Penny Schwartz, Author at JMORE

8 Children’s Books Bring New Characters to the Chanukah Story

by Penny Schwartz | Dec 8, 2020 | Arts & Life, Books

Move over, Maccabees. This season’s crop of seven new Chanukah books for kids puts the spotlight on new heroes, from playful llamas to brave and kind knights on horseback. An eighth book, “Honey on the Page,” that shines light on Yiddish children’s stories in new...

Guide for the Perplexed to Books for the Chanukah Season

by Penny Schwartz | Dec 25, 2019 | Arts & Life, Books

As a child, Sheryl Haft was captivated by the sounds of her grandparents speaking Yiddish. Sing-songy terms of endearment like bubbala and mamleh shayne sparked joy when her grandmother used them. Grittier words like shmendrick and kvetch tickled her funny bone. Now,...

Six New Children’s Books Capture the Spirit of the Jewish New Year

by Penny Schwartz | Sep 10, 2019 | Arts & Life, Books, The Arts

A Rosh Hashanah apple cake bake-off fit for reality TV and another installment of the “Scarlett and Sam” series from the award-winning author Eric A. Kimmel are among the highlights in the crop of new High Holiday books for children. Six engaging and fun reads for...

This Chef Turned his Popular Falafel Truck into a Booming Israeli Restaurant

by Penny Schwartz | Jun 13, 2019 | Arts & Life, Food

This story originally appeared on The Nosher. For nearly a decade, chef Avi Shemtov has been a pioneer on Boston’s food scene. In 2010, he rolled out The Chubby Chickpea, one of the first food trucks in the city, serving up Israeli-style street food from falafel and...

This Yiddish Romance Novel was a Smash Hit in 1877. It was Just Translated Into English for the 1st Time.

by Penny Schwartz | Mar 25, 2019 | Arts & Life, Books, The Arts

BOSTON (JTA) — Hot off the Jewish press in Vilna in 1877, a dramatic Yiddish romance novel became a surprising success, selling out its first 10,000 copies in Jewish communities across Poland and Russia. It’s not hard to see why. Set in the mid-19th century in the...