The Sydney Taylor Award seal of the Association of Jewish Libraries is awarded annually to the authors of the most distinguished contribution to Jewish children's literature published during the preceding year. The Sydney Taylor Awards were established by Ralph Taylor, her husband, to honor outstanding books of positive Jewish content for children. Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family series continues to delight today's readers.

Many thanks for the following annotations to Ms. Ellen Cole, Librarian at Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles, CA and chair of the Sydney Taylor Ward Committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

All of these books plus many other outstanding books of Jewish content published in 1998 will be included in AJL's "Best of the Bunch" list, an annotated bibliography compiled annually, distributed at the annual convention, and available from AJL Publications.

Members of the current Sydney Taylor Awards Committee are:

• Ellen G. Cole, Chair, Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles, CA
• Etta Gold, Temple Beth Am, Miami, FL
• Sandy Gottesman, Temple Beth Tikvah, Greenacres, FL
• Naomi Morse, White Oak Community Library, Silver Spring, MD
• Linda R. Silver, Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, OH
• Libby White, Jewish Vocational Service, Baltimore, MD

The Sydney Taylor Awards honor the memory of the author of the beloved "All of a Kind Family" books which continue to charm readers today as they did when they were first published in the 1950's. The awards are given annually to two books, one for younger readers and one for older readers, judged to be the most significant contributions to Jewish children's literature published in the previous year. The Association of Jewish Libraries administers the award and the committee is comprised of Judaic librarians who read and evaluate books submitted for consideration by their publishers.

Sydney Taylor Award Winner for Younger Readers

Nine Spoons
Marci Stillerman, Pesach Gerber (Illustrator), (HaChai Publishers)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Younger Readers

On The Wings of Eagles
Jeffrey Schrier, (Milbrook Press)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Younger Readers

You Never Know: A Legend of the Lamed Vovniks
Francine Prose, Mark Podwal (Illustrator), (Greenwillow)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Younger Readers

Queen Esther Saves Her People
Rita Golden Gelman, Frane Lessac (Illustrator) (Scholastic)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Younger Readers

The Magic of Kol Nidre
Bruce Siegel, Shelley Haas (Illustrator), (Kar-Ben Copies)

Sydney Taylor Award Winner for Older Readers

Stones in Water
Donna Jo Napoli, (Dutton)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Older Readers

No Pretty Pictures
Anita Lobel, (Greenwillow)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Older Readers

Treasure in the Tiny Blue Tin
Dede Fox Ducharme, (Texas Christian University Press)

Sydney Taylor Award Honor for Older Readers

The Singing Mountain
Sonia Levitin, (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)

1996

• Barbara Sofer - Shalom, Haver: Goodbye, Friend (Kar-Ben Copies)
• Maxine Rose Schur - When I Left My Village. Illus. by Brian Pinkney (Dial)

1995

• Jo Hoestlandt- Star of Fear, Star of Hope. Illus. by Johanna Kang (Walker and Company)
• Ida Vos - Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon. (Houghton Mifflin)

1994

• Sheldon Oberman - The Always Prayer Shawl. Illus. by Ted Lewin. (Boyd Mill Press)
• Steven Schnur - The Shadow Children. Illus. by Herbert Tauss. (Morrow Junior Books)

1993

• Nina Jaffe - The Uninvited Guest. (Scholastic,Inc.)
• Carol Matas - Sworn Enemies (Bantam Doubleday Dell)

1992

• Phoebe Gilman - Something From Nothing. (North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada Ltd.)
• Karen Hesse - Letters from Rifka (Holt)

1991

• Barbara Diamond Goldin - Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale. Illus. by Erika Weihs. (Viking)
• Sandy Lanton - Daddy's Chair. Illus. by Shelly O. Haas. (Kar-Ben Copies)
• Howard Schwartz and Barbara Rush - The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales from Around the World. Illus. by Uri Shulevitz (Harper Collins)

1990

• Adele Geras - My Grandmother's Stories. Illus. by Jael Jordan (Alfred A. Knopf)

1989

• Esther Silverstein Blane - Berchick. Illus. by Tennessee Dixon (Volcano Press)
• Lois Lowry - Number the Stars (Houghton Mifflin)

1988

• Patricia Polacco - The Keeping Quilt. Illus. by author. (Simon & Shuster)
• Jane Yolen - The Devil's Arithmetic (Viking Kestrel)

1987

• David Adler - The Number on My Grandfather's Arm. Photos by Rose Eichenbaum (UAHC)
• Sonia Levitin - The Return (Atheneum)

1986

• Marilyn Hirsh - Joseph Who Loved the Sabbath. Illus. by Devis Grebu (Viking Kestrel)
• Nancy Pitt - Beyond the High White Wall (Charles Scribner's Sons)

1985

• Florence B. Freedman - Brothers. Illus. by Robert Andrew Parker (Harper & Row)
• Carol Snyder - Ike and Mama and the Seven Surprises (Lothrop)

1984

• Amy Schwartz - Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks. Illus. by the author (JPS)
• Uri Orlev - The Island on Bird Street (Houghton Mifflin)

1983

• Barbara Pomerantz - Bubby, Me and Memories. Photos by Leon Lurie (UAHC)
• Rose Zar - In the Mouth of the Wolf (JPS)

1982

• Linda Heller - The Castle on Hester Street. Illus. by the author (JPS)
• Marilyn Sachs - Call Me Ruth (Doubleday)

1981

• Barbara Cohen - Yussel's Prayer. Illus. by Michael J. Deraney (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard)
• Kathryn Lasky -The Night Journey (Frederick Warne)

1980

• Leonard Everett Fisher - A Russian Farewell (Four Winds Press)

1979

• Carol Snyder - Ike and Mama and the Block Weddings (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan)

1978

• Doris Orgel - The Devil in Vienna (Dial)

1977

• Anita Heyman - Exit From Home (Crown)

1976

• Milton Meltzer - Never To Forget (Harper & Row)

1975

• Marietta Miskin - Waiting for Mama (Coward, McCann & Geoghan)

1974
No award

1973

• Yuri Suhl - Uncle Misha's Partisans (Four Winds Press)

1972

• Molly Cone - General contributions

1971

• Isaac Bashevis Singer - General contributions

1970

• Suzanne Lange - The Year (S.G. Phillips)

1969

• Sulamith Ish-Kishor - Our Eddie (Pantheon)

1968

• Esther Hautzig - The Endless Steppe (Crowell)

Sydney Taylor Body-Of-Work Award

1989

• Yaffa Ganz

1984

• Miriam Chaikin

1981

• Barbara Cohen

1980

• Sadie Rose Weilerstein

1979

• Marilyn Hirsh

1978

• Sydney Taylor

No award presented 1982-1983 and 1985-1994