Judaic Software
The "Interactive Haggadah" by Jerusalem Multimedia Productions (JEMM) 1997 is an educational, entertaining romp through the seder with claymation characters you are familiar with from the book, the Animated Haggadah.

Learn the order, the blessings, the songs, click on the pop-up afikomen, win a prize. Learning about an important Jewish holiday doesn't get any more fun than this! Dual platform- runs on Mac or IBM compatible.

Reasonably priced for home or school (pack of 10 for $100) 1-800-871-0694.

Picture Books
Good Yontif: a Picture Book of the Jewish Year by Rose Blue, Lynne Feldman (Illustrator) Millbrook Press, Inc. 1997

The Jewish year comes alive with these brilliant drawings that give expression to our cycle of festivals, and observances. Follow a family through the year as they celebrate. Watch the female head of household as she carries her own surprise throughout the year. Do correct the text, under the 'Notes on the Illustrations' at the end of the book: The explanation of Havdalah includes misinformation about a blessing for the children. The blessing of the children takes place at the beginning of Shabbat, not at the concluding ceremony of Havdalah.

The recommendations at this site are gleaned from Library professionals.
More recommended reading from many Library professionals including,
Ms. Ellen Cole of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, CA

You never know
by Francine Prose

The New York Times Book Review, Robin Tzannes
Stories involving secret identities are greatly appealing to children, and Francine Prose has written a lovely tale around this intriguing legend.

The Washington Post Book World, Michael Dirda
Mark Podwal's illustrations--of holy men and menorahs and cows on rooftops during the rain--deliberately recall the work of Marc Chagall. Together with Prose's homespun folktale, they make this a very winning picture book, a worthy companion to their Dybbuk: A Story Made in Heaven and The Angel's Mistake: Stories of Chelm.

Two Cents and a Milk Bottle
James Wattling, (Alef Design Group)

Twelve-year-old Leely Dorman has a big problem. She knows the right thing to do, but getting it done seems impossible. How can Leely, the child of Russian immigrants living in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, find the money to pay back a debt to her friend-especially when the Dorman family can barely afford to put food on the table for themselves? In this charming first novel, author Lee Chai'ah Batterman introduces readers to Leely, her brainy fifteen-year-old sister Evy, and Arnie, her tag-along brother, as they face a new neighborhood, a new school and new friends. Over the course of the novel, Leely becomes a faithful friend, an entrepreneur and the first girl in the neighborhood to study to become a Bat Mitzvah. The contrast of Leely's Jewish background and her best friend Francy's Italian heritage adds an especially colorful twist to their sweet friendship.

But it is Leely's moral dilemma-and her poignant and often humorous efforts to resolve it-that draws readers into this beautifully written tale of adolescent tribulations and family cohesiveness.

There is a life lesson to be learned in every chapter of Two Cents and a Milk Bottle, from developing humane values and intercultural friendships to confronting sickness and death. And Leely proves herself a wonderfully capable teacher for young adults and their parents alike.

One Yellow Daffodil
Adler, David

Illustrated by Lloyd Bloom. San Diego : Gulliver Books, 1995. (32)p. $16. ISBN: 0-15-200537-4. Picture Book for grades 2-4. Two children help a survivor reconnect to his religious tradition when their family includes him in Chanukah celebrations. He introduces the youngsters to the Holocaust. The art is dark; text is polite and moving.

Night Lights
Goldin, Barbara Diamond

A Sukkot Story. San Diego : Gulliver Books of Harcourt Brace, 1995. (32)p. $15. ISBN: 0-15-200536-6. Picture Book for K-3. In a clever slant for a Sukkot story a little boy overcomes his fear of the dark. He finds security by considering stars as night lights when he sleeps with his sister in the sukkah. The art is refreshing and expressive.

Star of Fear, Star of Hope
Hoestlandt, Jo

Illustrated by Johanna Kang. Translated from French. New York : Walker, 1995. (32)p. $15.95. ISBN: 0-8027-8373-2. Historical Fiction. Picture Book for grades 2 and up. A nine year old girl regrets an argument with her Jewish pal the night this friend disappears during the Holocaust. Set in Nazi controlled France, this age appropriate plot succeeds as a personal drama of loss and as a communal tragedy branding perpetrators and bystanders. Stylized, spare illustrations capture the 40's.

The Matzah That Papa Brought Home
Manushkin, Fran

Illustrated by Ned Bittinger. New York : Scholastic Books, 1995. (32)p. $14.95. ISBN: 0-590-47146-5. Picture Book for K-3. A cumulative 'House-That-Jack-Built'-type rhyme captures the traditions and history of the seder. Family and Passover bask in humor and fond memory through text and misty art.

Strudel, Strudel, Strudel
Sanfield, Steve

Illustrated by Emily Lisker. New York : Orchard Books, 1995. (32)p. $14.95. ISBN: 0-531-06879-X. Picture Book for K-3. Superb, stylized art delivers Sanfield's version of the Chelm story about the couple who roll down the hill in a trunk. The text is upbeat fun, silliness laced with logic and human frailty.

The Tie Man's Miracle: A Chanukkah Tale
Schnur, Steven

Illustrated by Stephen Johnson. New York : Morrow Junior Books, 1995. (32)p. $16. ISBN: 0-688-13463-7. Picture Book for K-3. A young boy hears about the Holocaust for the first time from a salesman who joins the family Chanukah. The old man recounts the power of the last night's candles; the boy makes a poignant wish for him. The art is realistic.

The Christmas Menorahs : How a Town Fought Hate
Cohn, Janice

Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Morton Grove, IL : Albert Whitman, 1995. 40p. $16.95. ISBN: 0-8075-1152-8. Picture Book for grades 3-7. A brave story of resisting anti-Semitism based on a true incident in Billings, Montana. Two children, their families and the whole town fight hate crimes after an attack on a Jewish home during Chanukah.

When a Grandparent Dies
Liss-Levinson, Nechama

Woodstock, VT : Jewish Lights, 1995. 48p. $14.95. ISBN: 1-879045-44-3. Workbook for grades 2-5. Part journal, part lesson, all heart, this sensitive, useful book guides a youngster through shiva and the year after, supporting memory, grief and other feelings.

When Solomon was King
MacGill-Callahan, Shelia

Illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 1995. (32)p. $15.99. ISBN: 0-8037-1589-7. Picture Book for K-3. Solomon's ability to speak to animals underlies an apocryphal basis of why Jews don't hunt.

Starlight and Candles
Manushkin, Fran

Illustrated by Jacqueline Chwast. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995. (32)p. $15. ISBN: 0-689-80274-9. Picture Book for grades K-3. Delightful art delivers a warm story about three generations of a modern family as they prepare for and celebrate Shabbat at home and in the synagogue.

Passover Magic
Schotter, Roni

Illustrated by Marilyn Hafner. Boston : Little Brown, 1995. (32)p. $14.95. ISBN: 0-316-77468-5. Picture Book for K-3. Passover brings an energetic family together; even the magician uncle is outdone by the wonders of seder preparation and observance. Words and art reflect warmth, humor and happy Judaism at a manic pace.

The Golden City: Jerusalem's 3000 Years
Waldman, Neil

Illustrated by the author. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1995. (32)p. $15. ISBN: 0-689-80080-0. Picture Book for all ages. This chronological reflection on Jerusalem's history sets a text focusing on competitors for the city in glorious art which captures landmarks in glowing light.

Under the Domim Tree
Almagor, Gila

Translated from Hebrew. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995. 164p. $15. ISBN: 0-671-89020-4. YA novel. Three teens in an Israeli youth village after the Holocaust deal with tough emotions sharpened by German war reparations to Israel. They search for lost parents and confront survivor guilt in this autobiographical novel.

Broken Bridge
Banks, Lynne Reid

New York : Morrow Junior Books, 1995. 320p. $15. ISBN: 0-688-13595-1. YA novel; sequel (25 years later) to One More River. A sensitive look at the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict opens with the murder of an American teen in Israel. The extended family faces the consequences along with relevant politics, minimum violence and romance.

The Adventures of Hershel of Ostropol
Kimmel, Eric A.

New York : Holiday House, 1995. 64p. $15.95. ISBN: 0-8234-1210-5. Collection of tales for grades 4 and up. Ten classic stories about poor, but clever Hershel of Ostropol abound in humorous Yiddish culture. A separate chapter quotes his witty epigrams.

Look to the Hills
Krantz, Hazel

Philadelphia : JPS, 1995. 224p. $14.95 or $9.95 pb. ISBN: 0-8276-0552-8. Historical Fiction. YA novel. Local color fills this romance set in late 19th century Colorado which details a thriving Reform Jewish community and the origin of the Jewish Hospital. A chart explains real and imagined characters.

But Can the Phoenix Sing?
Laird, Christa

New York : Greenwillow, 1995. 231p. $15. ISBN: 0-688-13612-5. Historical Fiction. YA Novel; sequel to Shadow of the Wall. An angry teen discovers the incredible details of his stern stepfather's partisan career during the Holocaust in a wide ranging war story that contains heroic information scantily covered in YA fiction.

Drummers of Jericho
Meyer, Carolyn

San Diego : Gulliver Books of Harcourt Brace, 1995. 308p. $11. ISBN: 0-15-200441-6. YA novel. Fundamentalist Christian bigotry fuels this well written page-turner. A Jewish teen moves to a small town and finds herself the center of a civil rights battle over the cross formations of her public school marching band.

Fat Chance
Newman, Lesla

New York : G.P. Putnam's, 1994. 214p. $15.95. ISBN: 0-399-22760-1. YA novel. Through diary entries, a teen recounts her struggles to lose weight, hide her bulimia from her mother, find a boyfriend and a career. It's a mainstream novel with a comfortably Jewish heroine, humorous and moving.

The Lady with the Hat
Orlev, Uri

Translated from Hebrew. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1995. 183p. $14.95. ISBN: 0-395-69957-6. Historical Fiction. YA novel. A teen survivor in Poland joins a group of young people headed for a Palestine kibbutz unaware that his sole living relative, now an English citizen, is looking for him. Readers follow an exciting man hunt.

Golem
Podwal, Mark

A Giant Made of Mud. Illustrated by author. New York : Greenwillow, 1995. (24)p. $15. ISBN: 0-688-13811-X. Picture Book for grades 4-7. Imaginative, historically detailed paintings adorn this remarkable retelling of the classic Golem in Prague folklore including Rabbi Loew and the emperor's fascination with alchemy. Lovely art is striking in a scary story.

The Rose Horse
Rose, Deborah Lee

Illustrated by Greg Shed. San Diego : Harcourt Brace, 1995. 61p. $16. ISBN: 0-15-200068-2. Novella for grades 3-6. The information is fresh: Yiddish immigrants carving carousel horses, Coney Island side show incubators saving premature babies, the counting of the omer. Local color is turn of the century. Pencil sketches fit the tone.

Flying Lessons
Semel, Nava

Translated from Hebrew. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995. 119p. $14. ISBN: 0-689-80161-0. Novella for grades 4 and up. A bittersweet story romanticizes the time when Israel was a new state through a humorous teen narrator stuck in a provincial town. A sensitive shoemaker teaches her to balance dreams and reality through his Holocaust experience which is portrayed in original symbols.

Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon
Vos, Ida

Translated from Dutch. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1995. 183p. $14.95. ISBN: 0-395-72039-7. Historical Fiction. Novel for grades 4-7. Set in the Hague in 1942, this sad novel reveals the fear occupying Nazi regulations aroused in Jewish children. A ten year old girl emotionally recounts daily routine under siege, her family's reaction to threat and danger.

And Twelve Chinese Acrobats
Yolen, Jane

Illustrated by Jean Gralley. New York : Philomel, 1995. 54p. $15.95. ISBN: 0-399-22691-5. Novella for grades 3-6. Spirited language and pictures mesh in this brisk biographical tale of the idolized, mischievous older brother sent away to military school. It is rich in humor and Russian-Jewish rituals and tradition.

Child of the Warsaw Ghetto
Adler, David

Illustrated by Karen Ritz. New York : Holiday House, 1995. (32)p. $15.95 ISBN: 0-8234-1160-5. Picture Book for grades 4-8. This slim, grim volume chronologically details the Ghetto's graphic history through a surviving child.

Parallel Journeys
Ayer, Eleanor et al

New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1995. 244p. index. photos. $15. ISBN: 0-689-31830-8. YA Holocaust history. Holocaust experiences from both sides simultaneously! A Jewish girl and a Nazi boy alternate voices revealing what happened, confessing how it felt, and deducing moral lessons.

Listen to the Trees
Cone, Molly

Illustrated by Roy Doty. New York : UAHC, 1995. 84p. pb. $14.95. ISBN: 0-8074-0536-1. Paperback classroom oriented collection of stories for grades 3-6. A Tu Bishvat resource tool recounts the ancient and continuing nexus between Judaism and ecology. Stories, cartoons and quotes of uneven quality mix in a well organized format.

Ezra Jack Keats
Engel Dean and Freedman

Florence : A Biography with Illustrations. (by him) New York : Silver Moon Press, 1995. 81p. $17.95. ISBN: 1-881889-65-3. Biography. Picture Book for grades 3-6. Surprise! A beloved children's author-illustrator is Jewish, not black, as everyone deduces from his famous pictures. His life provides a lesson on anti-Semitism in secular careers; he hid his Judaism to succeed, not survive.

How Do You Spell God?
Gellman, Marc & Hartman, Thomas

Answers to the Big Questions from Around the World. New York : Morrow Junior Books, 1995. 206p. $15. ISBN: 0-688-13041-0. Religion for grade 4 and up. A thoughtful, clever volume explains major world religions according to the meaningful questions they answer, and compares them through their different answers. The authors sport 'with it' voice and humorous drawings.

Bat Mitzvah
Goldin, Barbara Diamond

Illustrated by Erika Weihs. New York : Viking, 1995. 139p. $14.99. ISBN: 0-670-86034-4. Religious customs for grades 4 and up. Bat Mitzvah from the point of view of an outsider who wants to understand: The focus is history and changing ancient tradition in our century, in our country. The tone is feminist/didactic. Illustrations are charming.

Bar Mitzvah
Kimmel, Eric A.

Illustrated by Erika Weihs. New York : Viking, 1995. 143p. $15. ISBN: 0-670-85540-5. Religious customs for grades 4 and up. Bar Mitzvah from the point of view of the participant who performs as expected and wishes he knew more: The focus is memory and meaning. The tone is warm and sharing. The illustrations are charming.

Ordinary Genius
McPherson, Stephanie

The Story of Albert Einstein. Minneapolis : Carolrhoda, 1995. 96p. $13. ISBN: 0-87614-788-0. Biography for grades 4-7. Clear prose and great photographs advance a chronological narration of Albert Einstein's life, theories of space and time, eccentric habits and fame. He is proud of his Jewish identity and connects its teachings to his acts.

Days of Judgment
Morin, Isobel V.

The World War II War Crimes Trials. Brookfield, CT : Millbrook, 1995. 144p. $16.40 ISBN: 1-56294-442-8. YA History. This is a clear, concise evaluation of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. Photographs and no-frills vocabulary combine to weigh facts, sift results, recall prevailing passions and establish contemporary relevance.

The Life of a Storyteller
Perl, Lila. Isaac Bashevis Singer

Illustrated by Donna Ruff. Philadelphia : JPS, 1994. 102p. $12.95. ISBN: 0-8276-0512-9. Biography for grades 4-9. This laudatory life of Singer gains charm from facts about his Polish youth and full-page sketches.

Bearing Witness : Stories of the Holocaust
Rochman, Hazel & McCampbell, Darlene.

New York : Orchard Books, 1995. 135p. $15.95. ISBN: 0-531-09488-X. Personal Narrative for grades 5-12. Carefully selected, brilliantly pared and well arranged literary excerpts from long works create a comprehensive, chronological Holocaust history which builds in tension, interest and emotion. Superb for classroom use.

Commando at Entebbe
Speregen, Devra. Yoni Netanyahu

Philadelphia : JPS, 1995. 120p. $14.95. ISBN: 0-8276-0523-4. Biography for grades 4-9. An Israeli hero is a role model in this reprise of the stirring 1976 raid on Entebbe he led!

Life in the Warsaw Ghetto
Stewart, Gail B.

San Diego : Lucent Books, 1995. 112p. $16.95 ISBN: 1-56006-075-1. History for grades 6-12. All the ugly details of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Jews who suffered there are documented in this emotionally tough book. The photographs are incredible. The lesson is clear: it never should have happened.

Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng
Xu Xin with Beverly Friend.

Illustrated by Ting Cheng. Hoboken, NJ : KTAV, 1995. 140p. ISBN: 0-88125-528-9. History grades 4 and up. Oral legends chronologically detail the curious history of 1000 years of Judaism in Kaifeng, China.