The Sydney Taylor Award, created in 1968 (originally named Shirley Kravitz Children's Book Award)
Purpose: to recognize a real portrayal of Judaism in children's literature, to encourage publication of outstanding books of Jewish content, emphasize highest literary quality while informing parents, students and teachers.
Selection Criteria: "best exemplifies the highest standards of literary expression, attractive illustration/design, compelling content, and authentic portrayal of the Jewish experience" and broad appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish audience (Gold Medal winner). (The Honor Book wears a silver medal and may have a narrower audience, excellent but not best literary expression).
There are two categories: picture book/short informational [younger readers]
novel/longer nonfiction [older readers]
Sponsor: Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL)
Selection Committee:
6 members
must be members of AJL National
must have broad knowledge of Judaic children's literature
Coincidentally, all members (as of 2003) are librarians or directors of libraries across the nation, including Rachel Kamin of West Bloomfield, MI!
The winners this year (2008) are:
The Bedtime Sh'ma: A Good Night Book by Sarah Gershman
The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman
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1 comment:
Hi,
I came across your post because I have a Google alert for "Sydney Taylor." I'm a former chair of the award committee. Just wanted to offer a correction: we now have 3 age categories. We added a Teen Readers category in 2007. The 2008 winner in this category was Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin. For complete info about the award, please see www.sydneytaylorbookaward.org.
All the best,
Heidi Estrin
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