For the Love of Being Jewish: An A-to-Z Primer for Bubbies, Mensches, Meshugas, Tzaddiks, and Yentas! - Hardcover

There’s no denying this book is a mishmash. Short rhymes mix with snippets of information and quotes about and from Jewish history. The artwork, while terrific, is sometimes obscure for a young audience. For instance, to understand why Abraham is leaving his father’s workshop after Dad’s done chiseling a bust of Woody Allen, one would have to know the story of Abraham and his rejection of the family idol-making business. Yet for those who have the time or inclination to roam through the pages, this has all sorts of tidbits that will pique interest about everything from the Diaspora to the Jewish members of the Supreme Court to Sandy Koufax. Arranged alphabetically, each two-page spread features a “poem,” most pretty bad: “I is for Israel / A place like no other. / It also stands for Isaac and Ishmael, / Who luckily didn’t have another brother.” But Anderson’s varied artwork is arresting, whether it’s a page-filling portrait of Bob Dylan or Houdini falling from the Temple Mount, and worth the price of admission. Grades 5-8. --Ilene Cooper