BOSTON (JTA) — An illustrated children’s book that tells the story of the Passover Exodus in the voice of a young slave girl is among the top winners of this year’s Sydney Taylor Book Award.
“The Longest Night: A Passover Story,” by Laurel Snyder, and illustrated by Catia Chien, won in the young readers category, the Association of Jewish Libraries announced Tuesday.
The other two gold medal winners are celebrated children’s writer and artist Patricia Polacco, who won in the older readers category for “The Blessing Cup,” a prequel to her award-winning children’s classic “The Keeping Quilt,” first published in 1988.
Neal Bascomb won the award in the teen category for “The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi,” an account of the spy mission to capture Adolf Eichmann.
Six honor books also were awarded medals and 13 books were cited as notable.
Among the honor books for younger readers is “Rifka Takes a Bow,” by Betty Rosenberg Perlov, 96, and illustrated by Cosei Kawa. Rosenberg Perlov is a first-time children’s author whose book is a fictionalized account of her own early childhood growing up in a family of Yiddish theater and radio stars.
The award, which memorializes Taylor, author of the “All-of-a-Kind Family” series, honors new books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.
The winners are listed at www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.com.
