Calling all children’s authors – plus a couple of great reads for the summer
Entries for the Children's Book Awards are now open
The Jewish Children’s Book Awards will return for a final time in 2026. Run by Green Bean Books and The Jewish Literary Foundation, the awards spotlight original, unpublished stories by UK and European Jewish writers and illustrators for children aged 4–8. Entries must draw on Jewish history, values or traditions.
The winning story receives £1,000, and all entries are considered for publication by Green Bean Books — a rare chance for new and established writers to gain recognition and see their yet unpublished work in print.
Judges include PJ Library’s Chris Barash, Green Bean’s Michael Leventhal, illustrator Omer Hoffmann, Israel Museum curator Orna Granot, and Jewish Renaissance editor Rebecca Taylor. Michael Leventhal says: “We really want to find exciting, innovative stories and discover how Jewish themes are explored in fresh, new ways.”
Visit greenbeanbooks.com/JCBA2026. Submissions close on Wednesday, November 5th 2025 at 5pm
Meanwhile a lovely story for your kids is And Eddie Had an Egg by Dina Leifer (Green Bean Books UK)
Author Dina Leifer transforms what could be a tedious tale of a fussy eater into a warm, relatable adventure. Born from Leifer’s real-life mealtime standoffs with her own son, the book nudges young readers toward curiosity (and maybe even broccoli). The story about stubborn little Eddie has a heimishe feel that kids will recognise as loving persistence combined with the ever-present hope that today might be the day they try something new.
Should you get a chance to settle down with a good book this summer, My Other Half by David Isaacson (Ace of Swords Publishing) is a perfect choice.
After David Isaacson interviewed our Life magazine editor about her Midas Man Brian Epstein biopic Midas Man for Jerusalem Post, she felt duty bound to plug his book. Not much of a reader — every novel feels like homework — once she started My Other Half, she was in because she liked Jake, the 1970s student anti-hero, who dabbles in drugs and does his best to dodge adulthood. Then, quite suddenly, he ends up in Israel — and that’s when the story shifts. It’s still funny, but now there’s a head-on collision of past and present, heritage and hedonism, plus a messy romance with the elusive Diana. But meet her for yourself. This coming-of-age tale asks whether the ‘other half’ we’re searching for might just be hidden in ourselves — or maybe in Jerusalem.
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