Last week, we shared the exciting news about Nu Reads, which is basically PJ Library for grownups: Readers receive six curated books every other month, selected by the Jewish Book Council. The launch coincides with Jewish Book Month (Nov. 13 to Dec. 13), which began as Jewish Book Week.

The original Jewish Book Week took root in Boston thanks to Fanny Goldstein, the first female Judaica librarian—and the first woman to direct a library branch in Massachusetts (the Boston Public Library’s West End branch).

Now, there’s a new kids’ picture book about this literary pioneer: “Fanny’s Big Idea: How Jewish Book Week Was Born” comes out on Nov. 4 from Penguin Young Readers. It’s getting plenty of positive advance buzz: “A timeless and timely tribute to the enduring power of literature and libraries to build bridges,” says Kirkus Reviews.

9798217003259
(Courtesy image)

I got an advanced copy, and it’s sweet and poignant, a reminder that libraries serve as safe sanctuaries for so many of us, still. The book opens with Fanny’s life in the North End in the early 1900s, filled with immigrants like herself—she moved from Russia as a child. In Russia, her parents were well-known community leaders; here, she was anonymous … and often lonely. As a child, she walked to school at the North End Settlement House. She was eager to learn about American traditions, like the Fourth of July. But she found that her classmates weren’t especially curious about her own rituals, like Sukkot and Shavuot. Instead, Fanny took solace at the school’s library. Her father called her a little rabbi. She was proud.

But when her dad died of tuberculosis, Fanny had to step up to help care for her family. Her neighbors and teachers implored her to be ladylike, to learn how to keep a home and cook—prime tactics for finding a husband. “No man will want a wife whose head is filled with facts,” one of her neighbors insisted.

Related

But Fanny refused to conform, and she kept reading. The story follows her ascent to become director at the West End Library, where she welcomed immigrants of all cultures. The branch became a community hub for Jews, where she introduced their first Hanukkah celebration in 1925, with menorahs, latkes and plenty of books about Jewish culture. “The more you know about someone’s life, the harder it is not to like them,” she’d say.

That was the beginning of Jewish Book Week, celebrating 100 years this year. Prolific children’s book author and essayist Richard Michelson does a perfect job combining historical accuracy with accessible language for kids, while illustrator Alyssa Russel—descended from Eastern European Jews who fled to America to escape antisemitism—captures the innocence (and the formality) of turn-of-the-century Boston.

Order a copy here.