Noted children’s book reviewer Daniel Pinkwater called NewSouth’s Shlemiel Crooks ‚Äúa hilarious book‚Äù during NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday on December 16, 2006. In a conversation with NPR’s Scott Simon, Pinkwater included Shlemiel Crooks as one of only seven of his recommended 2006 holiday books. Listen to the full segment at NPR.org.

Based on a true story, Shlemiel Crooks is an imaginative introduction for young children to the history of Passover, as Pharaoh and a town of Jewish immigrants play tug-of-war with wine made from grapes left over from the exodus from Egypt. In its Yiddish-inflected English, punctuated by amusing curses, young readers hear the language of a Jewish community of another time, while delighting to brilliant illustrations on every page, making this a perfect present for both Passover and Hanukkah. No other children’s book has Pharaoh’s ghost coming back to “pull one over on the Jews,” nosy neighbors making a “shtuss” outside, and a talking horse that sounds like it has a “little indigestion!”

Shlemiel Crooks is a 2006 Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a 2006 Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist. To order the book, visit www.newsouthbooks.com/shlemielcrooks, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer.

Junebug Books is pleased to announce the release of Longleaf by Roger Reid. Longleaf tells the story of fourteen year-old Jason Caldwell and his forest-smart friend Leah as they try to survive a harrowing night in the Conecuh National Forest. Filled with factual information about the Alabama ecosystem, Longleaf is both an important learning tool and an exciting young adult adventure.

And for taking Longleaf on those deep nature hikes, Longleaf has been simultaneously released in Adobe Reader ebook format. The Longleaf ebook contains the full text of the book, as well as coupons and links to dynamic Longleaf web extras.

Longleaf is available now from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com and other online and local book retailers.