Joy Nelkin Wieder

Baby-PreS–This board book introduces Hanukkah to children in a simple counting format. Numbers one to 10 each appear big and bold on a page with a short phrase, opposite a page with a pleasant and thoughtful illustration. The pattern continues in a smooth rhyming cadence, introducing key components of a child’s first experience of the holiday, including candles, latkes, and dreidels.

~by Amanda Smith About the Cover Art: ~ by artist Jodie Apeseche When Kristen Wixted and Heather Kelly surprised me with the cover assignment, I felt both excitement and fear. I loved the theme. (My background is in biology, including a stint on a research vessel.) But I’d never done a cover and it would be the face of our anthology. Could I make my fellow contributors proud? Picking the design elements - the friends and anemones - was easy.

THE PASSOVER MOUSE Written by Joy Nelkin Wieder Illustrated by Shahar Kober (Doubleday BYR; $17.99, Ages 3-7) ★Starred review – Kirkus The night before Passover, a hungry and mischievous mouse steals a single bread crumb from a pile of chometz (leavened food) on a table where it waits to be burned in the morning, (to prevent the house being contaminated during Passover), and the adventure of The Passover Mouse begins! The mouse is chased first to the cobbler’s house, and then to the...