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My parents and grandparents were not storytellers. By the time I was old enough to ask the right questions—about the old country, the journey to America, life in the new country—there was no one left to answer them.  That left a gaping hole

Mazel tov to the Sydney Taylor Book Award winners for 2024! Not So Shy by Noa Nimrodi is a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old Israeli girl adjusting to a new life in America. It is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the middle-grade

Ever wonder what starts a tale spinning? The Mexican Dreidel story is, so to speak, a spin-off from a course on the History of Latin American Jewry. That course was taught by Amherst College Professor Ilan Stavans, a Mexican Jew.  I

What are the emotions and traits of Israelis in the post-7th of October world? The answer is: grief, anger, disgust, exhaustion, and fear, but also unity, courage, strength, pride, and love.    I live in Tel Aviv, around the corner

A Wild, WILD Hanukkah is a tribute to the Hanukkah celebrations of my childhood, full of laughter, love, and joy.  Growing up, we lived on a block that had only one other Jewish family, so most of the surrounding houses were full of

People often ask why a particular story might be conceived as a board book. For me, Counting on Shabbat had to be a board book because I was writing it to thank the little great grandchildren that were bringing my elderly mother so much

Throughout my life, I have been influenced by many amazing women from my grandmothers to my mother to teachers to literary heroes. They all have taken a role in molding me who I am today as an author, a sister, a mother, and a humanitarian. 

I see a young man on the street holding a baby and repeating over and over the words, “For God will order angels to guard you wherever you go.” (Psalm 91:11) I remember my father singing these words every Friday night. We still sing it in my

This Shabbat, a week later, was a day of peace. Pieces of our battered spirits being picked up and examined, as reality sinks in because there is nothing to distract us. No phone, no Facebook, no Instagram, or X to post on, to howl #HamasisISIS.

Kar-Ben is excited to announce our partnership with the Jewish Braille Institute! This will make our books accessible to readers who are blind, visually impaired, physically handicapped, or reading disabled.   The Jewish Braille