Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! I’m a big fan of compilation picture books – books with more than one story in them. And I’m also a fan of collaboration picture books – books with more than one author. Today’s featured book checks BOTH of those boxes!

SHE’S A MENSCH: Jewish Women Who Rocked the World

Written by Rachelle Burk and Alana Barouch

Illustrated by Arielle Trenk

Published by Intergalatic Afikommen (September 5, 2023)

Ages: 5-10

Themes: Jewish women who made a difference, mighty girls, courage

Synopsis: From Amazon:
Meet a judo champion, a chess grandmaster, a spacewalking astronaut, a World War II spy, and more. . .
What do all these people have in common?
They are all inspiring Jewish women―mensches who rocked the world!

Why I Love This Book:
1. Fabulous stories of women who achieved firsts in their fields that will inspire young children to never give up.
2. Wonderful illustrations are engaging and help the child reader keep turning the pages.
3. I love stories that introduce me to people I’d like to know.

chatted with Rachelle earlier and she shared how she came to write this book with her daughter::
RACHELLE:
It was Alana’s idea. Early in the pandemic, looking for a way to stay occupied, she asked if I’d like to write a book together with her. She was always an amazing writer, a perfectionist with rhyme and rhythm, and also gave excellent feedback on my work. Of course I jumped on that idea, so we started our pandemic project via zoom, live Google doc, and the RhymeZone app. We wrote SHE’S A MENSCH, JEWISH WOMEN WHO ROCKED THE WORLD.

Dear writer friends…working with a coauthor can be a wonderful experience – and look what a lovely book it can produce! Congratulations, Rachelle and Alana!

RELATED ACTIVITIES:
Chess-Inspired Art

Here’s something creative and might inspire your kids to want to learn to play chess. One of the stories in SHE’S A MENSCH is about a Jewish woman who was a chess GRANDMASTER. WOW!
And here is the link to the website that has several awesome crafts for kids: https://chesswizards.com/buzz/Creativity-and-chess%E2%80%93cool-chess-crafts-for-kids/

Don’t forget that books need our help! We can:
Purchase the book!
Review the book!
Tell friends about the book!
Ask you local library to add copes to their collection.