The Bubbe of Them All: Kar-Ben Publishing

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-bubbe-of-them-all-kar-ben-publishing.html 

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/K9B8p4G3Nr-quRj9KYrkhRaGZio?utm_source=copy_url 

Appropriately, as we kick off this podcast's 20th anniversary year, in this episode we are going to think about change and continuity. We say goodbye to an old friend, Joni Sussman, who is retiring after twenty years of leading the Jewish children's publishing company Kar-Ben. And we'll say hello to a new friend, Fran Greenman-Schmitz, who will be taking up the reins at Kar-Ben. 

I've been in this business a long time, so I remember when Joni started at Kar-Ben! This is her fourth live conference interview on the show, and of course it's Fran's first. Joni is the winner of the Sydney Taylor Body of Work Award, for her many contributions to the field of Jewish kidlit.

To give you some context, the oldest publisher of Jewish books in English is the Jewish Publication Society, founded in 1888, but Kar-Ben is the oldest publisher to exclusively focus on Jewish children's books. It was founded fifty years ago, in 1974 - so happy anniversary to Kar-Ben! Now there are half a dozen presses that exclusively publish Jewish children's books, but Kar-Ben is the Bubbe of them all.

I spoke with Joni and Fran at the 2024 Association of Jewish Libraries conference to hear all about this exciting time of transition.

LEARN MORE:

• Kar-Ben Publishing website
• "Kar-Ben's New Publisher Is on a Mission" Publishers Weekly 9/17/24
• Joni Sussman's past appearances on The Book of Life
  
  • 2010 - Book Expo: Jewish Presses
  • 2015 - Diversity in Jewish Kidlit
  • 2019 - The Book of Life Live Show

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CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilac