Welcome to the next in the Podcast Showcase series, where we share podcasts with you in the words of the podcasters themselves. This time, we talk to The Book of Life: A Podcast About Jewish Kidlit (Mostly).
Sum up your podcast in three sentences
The Book of Life is an interview-format podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly, with occasional coverage of YA/adult books, music, film and web, established in December 2005. Host Heidi Rabinowitz is a Judaica librarian at Congregation B’nai Israel of Boca Raton, FL, and the podcast reveals the backstory of materials that might be found in a synagogue library like Heidi’s.
Check out the back catalog for decades of interviews with authors, illustrators, publishers, musicians, filmmakers, and other Jewish creatives!
Who is your ideal listener? Who loves your show?
Fellow Judaica librarians tell me they love the show, but my other ideal listener is actually the non-Jewish book lover who wants to learn about what life is like for their Jewish neighbors.
What made you start this podcast?
In 2005 when my term wrapped up on the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, I was looking for a way to stay involved with the community of Jewish authors, publishers, and other “book people.”
From the very first episode, the podcast has given me an excuse to chat with authors – and what could be more fun than that?
What have you learned about your subject thanks to this podcast?
I’ve learned that we are in a “golden age” of Jewish children’s publishing. The number of books and the diversity of those books just keeps expanding.
Within the genre of Jewish books we are starting to see such great representation, not only for the Ashkenazi experience (Jews with roots in Europe) but also Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, Jews of Color, and neurodiverse, and queer, and interfaith, and all sorts of Jewish experiences.
What has your experience of podcasting been? What do you love / hate about the process?
I love talking with authors and I love editing the recordings. It’s like sculpting: you cut away the bits you don’t need until you end up with something special.
If someone wants to start listening to your podcast, which episode would you recommend they start with? Why?
I’d suggest the October 2022 interview with Shoshana Nambi, author of the picture book The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda. Shoshana was such a delight and she even sang for us.
Subsequent to the podcast, her book won the National Jewish Book Award.
Another recent favorite is the December 2021“Holiday Heroes” episode, with picture book authors Lee Wind (Red and Green and Blue and White) and Jeff Gottesfeld (The Christmas Mitzvah), whose books are both about bridge building between the Jewish and Christian communities.
Which other podcasts do you love listening to?
For kidlit I listen Fuse 8 and Kate, for Jewish culture I listen to Unorthodox, and to indulge my nerdy side I listen to Verity: Six Smart Women Discussing Doctor Who.
If people want to find you online, where can they do so?
- http://www.bookoflifepodcast.com
- http://facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
- http://twitter.com/bookoflifepod
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Image credit: Planetnehemiah