It’s the 5th anniversary of my picture book about Shavuos, A Dozen Daisies for Raizy, and I’d like to learn from teachers and librarians what activities they’ve used with the book and how their kids have responded to it. If you have pix of art projects or the like, that’s even better!
You can respond to me in the comments below or privately at beccaklempner@gmail.com.
The local Jewish children’s library here in L.A. will be closing in a month and a half. It gets plenty of visitors, but the Federation wants to let the Zimmer Museum (a bigger money-maker) use the space.
Think she heard the Jewish Library is closing? (Picture available through Creative Commons–rumolay on Flickr)
Regular patrons like me are grumbling. How else can we feed the voracious literary appetites of our Jewish kids without breaking the bank? PJ Library is a fabulous resource, but has three drawbacks:
This past Sunday, the Jewish library was packed for the monthly Read with Dogs event, and the parents bemoaned the closure. We’re upset that the amazing librarian, Amy, will lose her job, and will miss the books and activities that we’ve enjoyed there.
There’s a Facebook Page for the effort to save the book collection at a new location. If anyone has the link, please post it below in the comments. It’ll only work through grassroots efforts.
A sure sign of spring in California
I’ve been really enjoying the arrival of spring here in L.A. Last week, my daughter and I strolled to school. We spotted our first monarch of the annual migration back up north. The neighbors’ gardens were full of irises and azaleas. Alas, strong wind over the last week knocked the almonds off one neighbor’s tree before they ripened.
Our own garden is full of sweet peas, swiss chard, herbs and a single California poppy (a stray from last year’s batch–I didn’t plant them this year). There are buds on our rose bush and on the hydrangea, but our plumeria is mad at me. I didn’t realize that it’s not supposed to be watered over the winter, and the temperatures dipped unusually low, to boot.
What about the smells of spring? In L.A., spring smells like jasmine. Or what about taste? Strawberries always remind me of a California spring. Some of the neighbors grow their own. They smell sweet when warmed by the sun.
Spring has inspired artists for millenia. Why not take a walk around your neighborhood and describe how spring appears in your neck of the woods? Don’t be afraid to include the “off” notes–the muddy days, the late snow storm, the withered old tree that produces no more blossoms or fruit that stands stark in your backyard.
What reminds you of spring?
One of my favorite things to do is to promote the work of Jewish writers with West Coast connections. Here are a few I’ve read in the last couple months:
Tova Younger’s recent release
Tova Younger is a former Angeleno who settled in Kiryat Sefer in 2004. Her new book, Hands-On How To’s for the Home & Heart, contains friendly and very practical advice of all types for the Jewish wife.
When I was first living on my own, someone gave me a book, Where’s Mom Now That I Need Her: Surviving Away from Home. That cookbook/home repair/car repair/first aid/ and just about everything else manual got me through a lot of tough situations. Younger’s book is almost a Jewish version of that secular classic—chock full of basic information that every Jewish homemaker can benefit from.
Divided up into four primary sections:
—Hands-On How To’s for the Home & Heart offers advice about everything from maintaining proper kavana (focus) to proper laundering; from how to make conversation with the relatives to whom we owe kavod (honor), to recipes for basics like beet salad and cornflake quiche.
Younger’s book would make a terrific gift for seminary girls, the newly married, and even seasoned homemakers. You can find it on discount right now at Jewish e-Books.
Rachel Pomerantz’s latest
Well-known Orthodox author Rachel Pomerantz frequently travels to SoCal to visit her brother and mother, who live near San Andreas. Her latest serial novelization, Bells & Pomegranates, follows the shidduch process of various characters (introduced in previous books), all of whom have life circumstances that present hurdles in their quest for a mate.
There are step-siblings Yoel and Devora, who have been adopted, and the twins Rina and Gila, who converted as children and grew up in a single parent home. There’s foster child Ronny, whose mother is mentally ill, and Yossi, the child of baalei teshuva. Sarah’s got great yichus, but she’s an orphan. These characters and others start off the shidduch process with considerable challenges—but as the novel progresses, Pomerantz throws additional complications into their paths, lending drama and suspense to their intermingled stories.
Bells & Pomegranates is more than kosher entertainment for a rainy afternoon. In describing the family dramas of her characters, Pomerantz invites us to question our own preferences and prejudices. How do my assumptions affect my judgment? How involved should parents and grandparents be in the shidduch process? What are legitimate reasons to call off a prospective match? These questions and others lingered with me after I finished the book.
While a seasoned freelance author, Nancy Steiner is new to picture book writing. Her first kids’ title, On This Night, will likely prove to be a classic. In cheerful—but unforced—rhyme, Steiner leads readers through the steps of the seder. Her language is perfectly accessible for young readers and will prepare them for the Pesach experience.
The darling illustrations by Wendy Edelson depict an adorable family celebrating their seder. Edelson portrays the family members from a variety of angles, adding to the visual interest. From the twinkly-eyed zeide to the drowsy preschooler on the final page, the pictures (and text) are sure to engage kids aged 2 to 6.
L.A. resident Sarah Bunin Benor’s new book, Becoming Frum (Rutgers University Press 2012), considers the ways newly religious Jews adapt to the language of the mainstream Orthodox world. While an academic book rather than a religious one, Bunin Benor bases her conclusions largely on research conducted here in L.A., and her book will be of great interest of those engaged in the baalei teshuva phenomenon. I participated in her initial online survey, which piqued my interest in her work. I hope to write an entire post devoted to Bunin Benor’s book (and her spin-off website) soon.
If your day includes some of these, it’s time to find a pitcher, some water and sugar.
About 9 months ago, I went on vacation. Vacations are unusual for the Klempner family, and I really enjoyed the break from normal surroundings and routines.
Unfortunately, my husband checked his email on the third day of our vacation and informed me that my email account had been hijacked. When I investigated further, I discovered that all my contacts had been deleted, as well.
This scenario might sound familiar–it’s happened to enough of my friends.
Well, when I got back home a few days later and sat back down at my desk to write, the story that flew out of my fingertips was a reimagination of my email hacking.
That story, “It Wasn’t Me,” appears in this week’s Inyan, inside HaModia.
Have any of you out there turned some something annoying, frustrating, or inconvenient into a piece of art?
Tick-tock…Quick, that deadline’s approaching!
Foolish me.
So, as I mentioned last week, I committed to produce a story just three days after Passover was over. I did prewrite before the holiday, and even had started a first draft in longhand (I often do). It was this surprisingly dark piece, written in second-person. A concerned family member was talking to “you,” and “you” (it becomes clear) are suffering from a clinical depression.
When I picked these materials back up after Passover had wrapped up, the first thing I thought was: ugh.
I felt like hyperventilating. Was I back to square one? With only three days to go?
AHHH!
Rebecca Klempner 