Best Jewish books for Children and Teens: A JPS Guide

1. Jewish Rites and Customs

CHAPTER 1 Jewish Customs pand RitesP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction The Jewish year is made up not only of holidays but also of customs and rites of passage that mark major milestones in the life of a Jew. Although observances marking birth, b’nai mitzvah, marriage, and death are traditionally the most widely known and practiced, for contemporary American Jews, new celebrations and ceremonies have been added for events such as adoption, divorce, relations among the generations, and aging. Books for children about the Jewish life cycle began to be published in the 1970s, quite a bit later than Jewish holiday books. Mid-century American society’s growing interest in “roots” and ethnicity led to a decline in books that chronicled the “melting pot” and to an increase in those that highlighted what was different or distinct about various ethnic and religious groups. The 1970s were also a time when realistic fiction for young people was gaining a prominent place on publishers’ lists. Jewish characters had become more prevalent in children’s literature during the prior two decades, and realistic fiction featuring American-Jewish characters often concentrated on rites of passage critical to Jewish identity. The founding of a small Jewish publishing house in 1975 called Kar-Ben Copies (now a part of Lerner Publishing) also stimulated the publication of life-cycle books because Kar-Ben’s founders, Judyth Groner and Madelyn Wikler, favored fairly simple, illustrated, stories that provided readers with intimate looks at Jewish practice, most often in modern Jewish families. The appearance of comingof -age stories, also during this time, allowed authors to incorporate related themes such as grandparents’ role as the transmitters of Jewish heritage and the increasing prominence of women in all aspects of Judaism. One of the most popular topics in Jewish life-cycle books for young people is the bar and bat mitzvah. Fictional treatments of the ceremony/celebration of the bar or bat mitzvah, and the preparations leading up to it, often use the ritual as a jumping-off point for exploring issues such as intermarriage, Jewish identity, depth of religious commitment, and relations between grandparents and children. In addition, the growing popularity of realistic fiction for children and teens has given authors the freedom to delve into topics and issues that were once considered off-limits, such as divorce, death, race, and sexuality. Thus, these more controversial themes, or sub-texts, appear in many of the newer novels about b’nai mitzvah and the problems that beset boys and girls preparing for the big event. Most fictional characters are preparing for their b’nai mitzvah with trepidation, if not outright resistance, and their stories show how they learn to appreciate being a b’nai mitzvah, after discovering the importance of ceremony to their personal and religious growth. In a few recent books, it is actually the child who wants to become bar/bat mitzvah, but has to convince his or her apathetic, often intermarried, parents to agree. 1 The newer trend toward realism in children’s books has also led to the appearance of quite a few books about death, a subject that was dealt with very gingerly, if at all, for many years. Originally aimed at mainly elementary-age or teenage readers, picture books about death and loss have recently appeared, for children as young as preschool. In the best of them for any age, the didactic intent of teaching children to understand and deal with death is effectively combined with good writing and empathetic characters. Books about the brit milah, naming, and adoption also tend to be aimed at younger children. Although there are far fewer non-fiction trade books about the Jewish life cycle published for children and teens, most of the ones included in this chapter take a pluralistic approach that emphasizes traditional Jewish responses to life cycle issues. Best Jewish Books for Children and Teens 2 Recommended Reading Fiction Bar and Bat Mitzvah Baskin, Nora Raleigh The Truth about My Bat Mitzvah Illustrated by Sarah Adams SIMON AND SCHUSTER, 2008. 134 PAGES. AGES 10–13. Grandparents’ deaths are often the plot catalyst in fiction for children. After Caroline’s grandmother dies and her best friend begins to prepare for her bat mitzvah, Caroline begins to wonder if she should have a bat mitzvah too. With no support from her parents— her mother dislikes the commercialization of the ceremony and her father isn’t Jewish— Caroline explores on...