2022 Sidney Taylor Award Picture-Book Roundup: The Passover Guest, Nicky & Vera, Dear Mr. Dickens, and The Christmas Mitzvah

The Sidney Taylor Award, named for the author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series, is presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries to “outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.” Three categories are recognized: picture books, middle grade, and young adult. Let’s look at the outstanding picture books . . .

The Passover Guest by Susan Kusel, illustrated by Sean Rubin. Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2021, 32 pages.

Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 4-10

The Great Depression has hit even our nation’s capital, where shanty towns have sprung up in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. Muriel is enjoying the weather and the cherry blossoms, but the coming of Passover casts a pall over her joy. Her family barely has enough to eat on ordinary days—how will they furnish a Passover feast? She pauses to drop a penny in a street performer’s hat, and is surprised when he tells her to hurry home for Seder. Obeying his advice, she arrives at her door in time to meet a stranger. “May I share your Seder meal?” he asks. Muriel’s parents welcome him, though they have little to share–but to their astonishment, the stranger proceeds to bring in the matzah, the brisket, the soup, and the cup of wine for Elijah. It’s a miracle!

Readers will guess who the mysterious stranger is, but the story (based on a Polish legend) isn’t about mystery. It’s about tradition, and family, and community. The beautiful illustrations inspired by Marc Chagall capture the wonder and warmth of the holiday in dozens of characters and facial expressions. Sadly though, for a picture book about the most sacred holiday of the Jewish calendar, there’s no mention of God. Not even in the afterward that explains Passover as a celebration of “the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt.”  Like last year’s Welcoming Elijah, The Passover Guest celebrates a tradition without a center.

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Award: Sidney Taylor Picture Book award.

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued by Peter Sis. Norton Young Readers, 2021

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 6-10

“Nicky was born in 1909, into a century full of promise.” His comfortable British middle-class upbringing allowed for a fine education, the opportunity to travel Europe, and eventually become a banker. By the mid-1930s, though, he could no longer avoid the storm clouds spreading from Germany to nearby Czechoslovakia and Austria. At the same time, Vera was growing up in Prague—also of a comfortable middle-class family who happened to be Jewish. Her parents were growing concerned, as were other Jewish parents they knew, though Vera didn’t know the reason. Nicky did. Summoned to Prague in 1938, he took stock of the situation and, with a few friends, began making lists of children who might be in danger. He intended to see that they got safely to England. Vera ended up on that list.

Peter Sís, a multiple-Caldecott winner, uses his distinctive style to tell a story that only came to light about ten years ago. You may have seen Facebook posts about Nicholas Winton, invited to appear on a popular British TV show where—unbeknownst to him—dozens of the 669 children he rescued, now grown, were in the audience. This is his story, in straightforward text and symbolic illustration that will enchant younger children and intrigue older ones.

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 5

Award: Sidney Taylor picture-book honor, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award finalist. First reviewed in Redeemed Reader on March 11, 2021.

Dear Mr. Dickens by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Bethany Stancliffe. Albert Whitman & Company. 32 pages.

“Dear Mr. Dickens,” Eliza begins. Writing to a famous author was just as exciting and daunting in the 1800s as it is today. But Eliza figured that she had the same supplies Mr. Dickens did: pen, paper, and something to say. She’d read all of Mr. Dickens’s books, and she loved many of them… except for Oliver Twist. Eliza was Jewish, and Mr. Dickens relentlessly referred to Fagin (a criminal) as “the Jew” throughout the book. Eliza knew what power was in the pen, especially the pen of someone as talented as Mr. Dickens. She took a page from Mr. Dickens’s own Scrooge character and reminded him of his past, present, and future in relation to the Jewish people.

Mr. Dickens’s next (and final) novel was Our Mutual Friend. To Eliza’s delight, Mr. Riah was a Jewish character utterly unlike Fagin: he was “generous and loyal.” Indeed, Mr. Dickens had taken Eliza’s words to heart.

Based on their actual correspondence, Dear Mr. Dickens is an interesting look at a beloved author, a woman bold enough to speak up on behalf of those mistreated and maligned, and a friendly resolution to the issue. Would that our own culture took note and operated similarly! Back matter includes interesting historical information on Jewish treatment in British history.

• Worldview/Moral Value: 4
• Artistic/Literary Value: 4

Awards: 2022 Sidney Taylor picture-book honor; 2021 National Jewish Book Award winner for picture book

The Christmas Mitzvah by Jeff Gottesfeld, illustrated by Michelle Launentia Agatha. Creston Books, 32 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 4-10

“Al Rosen was a Jewish man who loved Christmas.” The holiday had little religious significance for him, but everyone can get behind peace and good will. One Christmas Eve, as he and his son were strolling around the neighborhood admiring lights and decorations, they encountered their friend Clarence at the news stand. As a mitzvah, or good deed, Al offered to finish Clarence’s shift so the man could be with his family on this special night. Thus began a Christmas-Eve tradition as Al (and later his grown son and grandchildren) filled in for dozens of his neighbors: pumping gas, tending bar, changing bedpans, bagging groceries, and parking cars. It’s hard to believe US regulations and union rules would allow for that, but it’s a true story, based on the real Al Rosen of Milwaukee. The story includes all religions under one umbrella of good will, but the point is well taken: “Anyone can do a mitzvah.”

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Award: Sidney Taylor picture-book honor

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