My Books
Please click on any title below for book details and purchasing options.
My House Is Singing
My House Is Singing
Rosenthal, Betsy R., Illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN 0-15-216293-3
This affectionate collection of poems, illustrated by award-winning artist, Margaret Chodos-Irvine, celebrates the places and spaces that make a house a home--from a cozy bedroom to a secret hideaway to a kitchen full of mouthwatering smells. Come on in and stay awhile!
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My House is Singing is available as an E-book.
Family Fun - Best Children's Books of 2004
Click here for a teacher's guide to poetry.
It's Not Worth Making a Tzimmes Over!
It’s Not Worth Making a Tzimmes Over!
Rosenthal, Betsy R., Illustrated by Ruth Rivers
Mar. 2006. 32p. Albert Whitman, $15.95
(0-8075-3677-6) PreS–Gr. 2
ISBN 10:0-8075-3677-6/ 13: 978-0-8075-3677-3
"Both a kitchen farce and a warm celebration of Yiddish, this uproarious picture book reverses the usual sweet grandma stereotype. Sara and Grandma make challah, and while they wait for the dough to rise, they watch a horror movie. But because Sara misunderstood Grandma’s directions, adding a whole box of yeast instead of two packets, the rising dough seeps out the kitchen door and down the street. Grandma is totally unperturbed by any problems large or small, and the lively watercolor pictures show her in hip outfit, as relaxed with the chaos at home as she is driving a motor scooter. Although the Yiddish in every sentence is easy to understand from the context, there’s a glossary appended and also a delicious recipe for challah (just one). The title, a cool alternative (tzimmes is Yiddish) for “no big deal,” and suits Grandma to a T."
––Booklist
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Which Shoes Would You Choose?
Which Shoes Would You Choose?
Rosenthal, Betsy R., Illustrated by Nancy Cote
April 2010. G. P. Putnam's Sons, $15.99
ISBN 978-0-399-25013-2
Following a young boy named Sherman through multiple shoe changes in bright, playful artwork, Which Shoes Would You Choose? is a celebration of shoes that is sure to tickle the toes of even the youngest readers.
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This book is also a Scholastic paperback and available at Scholastic Book Fairs.
Looking For Me... in this great big family
Looking For Me...in this great big family
Rosenthal, Betsy R.
ISBN-10: 054761084X
ISBN-13: 978-0547610849
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012
Reading level: Age 9 and up
One of 12 siblings growing up in depression-era Baltimore, Edith isn't quite sure of who she is. Between working at her father’s diner, taking care of her younger siblings, and living in the shadow of her more mature sisters, Edith feels lost in a sea of siblings. When a kind teacher encourages Edith to be a teacher herself one day, Edith sees prospects for a future all her own. Full of joy, pain, humor, and sadness, this novel in verse is a wonderful look at the life of Edith Paul, the author's mother, and is an enduring portrait (complete with family photos and an author's note at the end) of one family's pursuit of the American dream.
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Recommended in an August 2015 issue of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal
as one of five good summer reads.
Recipient of the 2013 Southern California Children's Literature Council's Myra Cohn Livingston Award
Designated a 2013 Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Older Readers
Junior Library Guild Selection, Spring 2012
Blackwood and Brouwer Booksellers Review
Click here for a podcast of an interview with the author about Looking For Me...in this great big family at the American Library Association (ALA) Conference.
The Horn Book recommends Looking For Me...in this great big family as a good novel in verse for reluctant readers. Click here to read more.
A reader who wrote to tell me how much he enjoyed the book.
An Ambush of Tigers
An Ambush of Tigers, a wild gathering of collective nouns
Rosenthal, Betsy R., Illustrated by Jago
ISBN: HC 978-1-4677-1464-8
Publisher: Millbrook Press, 2015
Reading level: Ages 5-9
E-books also available.
*School Library Journal starred review: "Each collective noun couplet whimsically describes a group of animals: 'Would a labor of moles/wear polka-dot ties/when it goes to work/for a business of flies?' This crash course in juxtaposition and imagination should be celebrated with a peal of bells. An inspiring addition to any poetry collection."
*Kirkus starred review: "Cleverness abounds in Rosenthal's latest, from the title to the back matter, which presents a glossary asking children to guess why the words are appropriate for each animal group. The tongue-in-cheek text never falters in its rhythm and rhyme... The illustrations are a perfect match for the text's wit...Collective nouns have never been this much fun...or memorable."
*Publishers Weekly starred review: "While several picture books have tackled collective nouns, Rosenthal and Jago's collaboration stands out for the sheer inventiveness they bring to the subject...Witty delights abound as a shiver of sharks bundles up in winter knitwear and a bouquet of pheasants peers glumly out of a tall vase."
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Click here to purchase this book from an independent bookstore.*2016 CELI Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction Children’s Read Aloud Book Award
*2016 NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the English Language Arts
*2016 ALSC’s Notable Children’s Books
*Bank Street Center Best Children’s Books of the Year (page 10)
*2015 Scholastic's Instructor magazine 50 Best Books for Summer
*2015 Moonbeam Children's Book Award bronze medal for non-fiction picture book
*2015 Huffington Post Best Children's Books honorable mention
*2015 Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award
Betsy's daughter, Sara,
holding a tiger cub.Porcupine's Picnic
Porcupine's Picnic: Who Eats What?
Rosenthal, Betsy R., Illustrated by Giusi Capizzi
ISBN-13: 9781467795197
Publisher: Millbrook Press, 2017
Reading level: Ages 4-8
"[T]here's plenty of information to be gleaned from these pages. . . . Cheerful artwork and a narrative with plenty of repetition make this a great pick for group story time."
--Booklist"Colorful, amusing, and informative . . . this is great as a read-aloud or read-alone. . . .
An entertaining and educational animal selection, with an edge, for the youngest readers."
--School Library JournalClick here to purchase this book at Amazon.com.
Click here to purchase this book at BarnesandNoble.com.Click here to purchase this book from an independent bookstore.
When Lightnin' Struck
When Lightnin' Struck
Rosenthal, Betsy R.
ISBN 9781728420530
Publisher: Kar-Ben 2022
Ages 9 and up
A PJ Our Way selection
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Click here for a teacher's guide to When Lightnin' Struck.
Click here to read an interview with Betsy, published in the Gamma Phi Beta national alumni magazine, The Crescent May 2022.
Click here to read an interview with Betsy about the writing of When Lightnin' Struck
in Jewish Books for Kids.
