This Page

has moved to a new address:

http://jewishbooksforkids.com

Sorry for the inconvenience…

Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service
Blogger Template Style Name: Minima Designer: Douglas Bowman URL: www.stopdesign.com Date: 26 Feb 2004 ----------------------------------------------- */ body { background:#fff; margin:0; padding:40px 20px; font:x-small Georgia,Serif; text-align:center; color:#333; font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small; } a:link { color:#58a; text-decoration:none; } a:visited { color:#969; text-decoration:none; } a:hover { color:#c60; text-decoration:underline; } a img { border-width:0; } /* Header ----------------------------------------------- */ @media all { #header { width:660px; margin:0 auto 10px; border:1px solid #ccc; } } @media handheld { #header { width:90%; } } #blog-title { margin:5px 5px 0; padding:20px 20px .25em; border:1px solid #eee; border-width:1px 1px 0; font-size:200%; line-height:1.2em; font-weight:normal; color:#666; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; } #blog-title a { color:#666; text-decoration:none; } #blog-title a:hover { color:#c60; } #description { margin:0 5px 5px; padding:0 20px 20px; border:1px solid #eee; border-width:0 1px 1px; max-width:700px; font:78%/1.4em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; color:#999; } /* Content ----------------------------------------------- */ @media all { #content { width:660px; margin:0 auto; padding:0; text-align:left; } #main { width:410px; float:left; } #sidebar { width:220px; float:right; } } @media handheld { #content { width:90%; } #main { width:100%; float:none; } #sidebar { width:100%; float:none; } } /* Headings ----------------------------------------------- */ h2 { margin:1.5em 0 .75em; font:78%/1.4em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; color:#999; } /* Posts ----------------------------------------------- */ @media all { .date-header { margin:1.5em 0 .5em; } .post { margin:.5em 0 1.5em; border-bottom:1px dotted #ccc; padding-bottom:1.5em; } } @media handheld { .date-header { padding:0 1.5em 0 1.5em; } .post { padding:0 1.5em 0 1.5em; } } .post-title { margin:.25em 0 0; padding:0 0 4px; font-size:140%; font-weight:normal; line-height:1.4em; color:#c60; } .post-title a, .post-title a:visited, .post-title strong { display:block; text-decoration:none; color:#c60; font-weight:normal; } .post-title strong, .post-title a:hover { color:#333; } .post div { margin:0 0 .75em; line-height:1.6em; } p.post-footer { margin:-.25em 0 0; color:#ccc; } .post-footer em, .comment-link { font:78%/1.4em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; } .post-footer em { font-style:normal; color:#999; margin-right:.6em; } .comment-link { margin-left:.6em; } .post img { padding:4px; border:1px solid #ddd; } .post blockquote { margin:1em 20px; } .post blockquote p { margin:.75em 0; } /* Comments ----------------------------------------------- */ #comments h4 { margin:1em 0; font:bold 78%/1.6em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; color:#999; } #comments h4 strong { font-size:130%; } #comments-block { margin:1em 0 1.5em; line-height:1.6em; } #comments-block dt { margin:.5em 0; } #comments-block dd { margin:.25em 0 0; } #comments-block dd.comment-timestamp { margin:-.25em 0 2em; font:78%/1.4em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; } #comments-block dd p { margin:0 0 .75em; } .deleted-comment { font-style:italic; color:gray; } /* Sidebar Content ----------------------------------------------- */ #sidebar ul { margin:0 0 1.5em; padding:0 0 1.5em; border-bottom:1px dotted #ccc; list-style:none; } #sidebar li { margin:0; padding:0 0 .25em 15px; text-indent:-15px; line-height:1.5em; } #sidebar p { color:#666; line-height:1.5em; } /* Profile ----------------------------------------------- */ #profile-container { margin:0 0 1.5em; border-bottom:1px dotted #ccc; padding-bottom:1.5em; } .profile-datablock { margin:.5em 0 .5em; } .profile-img { display:inline; } .profile-img img { float:left; padding:4px; border:1px solid #ddd; margin:0 8px 3px 0; } .profile-data { margin:0; font:bold 78%/1.6em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; } .profile-data strong { display:none; } .profile-textblock { margin:0 0 .5em; } .profile-link { margin:0; font:78%/1.4em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; } /* Footer ----------------------------------------------- */ #footer { width:660px; clear:both; margin:0 auto; } #footer hr { display:none; } #footer p { margin:0; padding-top:15px; font:78%/1.6em "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Verdana,Sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; } /* Feeds ----------------------------------------------- */ #blogfeeds { } #postfeeds { }

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Let My People Go - Tilda Balsley



Tilda Balsley is the author of LET MY PEOPLE GO!(Kar-Ben)This delightful picture book tells the story of Passover in a reader’s theatre format that is engaging, humorous, and appealing for kids and adult of all ages. The interactive nature of LET MY PEOPLE GO! makes it a perfect selection for schools and families.

Tilda lives with her husband in North Carolina. Along with writing she enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, trips to the beach, and tending to the flowers in her yard.


Tell me a little bit about your latest book. Why you were drawn to write about a Jewish topic?
The idea for this book and others began when I discovered the fun of readers’ theater for kids. For my students at school, I turned some our favorite books into scripts. VOILA, they wanted to read them over and over. The ancient stories of faith are naturals for this form and the story of Moses and the ten plagues is the first I wrote. It had a trial run with the children of my own congregation.

What type of research was involved?
I stayed very close to the scriptural text for this book so extra research was not needed. Good writers are always doing research about the craft, however. We study skills like humor, plot, good rhyme (and bad), and characterization. We also research to see if there are competing books already published and which publisher might be interested in a particular book.

How did you become a children’s writer?
My mother loved books and taught me to love them as well. My father sat down with me at homework time and taught me to love writing. In college I studied poetry, practicing the art of rhythm and (sometimes) rhyme. Soon, the wonderful books I read to my own children introduced me to the genre of my heart. A later career, teaching elementary school reading, cinched it. I had to give it a try.

What are you working on now?
I’m still working on biblical readers’ theater, but I also have a number of picture books that are not religious—some completed, some in process. All books have the values of the author built in, but some messages come in through the back door. I love to write books that beg to be illustrated because books that combine good pictures with good words beg to be read.

What are a few fun facts about you?
I grew up as an army brat. That makes me patriotic, adaptable, and restless. My husband is tolerant of my urge to move. We have lived in five houses on this downtown block of his hometown.

I love color. My living room is purple, my dining room is red and my kitchen is yellow.

Pulling weeds is my favorite form of exercise. My body may not always show the progress, but my yard does.

What is your favorite holiday?
Anytime my whole family is together is like a holiday. I especially love gatherings at the beach. These times are as memorable as any designated holiday.

To learn more about LET MY PEOPLE GO! Please check out Tilda’s web site at www.tildatalks.com

Labels: , ,

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sonia Levitin Brings The Return to the Stage!

















Sonia Levitin is the award winning author of over 40 books. Most recently, she was honored with the Sydney Taylor Book Award for STRANGE RELATIONS (Knopf, 2007). Sonia has a new project on the horizon, a musical version of THE RETURN (Atheneum, 1987), an emotional story about Operation Moses - the rescue airlift of Ethiopian Jews. Sonia is also committed to social action and works with organizations to fight intolerance and slavery. She is a shining example of tikkun olam - repairing the world with her meaningful work. I was honored that Sonia could take time out of a very busy production schedule to share some insights about the musical.

How did the idea of creating a musical come about?

I have always loved musicals. The first one I ever saw was SOUTH PACIFIC,when I was in high school. I was hooked. I learned all the songs and love them still.To me,it is the best form of entertainment.

Of all your books, why did you choose THE RETURN to create a musical?

I think RETURN has the most to offer as a musical,with its universal theme of the longing for freedom,its inter-cultural cast of characters. I think a musical needs great variety in story content and an intriguing locale. RETURN has all of these.

Do you have a background in musical theatre?

My only background in musical theater is the love of it, and appreciation of the art form--which, incidentally, has grown tremendously as I've been working with the talented people who must join together to create a musical.

What type of research was required to write the play?

For the book I did an enormous amount of research to get the ethnographic and political/social details. I went to Israel several times and interviewed Ethiopian immigrants, anthropologists, teachers, doctors, politicians and aid workers. I studied documentary films, books, anything I could get my hands on about Ethiopia and the Beta Israel tribe--the black Jews. I traveled to other states for interviews, steeped myself in Ethiopian culture. When it came to writing the play, I re-checked my original sources and conferred quite a few times with people who have been to Ethiopia and worked there: Barbara Ribakove Gordon, executive director and founder of NACOEJ, the North America Conference of Ethiopian Jewry, and Dick and Middie Giesberg of Los Angeles, who are tireless supporters and workers in that organization.

What do you hope the audience learns from the show?

First of all I want the audience to come away from the show having had a fabulous experience of entertainment and inspiration. I want them to feel good about having been part of a rescue experience that is still going on today. I want them to be singing the wonderful songs by composer Will Anderson.I hope they will have learned that "falasha" is a pejorative, that ordinary people from the U.S., England and other nations extended their hearts and their pocketbooks to save oppressed strangers in Africa, and that the country of Israel gave them sanctuary, averting a possible genocide. I want them to realize that for the first time in all history, white people helped to bring black people out of slavery and into freedom, and that it is possible to change the world for the better.

How does it feel to see your story come to life on stage?

Watching my story come to the stage is an astounding, overwhelming feeling. When I hear the songs and see the scenes, I remember the Ethiopian immigrants who told me their stories, which I wove into the drama. It pulls me back and affects me anew each time, making me feel the emotions of sorrow, pity, anger, joy. I also feel a strong bond with the actors, director, and all the people behind the scenes who are working many, many hours every day and night to bring this show to life.

How can your fans see the show?

To see the show, call the box office at the Edgemar Theater:310-392-7327, and check out the web site at www.returnthemusical.com

What are some fun facts about you?

I am crazy about animals. My husband once pointed out that I talk to every animal I see, be it a horse, bird, dog, cat or lizard. I also love babies and children. I will hug a tree. I like to hike, to paint, to play the piano. The first is a priority, because we have two dogs who are always ready to go places. I forgive them their foibles--and they forgive mine. As in the show's premise, I do believe in "SIGNS." A little bit of magic, premonition, attention to the "Unseen" and the unusual makes life interesting, I think.

Sonia, thanks for taking the time to share the news about RETURN THE MUSICAL. It's been a delight. Break a leg!

Labels: , ,