 Thank you to the Intermountain Jewish News in Colorado for adding March to your America's 250th coverage!
I'm always stunned when someone wants to write about me and my books. Thanks to my friend Liza Wiemer for the review in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle and to Harry Glazer for the coverage in The Jewish Link. It is truly appreciated and I'm so glad you think "March" is an important book. FROM THE WISCONSIN JEWISH CHRONICLE: "Little has been written about how American Jews helped their brethern in Europe during World War II, but this book helps to illuminate the important effort 400 rabbis took to save lives. ... Holt does an outstanding job of showing how their advocacy led to an important commission that ultimately saved over 200,000 Jews. With photographs, biographies on key individuals, a glossary and more, this enlightening book is an excellent addition to school and home libraries." FROM THE JEWISH LINK: "In her newest children’s book, Holt takes on a serious nonfiction topic and writes for an older audience. In “March: When the Rabbis Went to Washington,” the author draws on historical sources to tell the story of the march on Washington on Oct. 6, 1943, organized by the Vaad Hatzalah. The march, attended by hundreds of Orthodox rabbis from across the U.S., was intended to draw attention to the life-threatening danger facing Jews trapped in Nazi Germany occupied areas in Europe. The book is rich with photos and is thoughtful in providing background on the rise of the Nazi Party and the inaction of the U.S. government. It spotlights the leaders who organized the march, and illustrates the impact of the March on Washington in the weeks and months that followed."  From the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, review by Liza Wiemer. If you happen to live in Monsey, Lakewood, Passaic and Brooklyn there's a new weekly kids magazine being sold at Jewish bookstores or markets. The Buzz launched earlier this week, it contains a lot of news and history pieces and is geared for older kids. I'll be contributing two news columns each week--The National Buzz and The Buzz Out of Washington.
 This little yellow dynamo is the main character for my upcoming early-reader series from Menucha. Each Baylee book will be geared for emerging readers and have short text blocks and great art. The words and sentence structure will be appealing to kids who are just learning to read. Baylee's antics will keep them engaged.
Baylee's first adventure will be "The Yellow Party." A publication date should be set soon. A second book is in the works. Baylee was drawn by artist Esti Saposh. I'll be joining a fantastic lineup of local writers at the Teaneck Public Library on Sunday, December 10! Books will be available for purchase.  
Did you know that there is a worksheet available for you to use with your students or kids to see gauge their reading comprehension and encourage critical thinking after reading the book? You can download a copy of the worksheet here: Download File  
As I have for the last few years, I am once again participating in picture book author Tara Lazar's STORYSTORM challenge. The goal is to come up with 30 story ideas over the 31 days of January. The ideas can be short or long, illustrated or written. The idea is to set up the writing year with a bucket of ideas to turn to when needed. I have never reached 30 ideas; some years I get only a handful of ideas, but the exercise forces me to let my brain wander and see what happens. There have been some very vague ideas such as "penny ante" and some very detailed ideas that have become a loose manuscript. Good luck to all who are participating!  |
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