JEWISH HISTORY is woven into many of the stories sent out by PJ Library on a monthly basis. Below, we list out a number of PJ Library books that are especially related to historic times and events.
This month, another big name in education is giving Jewish history some due attention. The PBS television network will begin its broadcast this week of Simon Schama’s The Story of the Jews, a five-part series exploring the 3,000 history of the Jewish people.
STORY OF THE JEWS
Schama, a prize-winning author and Emmy Award winner, presents both a personal journey and an historic account. According to PBS, the series explores “a meditation on Jewish history’s dramatic trajectory and a macro-history of a people whose mark on the world has been out of all proportion to its modest numbers.”
SET YOUR DVR
The series will show Tuesday, March 25, 8–10 p.m. ET (episodes 1 and 2) and Tuesday, April 1, 8–11 p.m. ET (episodes 3, 4 and 5) on PBS. NOTE: Check your local listings for time variations or multiple showings.
Get an introduction to the five-part series from this PBS video trailer:
SHARE YOUR STORY
Along with the showing of Schama’s series, PBS is also hosting an interactive forum it calls “The Diaspora: Your Journey.” Here, viewers can post pictures and submit brief personal stories about their own family’s history.
“Where did your family’s journey begin?” PBS asks viewers. “What is your diaspora story? Share your journey below and include a family photograph, home video or image of a special heirloom that represents your own Story of the Jews.”
HISTORY & PJ LIBRARY BOOKS
Schama’s series
The Story of the Jews isn’t likely to engage young audiences. Nevertheless, there are ways to engage children with the concept of times past.
The PJ Library selections selected here are just a few of the many Jewish children’s books that may spark meaningful family discussions about history:
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Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Author: Linda Glaser
Illustrator: Claire A. Nivola
Emma Lazarus was raised in a wealthy Jewish American family in 1880’s New York City, where she was moved by the plight of immigrants. As a young woman, asked to write a poem to raise money for a pedestal for the proposed Statue of Liberty, she composed “The New Colossus” and so became the voice of the Statue of Liberty. This is the story of the difference she made in her world. |
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The Legend of Freedom Hill
Author: Linda Jacobs Altman
Illustrator: Cornelius Van Wright and Ying Hwa-Hu
In Gold Rush times two friends, one an African American, the other Jewish, work together to earn the money to free the mother of one of the girls from a slave trader. |
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The Memory Coat
Author: Elvira Woodruff
Illustrator: Michael Dooling
In the early 1900s, a close-knit Russian family immigrates to the United States, and a boy’s tattered coat helps tell the story. |
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Naming Liberty
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Jim Burke
In this moving tale of a young girl and a famous artist, both are passionate in their desire to build a lasting monument to freedom. Each has a special connection to Lady Liberty in New York Harbor. |
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The Secret Shofar of Barcelona
Author: Jacqueline Dembar Greene
Illustrator: Douglas Chayka
In this story set in Spain in the 1500s, the son of a conductor blows the shofar in preparation for Rosh Hashanah, a practice he must keep secret. |
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When Jesse Came Across the Sea
Author: Amy Hest
Illustrator: P.J. Lynch
Jessie lives in an Eastern European shtetl. The rabbi in her town decides to give Jessie his ticket to America, where she works for years to save enough money to send for her beloved grandmother. |
In addition, many Hannukkah-related children’s books commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over the Assyrian Greeks over 2,000 years ago. Similarly, there are many Passover-related children’s books that tell of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt over 3,000 years ago.
March 23, 2014