Hi all: I have to brag about the Jewish Children's Bookfest that was sponsored by Mt. Sinai Memorial Parks of Los Angeles (and for which I was a consultant) and was a rousing success last Sunday.It was an incredible turnout with wonderful, imaginative activities for all. Check out this newspaper article from the Ventura Star News....
PRINT THIS STORY | E-MAIL THIS STORY Celebrating reading, writing and diversity Bookfest honors Jews in U.S. By Arlene Horwitz, Correspondent November 17, 2004 On a warm, windy autumn day high atop the hills at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Simi Valley, thousands of children and their families attended the second annual Jewish Children's Bookfest. Young, old, Jewish and not, people came from all over Southern California to spend a fun-filled day celebrating literacy. They enjoyed a nonstop schedule of music and entertainment, as well as many activities such as authors' book signings and readings, arts and crafts workshops and lots of kosher food. "The theme for this year's bookfest is celebrating '350 Years of Jews in America,' " said Len Lawrence, Mount Sinai general manager and co-sponsor of the bookfest along with the Jewish Community Centers. "Since November is Jewish Book Month, last year we decided to have a bookfest for children instead of adults because, as far as I know, it was never done before," he said. "Literacy and books are important to Jewish people, and the best way to instill a love of reading and writing is to start with the kids." The hands-on activities and lively entertainment were geared toward children 3 to 12. The festival was free to the public and open to all children and their families. "Part of the celebration acknowledges not only the impact we Jews have had on America, but the impact America has had on its Jewish citizens," Lawrence said. Each child arriving at the bookfest received a passport. As the children toured the activities and events, their passports were stamped with the name of a country such as France or Syria, as a reminder that there are Jews all over the world. The passports also were designed to promote a discussion between generations answering the question, "Where do I come from?" Four tents housed workshops such as puppet making, news reporting, book binding, Yiddish greeting cards and menorah making. Keeping with the theme of Jews in America, tents were given names such as Ellis Island, Galveston, Baltimore or Boston to mark the ports of entry for the Jewish immigrants. The Boston tent was jampacked with hundreds of people buying Jewish books and games from more than 15 booksellers such as Storyopolis and Borders in Simi Valley. Throughout the day, a featured author would mount an oversized red velvet and gold throne in the middle of the busy booksellers' tent where they would read and sign their books. Some of the guest authors were Barney Saltzberg, Robert Avrech and Susan Goldman Rubin. Tiby Eisen, a member of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League of 1944, was also signing photos and chatting with the crowd. One of the most popular activities for the youngest girls attending the bookfest was a "Tea with Eloise" tea party. Little girls got to dress up in glamorous costumes sporting pink boas and jeweled crowns. As they sipped lemonade and munched on small snacks, they were entertained by an actress portraying the literary character Eloise. David Ysais of KNX News Radio led a workshop for future radio news reporters. Armed with a tape recorder, microphone and a few guidelines, junior news reporters fanned out into the crowd gathering responses on what it means to be Jewish in America. "When kids are doing the interviews, the adults open up and give the child the real story," said Ysais, who will be selecting parts of all of the interviews and compiling them into a cassette that he will send to each of the junior reporters. Located in the back of the Galveston tent was a huge map of the world. Everyone was encouraged to place a gold sticker on the map to show their family's country of origin. By the end of the day, gold dots were scattered from Japan to Russia. Ten-year-olds Sarah Leider and her friend Ami Fields-Meyer, both from Los Angeles, were admiring all the gold stickers on the world map, pointing out where their ancestors lived. "I think this map is cool because it shows that Jewish people come from everywhere," Sarah said. Most, but not all, of the hands-on crafts had a Jewish theme. The elaborate puppet-making workshop led by Len Levitt was a hit with both children and their parents who cut, glued and selected the right materials to create the perfect puppet. Highlighting the afternoon was the announcement of the winners of the children's and adult writing contests. The children's contest was open to kids ages prekindergarten to the eighth grade. Since this year's theme was celebrating 350 Years of Jews in America, most children wrote about their family's history or holiday gatherings, submitting short stories, poetry, biographies or historical fiction. The children could submit their work individually or as an entire class. NBC 4 News reporter Beverly White handed out a variety of prizes and recognition certificates to the more than 65 winners in the children's writing contest. Adult entries were on any subject related to the Jewish experience that was appropriate for children ages 3 to 12. The three winners in the adult writing contest were guaranteed to have their work read by a major publishing house. Wowing the crowd were the performances from Parachute Express, a children's singing group, and the Russian Children's Song and Dance group, which performed an original play about the Jewish holiday Purim. The backdrop for the entertainment stage was a colorful banner and a replica of the 30 feet high and 145 feet wide mosaic that spans the Jewish experience in America dating back to the first Jews coming to this country in 1654. The original mosaic is at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills and is made from 1 million individually hand-cut pieces of Venetian glass. The mural features famous Jewish people in American history, as well as other important historical figures such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. For the bookfest, actors were dressed in period costumes representing such historical figures from the mural as Jonas Salk, discoverer of the polio vaccine; Levi Strauss, clothing pioneer and manufacturer; Emma Lazarus, poet who wrote the inscription on the Statue of Liberty; and Hayim Solomon, who helped finance the American Revolution. They were scripted on what to say as they wandered through the crowd of festivalgoers. For every person who registered at the bookfest, a $1 donation will be given to the Ventura County Firefighters Benefit Fund and the Simi Valley Police Foundation. This year, the sponsors expect to donate more than $3,000. "This is a day of celebrating Jewish traditions, art, values, cultural heritage and to promote literacy," said Martha White, a festival coordinator. "We are celebrating the joy of reading and writing and celebrating diversity in California. The more we know about other cultures, the more we learn we are the same. It breaks down boundaries." 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