Quite some time ago when I first became involved with Jewish libraries, there was not much to choose from in the way of modern secular literature, especially for children.  K’tonton was alive and well; the All-of-a-Kind-Family were doing what families do; there were a few laughs as the Chelmites stumbled through life; folktales were here and there.

However, the production values of most children’s books was low; the majority of books were published by a handful of Jewish publishers and had little appeal outside the Jewish world.

Interestingly enough, some of these early books were incubators for soon to be famous “kid lit” stalwarts like Maurice Sendak who did the pictures for Good Shabbos, Everybody, published by United Synagogue.

There was no Kar-Ben,  Milk & Honey, Kalaniot,  or PJ Library.  Secular publishers produced few Jewish books. The internet wasn’t around to provide sources for telling stories

Choosing children’s books for a Jewish library was a challenge. Book selection primarily meant buying everything unless it was terrible.

And then came an explosion. Kar-Ben Books published quality (mostly) books with Jewish themes, interesting stories, with a modern look and set the pace for secular publishers to let loose scores of authors with books on Jewish topics, some of which, like Hershel and the Haukkah Goblins,  have become classics in public libraries  and have won scores of awards.

Now choosing books for a small Jewish library takes time and care because there are so many worthy books out there from niche publishers like Kalaniot and Apples & Honey to major publishers like Greenwillow, Lerner, and  Candlestick. These books use Jewish themes in original ways and in modern settings. They address the realities of today’s Jewish life, including nontraditional Jewish and emerging Jewish communities and families with multi-cultural characters and situations. But modern books also reinterpret old stories including traditional folklore and fairy tales with characters like the Big Bad Wolf.

Here are a few choice items for the Elul holidays; find them in the synagogue or public library.

Barash                    Is It Rosh Hashanah Yet? (series)
Cohen                    Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride (series)
Ho                            Two New Years
Rubinstein           Once Upon an Apple Cake (series)
Basseri                   A Turkish Rosh Hashanah
Kimmel                  Gabriel’s Horn
Kimmelman       Sam and Charlie (and Sam too!) (series)
Sherron                  Big Bad Wolf’s Yom Kippur
Novit                       Three Jumps to Sorry
Jules                       The Hardest Word
Vo                            The Outlaw
Berkowitz             The Moving Box Sukkah
Matua                    Mixed-up Mooncakes
Halpern                 The Stars Will Be My Night Light
Nambi                    The Very Best Sukkah
Hyde                       Shanghai Sukkah
Kohuth                  Who’s Got the Etrog?
Ofanansky           The Patchwork Torah
Fishman                On Sukkot and Simchat Torah