Children's literature is ubiquitous in preschool and elementary school classrooms and in school libraries. Teachers use children's literature for pedagogical purposes and to excite children's imaginations and expose them to "worlds" beyond their own experience. Over the past thirty years, teachers have increasingly used children's literature to expose their students to cultural, racial, and religious diversity as well as introducing their students to issues of social justice and social equity. Unfortunately, Jewish children's literature is often absent in the preschool and elementary school classroom. When it is present, it is almost exclusively Holocaust literature. The result is that Jewish people are nearly invisible in the children's literature found in preschool and elementary school classrooms and when it is available, it presents a "picture" to children of Jews as victims. The purpose of our book is to address this problematic situation and provide teachers with guidance in the use of Jewish children's literature in the preschool and elementary school classroom. There is a broad range of authentic, high quality Jewish children's literature that could be used by preschool and elementary school teachers regardless of how many Jewish children they have in their class. It is as important for teachers with no Jewish children in their classroom as it is for teachers with some or many Jewish children in the class to expose all of their students to Jewish children's literature. Our book introduces preschool and elementary teachers to a broad range of high-quality children's literature books and stories and provides them with background information so that they can use Jewish children's literature thoughtfully with their students.

Children's literature is ubiquitous in preschool and elementary school classrooms and in school libraries. Teachers use children's literature for pedagogical purposes and to excite children's imaginations and expose them to "worlds" beyond their own experience. Over the past thirty years, teachers have increasingly used children's literature to expose their students to cultural, racial, and religious diversity as well as introducing their students to issues of social justice and social equity. Unfortunately, Jewish children's literature is often absent in the preschool and elementary school classroom. When it is present, it is almost exclusively Holocaust literature. The result is that Jewish people are nearly invisible in the children's literature found in preschool and elementary school classrooms and when it is available, it presents a "picture" to children of Jews as victims. The purpose of our book is to address this problematic situation and provide teachers with guidance in the use of Jewish children's literature in the preschool and elementary school classroom. There is a broad range of authentic, high quality Jewish children's literature that could be used by preschool and elementary school teachers regardless of how many Jewish children they have in their class. It is as important for teachers with no Jewish children in their classroom as it is for teachers with some or many Jewish children in the class to expose all of their students to Jewish children's literature. Our book introduces preschool and elementary teachers to a broad range of high-quality children's literature books and stories and provides them with background information so that they can use Jewish children's literature thoughtfully with their students.

Elie Wiesel is a master storyteller with the ability to use storytelling as a form of activism. From his landmark memoir Night to his novels and numerous retellings of Hasidic legends, Wiesel's literature emphasizes storytelling, and he frequently refers to himself as a storyteller rather than an author or historian. In this work, essays examine Wiesel's roots in Jewish storytelling traditions; influences from religious, folk, and secular sources; education; Yiddish background; Holocaust experience; and writing style. Emphasized throughout is Wiesel's use of multiple sources in an effort to reach diverse audiences.

Taking stock of Yiddish literature in 1939, critic Shmuel Niger highlighted the increasing number and importance of women writers. However, awareness of women Yiddish writers diminished over the years. Today, a modest body of novels, short stories, poems and essays by Yiddish women may be found in English translation online and in print, and little in the way of literary history and criticism is available. This collection of critical essays is the first dedicated to the works of Yiddish women writers, introducing them to a new audience of English-speaking scholars and readers.

From the Russian civil wars through the Nazi years, the Jews of Eastern Europe were targets of violence during the first half of the twentieth century. During the Holocaust especially, entire communities were wiped out. In response, survivors sometimes compiled memorial books, or Yizker books, in an attempt to preserve historical, biographical, and cultural information about their shtetls. This multipart collection provides a concise history of the memorial books and their cultural contexts; eight analytical essays on or using Yizker books; key reviews, in some cases translated from the Yiddish, from the 1950s and later; and a bibliographic overview of secondary sources and collections.