Picture Book – Page 15 – Janet Ruth Heller

Janet Read from and Autographed Her Books on December 12 in Kalamazoo and Portage, Michigan

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:November 11, 2015
Post category:Advice for Writers Autographing Books Janet's Speaking Events Literature Picture Book Poetry

Saturday, December 12, 2015—Janet Ruth Heller, author of the award-winning picture book about bullying for children How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006; rpt. 2008, 2012), the middle-grade chapter book about sibling rivalry The Passover Surprise (Fictive Press, 2015), and three poetry books read from and autographed her six books at the Local Writers Expo at the Portage District Library from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. She also gave advice about writing and publishing. Books by Michigan writers make excellent holiday gifts! Janet has published the poetry books Exodus (WordTech Editions, 2014), Folk Concert: Changing Times (Anaphora Literary Press, 2012) and Traffic Stop (Finishing Line Press, 2011), and the scholarly book Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, and the Reader of Drama (University of Missouri Press, 1990). The Portage District Library is located at 300 Library Lane/ Portage, Michigan 49002. For more information, please phone the Portage District Library at (269) 329-4544. Janet also autographed her books at Kazoo Books, 2413 Parkview Ave., Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008 on December 12. For more information, please phone 269-553-6506, e-mail read@kazoobooks.com…

A Review of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:August 20, 2015
Post category:Book Review Books Jewish Families Jewish Traditions Literature Picture Book Reviews

Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin, New York: Viking, 1991; new shortened edition, Illustrated by Jaime Zollars, Tarrytown NY: Marshall Cavendish Children, 2010.

This fiction picture book set in a small village focuses on a poor widow named Basha and her blind son, Hershel. Despite his visual impairment, Hershel goes to school and engages in activities that have delighted children for ages, such as “shaking pears from the neighbor’s tree, or catching frogs.” He also plays in the mud near the river and makes sculptures.

Basha tries to support her family by sewing, cooking, and baking cakes and hamantaschen, a Purim pastry. Herschel helps her by doing his chores, but he wants to accomplish more. One night, an angel comes to him in a dream, urging the boy to make what he imagines. (more…)

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I love books by British writers P. D. James, Seamus Heaney, S. T. Coleridge, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, W. B. Yeats;

American writers Judy Blume, Edna St. Vincent Millay, T. S. Eliot, Maxine Kumin, Jim Daniels, Mong-Lan, Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Naomi Shihab Nye, Alberto Ríos, Gail B. Griffin, Jerry Spinelli, Jane Yolen, Kathryn Erskine, Gary D. Schmidt, Adrienne Rich, Judith Minty, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marge Piercy, Grace Paley, Alicia Ostriker, Jaimy Gordon; South African writer Athol Fugard;

Israeli writers Chaim Nachman Bialik, Yehudah Amichai, Rachel Bluwstein, Chaim Guri, S. Y. Agnon; and Hispanic writers Sor Juana, Federico García Lorca, Ruben Darío, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillén, Pedro Salinas, and Dámaso Alonso.

I also love Japanese haiku, especially those by Matsuo Bashō.

My writing has been influenced by many other authors, including British writers Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, W. B. Yeats;

American writers Edna St. Vincent Millay, T. S. Eliot, Maxine Kumin, Adrienne Rich, Judith Minty, Gwendolyn Brooks;

Israeli writers Chaim Nachman Bialik, Yehudah Amichai, Rachel Bluwstein, Chaim Guri, S. Y. Agnon, and Hispanic writers Sor Juana, Federico Garcia Lorca, Ruben Dario, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillen, Pedro Salinas, and Damaso Alonso.