Jonathan D. Sarna, Lance J. Sussman, eds.
American Jewish Archives, 2010

THE HADASSAH EVERYDAY COOKBOOK: DAILY MEALS FOR THE CONTEMPORARY JEWISH KITCHEN
Leah Koenig
Random House, 2011

The Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California compiled this list of the best recent children's books.

Click Here To View The Young Children's Book List

Kimmel, Eric A, and Jill Weber, illus. The Story of Esther -- a Purim Tale Holiday House, 2011. Classic retelling of the story of Purim.

Michelson, Richard, and Zachary Pullen, illus. Lipman Pike -- America's First Home Run King Sleaping Bear, 2011. Informative biography of baseball's first Jewish baseball player who was also its first great homerun hitter.

Simhaee, Rebeka, and Michael Weber, illus. Sara Finds a Mitzva Hachai, 2010. A young girl and her mother spend the day looking for the owner of a toy duck in order to complete a mitzvah.

Weber, Doba Rivka, and Phyllis Saroff, illus. Dear Tree Hachai, 2010. Prayer for trees for Tu Bi-shevat.

Vicki L. Weber, ed, and Hector Borlasca, illus. It's Too Crowded in Here! -- and Other Jewish Folktales Behrman House, 2010. Collection of eight classic Jewish short stories for children.

Click Here To View The Middle Grade's Book List

Arato, Rona. Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium Tundra, 2010. A poor Jewish family emigrates from Russia to New York and learns that life in New York's Lower East Side can be very hard.

Dublin, Anne, and Qin Leng, illus. The Orphan Rescue Second Story, 2010. Miriam and her little brother are sent to an orphanage when their grandparents are too poor to be able to raise them.

Fisman, Karen, and Wendy Faust, illus. Problems in Purimville -- a Purim Story JoRa, 2010. Sarah and Jacob have a series of exciting and humorous adventures in the make believe land of Purimville.

Rouss, Sylvia A, and Martha Rast, illus. Mitzvah the Mutt Yaldah, 2010. Mitzvah the friendly mutt learns about Jewish customs and holidays when he is rescued by a Jewish family.

Ungerer, Tomi. Otto -- The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear Phaidon, 2010. Heart wrenching story about the life of a teddy bear, how it survived the Holocaust and was eventually reunited with its original owner.

Click Here To View The Teen's Book List

Chapman, Fern Schumer. Is it Night or Day? Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010. A young German Jew who is sent to Chicago in 1938 in order to avoid the Holocaust.

Kim, Susan, Klavan, Laurence, and Pascal Diziin, illus. City of Spies First Second, 2010. Exciting graphic novel set in 1942 New York about a couple of kids who try to stop Nazi spies and their war effort.

Encourage your local library or bookstore to feature books about Jewish Americans during the month of May.

Organize a walking tour of Jewish sites in your community.

Conduct research in your temple or synagogue archives and plan a program in May to share your findings about the history of your congregation. Involve children and adults in the project.

Make up a Jewish American Heritage trivia contest in your workplace using Tell Me a Story and the Historical Timeline on this website. Here are a few questions to get you started:

  • Which Jewish American wrote the song “God Bless America”?
  • Which Yankee slugger was known as “The Kosher Bomber”?
  • Who was the first Jewish woman to serve in the United States Congress?
  • Which Jewish American invented blue jeans?
  • Which Jewish American businesswoman launched the pink ribbon symbol as the universal emblem of breast health?

 
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