The Return of the Country's Largest Jewish Book Fair by Alice Blumenthal McGinty and Lisa Rose

 At seventy-one years old, The Detroit Jewish Book Fair is the oldest and largest Jewish Book Fair in the nation. Authors from all over the world are invited to the fair to talk about and sell their books. This annual community-wide event attracts 20,000 people each year. After a two year hiatus due to Covid, this year it was back LIVE, offering both in-person and virtual events. 

Alice Blumenthal McGinty, Lisa Rose, and
Suzanne Jacbos Lipshaw at the 2022
Detroit Jewish Book Fair

Organizers weren’t certain about how to plan…would people come in-person?  Online? Would people buy books? Thankfully, people did all of those things. As authors, we were pleased to be a part of the local author schmooze, where attendees could talk with us and get their books signed. 

During this event we loved the chance to reconnect with each other and with members of the Jewish community. We also made new connections with other authors and attendees, each carrying potential for new opportunities. As author Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw said, a book event is not to be measured only in numbers of books sold, but by the connections that happen. Hopefully, we come away from every book event with at least one “moment” to be treasured. 

At the same time, we can’t help but think about the larger picture that this event represents in the push for diversity in children’s publishing. Children need both mirrors and windows in the literature they read. The literature at the book fair offered mirrors in which Jewish children could see themselves and their families and communities, as well as windows into new aspects of Jewish life. 

However, wouldn’t it be wonderful if the book fair could extend its reach to offer these books to Jews and non-Jews alike, bringing these windows and mirrors to people of all religions? While the focus on diversity in children's literature began with racial diversity, religious diversity is a crucial part of this need as well. It's not that this need isn't being addressed. More religiously diverse books have been published recently. However, there is more work to do in making sure that these books reach a wider audience. It’s still rare for someone who is not Jewish to attend the Jewish Book Fair. And in recent years, antisemitism has exploded—just this past week there were two bomb threats at Metro Detroit Jewish Day Schools. Through stories, children learn about others. They find connection and create empathy and understanding. The need is there. 

While we loved our chance to celebrate Jewish books and Jewish authors, we hope to also create opportunities to share these books with the wider world, creating more religious diversity and opening new windows to children of all races and religions. 

 

Alice Blumenthal McGinty is the award-winning author of 50 fiction and nonfiction books for children, including Jr. Library Guild and P.J. Library Selection, A Synagogue Just Like Home (2022, Candlewick Press, illustrated by Laurel Molk), My Israel and Me (2021, Kalaniot Books, illustrated by Rotem Teplow), and Jr. Library Guild Selection and New York and Chicago Public Library Best of 2022 List, Bathe the Cat (2022, Chronicle Books, illustrated by David Roberts)

Alice recently moved to Michigan from Illinois and is Regional Advisor Emerita of the Illinois SCBWI chapter. She looks forward to being a speaker at the Michigan Reading Association conference in March and the SCBWI Michigan Spring Conference in April.   

Lisa’s latest book Senor Saguaro The King of Desert will be published by Little Fig January 1, 2023. It is available for pre-order now! She is the author of The Singer and the Scientist (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2021). It was a National Jewish Book Finalist and Bank Street College Best Book. It also was selected to represent the great state of New Jersey at the National Book Festival at the Library of Congress. Shmulik Paints the Town (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2016) was a PJ Library Selection in 2016 and 2020. A Zombie Vacation (Apples & Honey Press, 2020) was also a PJ Library Selection in 2021. Lisa also has many other titles. Lisa is a teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach, and librarian. Please learn more at www.LisaRoseWrites.com

Equity & Inclusion Corner: What is Casual Diversity?

 

As E & I Corner blog Co-Hosts these last two years, Angie and I want to thank you for all of your support and interest. My term as E & I Team Leader ends July 30th, and that date will also mark the end of Angie’s term on the E & I Team. Building the E & I Corner blog from the ground up has been a great experience, but it is time for new leadership to step in. The next round of E & I Team members will be announced later this summer.

 

We appreciate all of our blog contributors and those who joined the dialogue in our comments section. We also want to thank Kristin for her commitment to her leadership as Editor of The Mitten. It's been a rewarding experience to work with her and our RAs, Carrie Pearson and Jodi McKay.

 

Today's post is from former E&I Team volunteer Lisa Rose who served for two years during the launch of this committee and numerous initiatives. Thank you for sharing your time and experience, Lisa! Stay tuned for our next blog post in October with the author, Shanna Heath.

 

Cheers!

Isabel Estrada O’Hagin and Angie Verges

What is Casual Diversity? 

By Lisa Rose

 

Betsy Bird, in a 2014 blog post, defined casual diversity as “diversity that is just a part of everyday life.” 

I go a step further. To me, casual diversity happens when diversity is depicted in the story, but the focus of the story is not about the diversity. In my view, the first casual diverse book is also one of the most famous diverse books.  

One morning many years ago, a little boy in Brooklyn named Peter woke up to an amazing sight: fresh snow. Peter was among the first non-caricatured black boys to be featured in a major children's book. But Keats, who wasn’t black (He was Jewish), wasn’t trying to make a statement about race.

"He said, well, all the books he had ever illustrated, there had never been a child of color, and they're out there — they should be in the books, too.”

The book didn’t say 'I am a black child going out into the snow today.' It was just a child's experience of the snow. However, the impact was monumental. Black children could begin to see themselves in stories. This story gave them a “mirror” in which to see themselves. For non-black children, these “mirrors” were “windows” through which they could see black children as also having similar interests and experiences not unlike their own. These children can connect that this seemingly different child is not that different from me. Peter likes snow, just like me.

Jabari Jumps, by Gaia Cornwall, works in a similar way:

If you just look at the text of the book, there is nothing that indicates that the book has anything to do with diversity. However, diversity is presented in the illustrations. 

Picture book creators can have the visual show diversity.  

One of my favorite books is Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrai.  Not one word in this book describes the child is in a wheelchair—it is just who she is—just like she happens to be someone brown hair.  The wheelchair is only shown in the pictures.  This is story about a dog.  This is not a story about a wheelchair.

Similarly, when I created the Star Powers chapter book series, it was important to me to make it a story about a second-grade girl who loved science and not about a girl in a wheelchair. Her wheelchair was discussed when it was central to the plot—like when she was figuring out how was she going to get to the top of the observatory. However, overall, it is essentially a story about a girl and not a story about a wheelchair.

In fact, all of my picture books demonstrate casual diversity.  Shmulik Paints the Town is a story about a painting dog.  However, readers are also learning about Israeli Independence Day.  The greatest compliment I received about the book was from our own Jodi McKay. She was concerned she wasn’t understanding something and asked why Shmulik was considered a Jewish book. Exactly! I didn’t write Shumlik the Paints the town only for Jews. I wanted everyone to read it and enjoy it.  A Zombie Vacation which is also set in Israel and is also published by a Jewish press is also an example of casual diversity.  This book is about a Zombie who lost his zombie groove and decides to go on vacation to come back to dead.  What is the perfect place for a Zombie vacation? The Dead Sea—LOL! Readers learn about the special properties of The Dead Sea water and the area surrounding it.

You could say that casual diversity is subtle. As a Jewish girl, I always wondered why every story had a Christmas tree. Why did every family on TV celebrate Christmas? Why can’t the book have a menorah on the table? Why can the argument be on the way to Temple or Mosque instead of church? We don’t have shout: THIS FAMILY IS JEWISH, MUSLIM, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, INDIAN, CHINESE, LATINO…etc.  It can be depicted in an illustration in a picture book or a sentence in a novel.

To illustrate my way of looking at casual diversity, I’ve coined the phrase, “Beyond Rudolph.”  Everybody knows the story Rudolph and the Red Nosed Reindeer—poor Rudolph is bullied because he is different—UNTIL—what is different is exactly what saves the day. This savior act allows everyone to finally appreciate the fact that the thing that makes Rudolph different—is also what makes him valuable. Often, perhaps too often, diverse stories are only about what makes the main character a “Rudolph.” However, casual diversity helps creators get “Beyond Rudolph” and tell a story where diversity is depicted without being the subject of the story. 

Instead, stories that employ casual diversity include readers simply as they are: an essential part of our diverse world.

Lisa Rose’s latest picture book The Singer and The Scientist is about the friendship between Marian Anderson and Albert Einstein was released on April 1, by Kar-Ben Publishing. She is also the author of A Zombie Vacation (Apples & Honey Press, 2020) and The Star Powers chapter book series (Rourke Educational Media). Her first picture book Shmulik Paints the Town (Kar-Ben Publishing 2016) was a PJ Library Selection in May 2016 and 2020. It was sent to over 50,000 homes in North America. Lisa founded the Missing Voice Picture Book Discussion Group, whose mission is to highlight new picture books and their creators featuring diversity and little-known subjects on a monthly basis. Learn more at https://lisarosewrites.com/.

The SCBWI-MI Equity & Inclusion Team is energized to create a stronger SCBWI-MI community that includes, engages, and embraces disparate voices. Learn more about the E&I Team on the SCBWI-MI website, and read our previous blog posts at the Equity & Inclusion Corner.

Book Birthday Blog with Lisa Rose

 Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog! 

Where we celebrate new books by Michigan's children's book authors and illustrators

Congratulations to Lisa Rose on the release of her new book, A Zombie Vacation!

Congratulations on the release of A Zombie Vacation! What inspired this ghoulishly fun story?

When I was researching Israel, I discovered that The Dead Sea was losing 1 meter of water per year.  This meant that the hotel I visited 20 years ago at the water’s edge, was now quite a schlep to the beach. I originally wrote this story as an environmental call to action in the form of a Travel Guide to hurry and visit The Dead Sea before it disappears! My editor liked the idea of a story about The Dead Sea, but wanted more of a narrative arc. Thus, my Zombie was born or maybe just unearthed!

Your zombie visits all sorts of places in Israel, like the Sea of Galilee, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and Luna Park in Tel Aviv! Why did you pick Israel as his vacation destination, and how did you decide on which places in Israel he would visit?

Well, since The Dead Sea is in Israel, I decided to make this “a no place like home” story.  I wanted the Zombie to visit others places near to where the Zombie stays. This is a way to expose kids about other places in Israel too.

Your book has a lot of great tie-ins to STEM subjects, like why things float in the dead sea, and the importance of preserving natural resources! Were these tie-ins a goal from the beginning of your writing process, or did they emerge later on?

The environmental element was always an ingredient. However, the STEM tie-ins came later when I was thinking about author visits. Then, I had to adapt even further with the pandemic. I ask the kids to do the STEM activities with me. This way it is more interactive. I didn’t want families to have to go out to the store to participate, so I had an extra challenge of finding items that most families would already have in their house. For example, cups, glasses, water, salt, and eggs.

You’ve created loads of great promotional content for A Zombie Vacation: a positively spine-chilling book trailer and lots of zombie-fied vacation photos, in addition to coloring and activity pages! Do you have any tips on creating promotional material for new books?

Personally, I love to dress up!  When I taught first grade, I was like Ms. Frizzle and had a costume for every lesson. After months of staying at home, I was just excited to do something fun. I think everyone needs a little fun now. So, I think you should just have fun with it! Find what works for you. If you love what you are doing, everyone will love it too. Also, for this book, I did have a very talented technical assistant to help me. In addition, our own Deb Gonzales the Pinterest Queen! It takes a team to write a book AND it takes a team to promote the book!

What has your experience with virtual author visits been like so far?

I have to admit, I’m not very comfortable, yet. Kids aren’t as playful and interactive. I enjoy the off-topic interruptions asking me if I have a second favorite reptile or telling me about their new Batman bed. Also, I learned the hard way that you can't really read the book like it is story time. You should have the book on PDF and present your screen.

Do you have any advice for authors who are trying to reach out to kids in the midst of social distancing and online school?

YES!!! I’m developing a platform called BOOK BOOK LOOK! which is part Netflix and Etsy. It will help connect authors to kids.  More details will be coming soon. I wanted to do this for years. I always thought it was silly for individual authors to advertise. I thought we should have one central location so schools, libraries, and religious organizations could easily search book authors for events. I will share one more thing: It will be free for authors to join and people to use. 

What’s up next for you? Do you have any fun projects on the horizon? Where can readers learn more about you and your work?

I have a very serious non-fiction picture book about the friendship between Marian Anderson and Albert Einstein titled The Singer and the Scientist that will be published by Kar-Ben on April 1, 2021.

A little bit about the book:

A Zombie Vacation

My walk lacked the proper stiffness. I had lost the urge to moan. My skin no longer had its lovely dull, sickly color. I wasn't scary anymore . . .

Where oh where can a tired, stressed out zombie get a little rest and relaxation? Sounds like the Dead Sea might be perfect!

Take a tour through Israel with an unusually adorable zombie who desperately needs a break.

A little bit about the author:

My first picture book Shmulik Paints the Town (Kar-Ben Publishing 2016) was a PJ Library Selection in May 2016 and 2020. It was sent to over 50,000 homes in North America. My chapter book series Star Powers (Rourke Educational Media, 2018) is about a second grade girl who wants to be an astronaut and also uses a wheelchair. I have several stories published with Amazon Rapids, an app designed for at risk readers. I founded the Missing Voice Picture Book Discussion Group, whose mission is to highlight new picture books featuring diversity and little-known subjects on a monthly basis. Look out for more information about Book Book Look! Learn more about me at www.LisaRoseWrites.com

Book Birthday Blog with Lisa Rose

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog! 

Where we celebrate new books by Michigan's children's book authors and illustrators

Congratulations to Lisa Rose on the release of her new book,  THE POCKET PICTURE!

Q#1: Congratulations on the release of The Pocket Picture! What inspired this story?

This was a work for hire story.  I had strict guidelines, so my ideas had to have boundaries.  This isn’t always fun.  I treat it as a puzzle.  How can I say what I want to say in the borders given to me by my editor?  

Q#2: You’ve written both chapter books and picture books. How do those experiences compare? Do you have a different process for each? 

I was first a playwright.  So, when I write, I usually picture it on the stage in my head.  In picture books, each page is a scene change.  This helps the pictures tell the story as well as the words.  If the scenery just stays the same, you have a very boring book.  In longer books, you have to make sure you don’t have just “talking heads” on your stage.  “Talking heads” are boring!

Q#3: The Pocket Picture has been published with an educational publisher, like your previous books in the Star Powers series, which also have nonfiction backmatter. What do you enjoy about including educational and nonfiction elements in your books and stories? 

I’m a teacher it’s a professional hazard.  Seriously, Rourke Educational Media sells directly to the school and library marketplace.  My buyers are teachers and librarians.  As a teacher, I know how tight money can be.  I want to create a book that can be used multiple times in different lessons.  It is important to me that my readers feel it was helpful in multiple ways.

Q#4: Many of your books include themes of inclusivity and acceptance. Do you have any overarching goals or inspirations that guide your stories?

I never write a story with a “goal” or “moral lesson” in mind.  However, I’ve been a life-long fan of the underdog.  Personally, “the underdog” and me always had a lot in common.  : )   However, my daughter is legally blind and uses a cane.  As a teacher, I always talked about “diversity” and believed I had an inclusive literacy in my classroom.  However, when I went to find books that depicted my child, I found very little.  Or when I did find a book, the book was “Rudolph-The-Red-Nosed Reindeer” themed.  I realized the books I used in the classroom were similar. I just wanted a story about a girl doing kid things---just this girl used a cane and wore dark glasses.  So, I wrote them!

Q#5: What are your marketing plans for The Pocket Picture? How can people connect with you?

Because this book was a work for hire, I do very little promotion in compared to my trade books.  However, I will sell this book at other author events.  I have three upcoming picture books that I will work hard to promote.

Please visit my website www.LisaRoseWrites.com

Facebook: Lisa Rose

Twitter:LisaRoseWrites

IG: LisaRoseWrites

A little bit about the book: Jacob feels sad and anxious on his first day of school. He wants to be with his family! But he discovers there's a way to keep family members close, even when they're apart. In this book, beginning readers in prekindergarten to grade 1 can join Jacob as he shows a classmate how to make his own pocket picture—and makes a new friend!

A little bit about the author: My chapter book series Star Powers is published by Rourke Educational Media. My first picture book Shmulik Paints the Town (Kar-Ben Publishing 2016) was a PJ Library Selection in May 2016. It was sent to over 26,000 homes in North America. It will again be released to over 26,000 homes in 2020.  My short stories have been published on an app called Amazon Rapids designed for at risk readers.  I have three upcoming picture books. I founded the Missing Voice Picture Book Discussion Group, whose mission is to highlight new picture books featuring diversity and little-known subjects on a monthly basis.