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.

Anna Olswanger, author of NewSouth’s award-winning Shlemiel Crooks, will be participating in a number of signing engagements throughout November and December. Shlemiel Crooks makes an excellent holiday present, so be sure to stop by and get a copy signed.

Upcoming events with Shlemiel Crooks author Anna Olswanger:

– Book signing and program on “Jewish Stories: Researching, Writing, and Getting Them Published” at Barnes & Noble in Clifton, New Jersey, on Monday, November 20, 8-9 p.m. A benefit for the YBH of Passaic school. Barnes & Noble, 395 Route 3 East, Clifton (973-779-5500).

– Book signing and program on “How to Write Your Family History” at Books, Bytes & Beyond, Glen Rock, New Jersey, on Tuesday, November 28, 7-9 p.m. A benefit for Shalom Baby of UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey. Books, Bytes & Beyond, 197 Rock Road, Glen Rock (201-670-6766).

– Book signing and program on ‚ÄúHow to Write a Jewish Book and get it Published from a Literary Agent’s Point of View‚Äù at Barnes & Noble in Clifton, New Jersey, on Tuesday, December 5, 7:30-9 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 395 Route 3 East, Clifton (973-779-5500).

Shlemiel Crooks is also available directly from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer. Shlemiel Crooks is a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist and a Sydney Taylor Honor Book.

The “Memphis Memories” section of the Memphis, Tennessee, Commercial Appeal remembered Berl Olswanger on October 12, 2006, twenty-five years after Olswanger’s death; he was the father of Shlemiel Crooks author Anna Olswanger. Berl, whom the Commerical Appeal called “a pop musician,” is the musical inspiration for Anna Olswanger’s story “The Chicken Bone Man.” As the Commercial Appeal wrote:

He was a child prodigy. He started playing the piano when he was 3. By the time he was 12, he’d landed his first professional job ‚Äì staff pianist for WMC radio. At 18, he was the leader of the station’s band. By then, he’d already made a name for himself at Central High School and nearby student hangouts. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Olswanger returned to Memphis, opened a music store on Union Avenue, married Edna, the girl he’d met at the radio station, put together a band and proceeded to become the most influential music man in the city. He maintained a store on Union until 1979, long after the nation’s musical appetites shifted from pianos to guitars.

Read the full rememberance at the Commercial Appeal.

Shlemiel Crooks is available directly from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer. Shlemiel Crooks is a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist and a Sydney Taylor Honor Book.

The Koret International Jewish Book Awards today named Shlemiel Crooks as one of three finalists in the BabagaNewz Children’s Literature category. Shlemiel Crooks, a whimsical Yiddish-inflected retelling of the Passover story, set in 1919 St. Louis, also received the Association of Jewish Libraries 2006 Sydney Taylor Honor Award earlier this year.

The winners of the Koret International Jewish Book Awards will be announced on November 15 at a ceremony at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, at 7 pm. The program is open to the public. For complimentary tickets to the Nov. 15 awards ceremony in San Francisco, contact the JCCSF box office at (415) 292-1233 or email koretbookawards@jflmedia.com. A celebration of the Koret International Jewish Book Award winners is also scheduled at New York City’s 92nd Street Y on November 21.

“This year’s finalists have helped shape some of the most thought-provoking Jewish ideas and values, advancing the international Jewish dialogue,” said book awards chairman and JFL founder Yosef I. Abramowitz.

Shlemiel Crooks is available directly from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer.

Congratulations to Shlemiel Crooks author Anna Olswanger and illustrator Paula Koz, and to all the Koret International Book Award finalists.

Anna Olswanger, NewSouth author of Shlemiel Crooks is coordinating the Eighth Annual Jewish Children’s Book Writers’ Conference on Sunday, November 19 in New York. The featured speakers include executive editor Deborah Brodie of Roaring Brook Press/Holtzbrinck Publishing, executive editor Jill Davis of Bloomsbury Children’s Books, publisher Joni Sussman of Kar-Ben Publishing, marketing vice president Terry M. Borzumato-Greenberg of Holiday House, literary agent Michele Beno of Curtis Brown Ltd., and artist and author representative Ronnie Ann Herman of the Herman Agency.

Author Norman H. Finkelstein, winner of two National Jewish Book Awards, will give opening remarks, and the day will include the popular “Query Letter Clinic and First Pages” with the editors, sessions on the Grinspoon Foundation’s P.J. (Pajama) Library, “Israel’s Multicultural Mix” with Israeli author Anna Levine,” the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor Manuscript Competition, and door prizes.

The registration form is available for download at www.92y.org/content/pdf/jewishchildrensbookwriters.pdf. Call 212-415 5544 or e-mail library@92Y.org for additional information or to request the form by mail. The final registration deadline is November 1.

Anna recommends the conference for anyone interested in writing or illustrating children’s books for the Jewish market.

Shlemiel Crooks, a 2006 Sydney Taylor Honor Book, is available directly from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer.