Erica Lyons – författare

In today’s world, where misconceptions about the Chinese and the Jews are rampant, comes this true story of a boy who was from both cultures, and a real community with a history few know.From the seventeenth century comes this true story of Kaifeng’s Zhou Yingcheng, also known as Moshe ben Avram, the highest-ranking Chinese Jew in the Imperial system. In the 1600s, he managed to conquer rebels, sponsor schools, rebuild his synagogue, and represent the best of both of his identities.Featuring illustrations redolent of classic Chinse brushwork painting, this is the inspiring story of how one person, with an intersectional identity that uncompromisingly embraced all his parts, became a hero to all.

A Tablet Magazine Best Jewish Children's Book for 2022!National Jewish Book Award FinalistA hopeful but not sugarcoated retelling of the first spring and Passover of the pandemic . . . A lovely reminder of how the pandemic that separated us also brought us together. --Rachel Fremmer, Tablet MagazineA young girl practices the Four Questions on her apartment balcony in Jerusalem and finds a way to bring the neighbors together for Passover even during the separation of a pandemic.

Named a Best Jewish Children’s Book of 2024 by Tablet Magazine"A worthwhile choice for family reading time and all children's book collections."—Association of Jewish Libraries"Simple and melodic . . . bright and beautiful"—Historical Novel SocietyWhen young Saliman's family left Yemen in 1881 to move to Jerusalem there were so many things they could not take along. Promising to remember it all, even the names of each their goats and the color of their fur, he clutched his memory stone, a piece of his house that he kept in his pocket, as a way to keep Yemen in his heart.Saliman and the Memory Stone is a fictionalization of the real emigration of hundreds of Yemeni Jews to Jerusalem. Saliman might be leaving home, but he will always have his memories of Yemen. And even when they are without, he is reminded that he has everything he needs in his heart and in his community.

Based on the history of Jewish refugees in Asia and spanning multiple years during World War II, this picture book shows how some creativity, adaptability, and a lot of love can make the new year sweet no matter where you are.Lily's family ran a pastry shop in Vienna. Every Rosh Hashanah, they baked honey cakes for their customers. But when war comes, they must leave everything behind. They first travel to Shanghai, where they are able to open a new bakery. Each year, Lily learned more about baking. She helped to mix and pour the batter, measure the ingredients, and passed out the wrapped up treats. But each year, there are changes. When the flour runs out, they have to use rice instead. There were fewer customers, and the newspaper wrappings were showing bad news.Soon, Lily's family has to move again, to Hong Kong. With rations there was even less than usual. There would be no honey cake this year. But Lily had been watching how her parents had made do in the years before, and she had some ideas of her own. Because despite all the changes, everyone deserves to have a sweet new year.An AJL Fall 2025 Holiday Highlight!

When Zhen Yu strays from her father and gets lost at the market while looking at jade, her father meets a fortune-teller in tattered robes. “You will find your daughter where green stones glitter like a serpent’s skin,” says the fortune-teller, “but I must warn you about another snake . . .”Based on the Talmudic tale of Rabbi Akiva’s daughter and a snake.

When Zhen Yu strays from her father and gets lost at the market while looking at jade, her father meets a fortune-teller in tattered robes. “You will find your daughter where green stones glitter like a serpent’s skin,” says the fortune-teller, “but I must warn you about another snake . . .”Based on the Talmudic tale of Rabbi Akiva’s daughter and a snake.

Kar-Ben Read-Aloud eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and text highlighting to bring eBooks to life! When Zhen Yu strays from her father and gets lost at the market while looking at jade, her father meets a fortune-teller in tattered robes. “You will find your daughter where green stones glitter like a serpent’s skin,” says the fortune-teller, “but I must warn you about another snake . . .”Based on the Talmudic tale of Rabbi Akiva’s daughter and a snake.