Mr. Katz and Me

Filmmaker, playwright, and children's book author Marc Kornblatt is the producer/director of the award-winning documentaries DOSTOEVSKY BEHIND BARS, STILL 60, WHAT I DID IN FIFTH GRADE, and LIFE ON THE LEDGE, among others, and more than 20 web series, including MINUTE MAN, ROCK REGGA, THE NARROW BRIDGE PROJECT, and BLUE & RED, RESPECTFUL ENCOUNTERS OF THE POLITICAL KIND. His children’s titles include UNDERSTANDING BUDDY and IZZY’S PLACE. Marc and his wife made Aliyah in 2019 and now live in Tel Aviv, Israel. Nanette studied Fine Art at the Slade School of Art in London. She makes joyful, messy, character driven work that celebrates the chaotic magic of the everyday. Her work is made with inks, liquid watercolour, pencils and crayons, to create warm energetic illustrations with plenty of scribbled texture and splattered mark making. Her clients include: Ladybird Books, Lantana Publishing, Simon Kids (Simon & Schuster), Editions Auzou, Oxford University Press. Nanette lives in St. Brelade, Jersey, United Kingdom.

"Kornblatt’s latest picture book offers a delightful tale of friendship formed across cultures and generations. Sarah enjoys listening as her father tutors students for their bat or bar mitzvahs. One night, a new student arrives and Sarah is confused because he is much older than 13! Despite his shaky hands and wrinkled skin, Mr. Katz is kind, and a magnificent singer. A shared love of music and birds closes the gap between Sarah and Mr. Katz and an unlikely friendship forms. He shares about his life in the former Soviet Union, and how dangerous it was to be Jewish there. Moving to the United States has given him the freedom to live in his faith and finally celebrate his bar mitzvah. Inspired by the true experience of Kornblatt’s grandfather, this book is a great example of how understanding and compassion can lead to friendship. Young readers will relate to Sarah’s growth as she learns patience and understanding with Mr. Katz. Regan’s bright and beautiful illustrations work in perfect harmony with the text. A mix of ink, watercolor, pencils, and crayons combine to create warm and engaging images that bring the story to life. Gorgeous featuring bird imagery represent Mr. Katz’s journey to freedom. VERDICT An inspiring story of intergenerational friendship, recommended for libraries everywhere." —Elizabeth Blake, School Library Journal"Sarah struggles to connect with Mr. Katz, an elderly man who becomes one of her father's bar mitzvahstudents. His hands tremble, he spills tea and is forgetful, and Sarah is rude and abrupt to him. But eventually, through his patience, friendship results. Sarah loves his beautiful singing voice and hearing about his journey to religious freedom, both themes carried by songbirds interspersed in the artwork, first caged, then free. Birds in the stained-glass sanctuary windows dominate the final full page spread where we see Mr. Katz fulfilling his dream of finally becoming a bar mitzvah at the age of 81, a joy denied by Russian religious persecution when he was a child.Nanette Regan's mixed media art brings the story to life with details enhancing a liberal Jewish style of observance and characters of diverse skin tones. Through the art, we have kippot and tallit wearing males and females and females having aliyot. We find "bet" and "vet" floating in the background highlighting the pronunciation difference between the 2 cultures.Back matter tells us the story is based on the author's life. His grandfather immigrated from Russia and became a bar mitzvah tutor, and the author became a bar mitzvah tutor as well. Then his children had the opportunity to befriend one of the author's elderly students just as the book's character does. We are given a brief outline of Jewish migration from Russia to here as well as encouragement to seek friends of different backgrounds, a timely valuable reminder. This book opens space to discuss antisemitism in a non-threatening way with children and is recommended for all collections."—Association of Jewish Libraries"Mr. Katz and Me is wonderful story about friendship. Sarah is the daughter of a b’nai mitzvah tutor. Her father lets her listen in as he tutors the many students who come through their home preparing for their special day. When a new student comes for his first lesson, Sarah is surprised to see he is an older man. At first Sarah is not very understanding or friendly to Mr. Katz. As the lessons continue Sarah joins Mr. Katz and learns how special he is. Growing up in Russia, he had to hide his religious affiliation, but now at the age of eighty one he is excited to become a bar mitzvah.Sarah and Mr. Katz become friends as he continues coming to the house for tutoring. She learns that patience and understanding about other people can lead to true friendship. The age difference makes the relationship stronger as they learn from each other. Having friends with different experiences and backgrounds can be very enlightening.Birds decorate the pages of this story, building on the message of going from being caged to being free. The students are described as either singing like canaries or crows. Sarah describes Mr. Katz as singing like a canary and she feels like she sings like a duck. As we watch Mr. Katz and Sarah develop a friendship, we see birds flying across the pages. The birds fly in and out of cages as Mr. Katz gets closer to his bar mitzvah.The drawings add to the warm, endearing quality of this story. With the soft edges of various mediums and the washed look of watercolors, this is a colorfully illustrated book, beautiful to look at as you read the story. The young people who come to learn their b’nai mitzvah portions have a diversity of abilities and a variety of skin tones."—Sydney Taylor Shmooze