Sydney Taylor

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Sydney Taylor
Born
Sarah Brenner

(1904-10-30)October 30, 1904
New York City, New York, US
DiedFebruary 12, 1978(1978-02-12) (aged 73)

Sydney Taylor (October 30, 1904 – February 12, 1978) was an American author.

She was born Sarah Brenner in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents.[1] Her parents and eldest sister Ella emigrated in 1900 to the United States and settled in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, as many Jewish families did. Her stories based on life in her large family are chronicled in a set of five books known as the All-of-a-Kind Family series. "During the second half of the twentieth century [the books in the series] were the most widely known books about American Jewish children."[2]

Her summers were spent as counselor and administrator at Cejwin Camps in Port Jervis, New York, where she was known as "Aunt Syd". Several of her siblings were associated with the camp as well. She shared her family and its stories with post-World War II children who were largely from second- and third-generation Jewish families.

She died of cancer[1] at age 73. Her husband Ralph established The Sydney Taylor Book Award in her honor.

A biography of Taylor by June Cummins was published by Yale University Press in June 2021.[3]

Works[]

  • All-of-a-Kind Family (1951), illustrated by Helen John
  • More All-Of-A-Kind Family (1954), illustrated by Mary Stevens
  • All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown (1958), illustrated by Mary Stevens
  • Mr. Barney's Beard (1961), illustrated by Charles Geer
  • Now That You Are 8 (1963), illustrated by Ingrid Fetz
  • The Dog Who Came to Dinner (1966), illustrated by John E. Johnson
  • A Papa Like Everyone Else (1966), illustrated by George Porter
  • All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown (1972), illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush
  • Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family (1978), illustrated by Gail Owens
  • Danny Loves a Holiday (1980), illustrated by Gail Owens

Upon the one-hundredth anniversary of the author's birth, in 2004, the Association of Jewish Libraries issued The All-of-A-Kind-Family Companion.[4]

In 2014, Lizzie Skurnick of Lizzie Skurnick Books began to reissue the four sequels. More All-Of-A-Kind Family was released on June 10 and All-Of-A-Kind Family Uptown was released on July 15. Cummins wrote the forewords for the new editions.

Awards[]

  • 1952: National Jewish Book Award for All-of-a-Kind Family[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Cummins, June (2004). "Who Was Sydney Taylor?" (PDF). jewishlibraries.org. Association of Jewish Libraries. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2006.
  2. ^ Cummins, June (2003). "Becoming an 'All-Of-A-Kind' American: Sydney Taylor and Strategies of Assimilation". The Lion and the Unicorn. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 27 (3): 324–343. doi:10.1353/uni.2003.0032. S2CID 143561625.
  3. ^ "From Sarah to Sydney: The Woman Behind All-of-a-Kind Family". Yale University Press. 2021.
  4. ^ "The 'All-of-a-Kind Family' Companion" (PDF). jewishlibraries.org. Association of Jewish Libraries. 2004.
  5. ^ "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
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