2.5/5 Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was good. But it just wasn’t for me. I wasn’t the target reader audience but I still committed to finishing it. I love the love of reading in this memoir. Thank you again.

This was a wonderful tribute to reading as a family. I felt a lot of nostalgia as the author mentioned some of my favorite childhood books. I love how she relates them to life events, and also to events in the Torah. I also got a lot of insights into the Jewish religion and it was wonderful seeing how it was practiced and a part of this family's life in Jerusalem.

A mother’s celebration of the power and wonder of lifelong reading
Zibby Owens, My Most Anticipated Books 2025

In so many ways I feel like Ilana Kurshan and I are kindred book-loving souls. The way she describes her love of reading, how she relates and presents books to her children, and the way her faith inspires and informs her reading choices related to me on such a deep level.

Kurshan is Jewish, and as such has a deep love for the Torah–the first five books of the Bible. She relates the reading journey she and her children go on to the themes of each scriptural book (the start of the books you read, growing together, going out into the wilderness of selecting your own books, etc.). She references books she read growing up in the United States and the differences her children experience growing up in Israel, and how the books highlight the similarities of their feelings, but also how her children have no idea about some of the cultural significance of events in some beloved books.

Getting to learn more about the Jewish faith and culture was a beautiful experience for me. As a devout Christian I also find a lot of religious symbolism in the books I read–whether the author intended them or not–and Krushan helped me feel not quite so strange for doing that. Sometimes the language was a bit pedantic, particularly at the end, for my taste but it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed getting to relive books from my past. I even ended up taking notes of which books I should put on the TBR list for my own kids.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Read if you like books about books, non-fiction, reading with kids, religious books, Jewish culture, reading life.

Similar Reads: Texts from Jane Eyre by Daniel M. Lavery, I’d Rather be Reading by Anne Bogel, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, The Bible.

Children of the Book explores how literature deepens the bond of family life. A Jewish mother reads books to her five children as they grow up, both sacred and secular. A very observant Jewish household in Israel.
I wasn’t sure what to expect but found this book intriguing as Jewish scripture and stories become part of these children’s lives.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book.

A beautiful memoir that focuses on the importance of literature and sharing reading with your children and how that helps instill in them the joy and love of reading.

A memoir of Jewish family and the mother's experience reading the Torah and other literature to her children. As a mother of many who has spent endless hours reading different kinds of literature to her children, I really enjoyed this book. This journey also brought back memories of reading to my own children and I found myself deep in nostaliga and smiling when reading this book.
To me its always interesting to see how other families incorporate literature into their lives and this fit that bill. Great read and one I will come back to often.

I did receive an ARC copy of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.

I am not the audience for this book. I would recommend to parents, and they need to be religious or spiritual in some sense. Know that there is not an exact, threaded plot, but more individual stories that link up with various parts of religious text.

I think that a book like this could be very rewarding for parents; I would not add this to a memoirs list for everyone, though.

I almost didn't pick this one up because while I love books, I didn't think reading someone else's experiences with reading would be interesting. That was until I saw that the author was Ilana Kurshan, author of If All The Seas Were Ink, a book I loved so much after reading my Netgalley copy, that I also purchased a softcover copy.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! While I have always had a book nearby to read, Ilana truly takes this to the next level finding ways to read while doing everyday things that have to be done, and even though my kids are grown, I am sooooo tempted to get some of those children's' books she mentions.

Children of the Book by Ilana Kurshan is a luminous, heartfelt memoir that explores how literature shapes and deepens the bonds of family life. As a mother of five, Kurshan reflects on the tension between personal passion and parental duty, ultimately discovering that reading is not just a solitary escape but a bridge to connection, growth, and empathy. Drawing parallels between parenting and the five books of the Torah, she beautifully intertwines sacred and secular stories, showing how books can guide, comfort, and unite across generations. A tender celebration of motherhood, faith, and the transformative power of lifelong reading.

This is a story about family, as well as an ode to reading books that explores how the mother's children, and the mother's love of reading, to grow to instill a love of reading in her children.

At times, it explores different ideas, but mostly this is a story of a mother's love for her children, as well as wanting her children to enjoy reading, and her children truly enjoying reading.

Pub Date: Sep 09 2025

Many thanks for the opportunity to read 'Children of the Book'!

I'm not sure what to say about this book without giving it away. I loved the writing. It kept me engaged and wanting to read more. I felt like I was in the story, if that makes sense?

I loved this! Between being a mother and being a book lover, this was so relatable. As a Christian, it was fascinating to get the life of a Jew threaded throughout. And knowing the Bible, I could totally see the parallels she made. Beautiful writing and thoroughly enjoyable to read about daily life in different stages along with stages of a reading life. Would totally recommend this to any book lover, especially mothers!

This book surprised me. At glance of the cover, I expected a memoir about reading aloud to children. I expected anecdotes on the benefits, experiences, and emotions wrapped up in the bonding of time spent with our children wrapped up in stories.

What I received was that AND biblical tie ins. The author is Jewish and uses the Torah to draw parallels of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy to her own life experiences with children, with books, and through the Covid pandemic.

I highlighted so so many nuggets of wisdom. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

The book blurb doesn’t entirely communicate what this book is about. It’s really not for me after having read it but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good book. I love to read books about books and people’s stories about reading books and I thought I would get more titles that I could recommend. I like to learn about books that are good for children and get a good sense of what they are before I give them as gifts. This was more the author story of aligning her reading with the Torah in seasons, and it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t what I thought it was. You’ll want to understand that going into it.

#childrenofthebook #netgalley

A Jewish mother reads books, secular and sacred, to her children as they grow up.

Maybe I wasn’t the right audience for this “memoir,” but I did not enjoy it. I kept waiting for the book to have a point, some compelling conflict that was propelling it forward, but it does not have one.

It’s basically a book-length review of dozens or hundreds of children’s and young adult books, their characters and arcs continually compared to those of Torah. The tone is often elitist, and the structure, rambling.

Three stars because the Covid-era anecdotes at least held my interest.

What a sweet surprise! Parents and librarians should read this beautiful story of a thoughtful Jewish mother who beautifully chronicles the reading journey of her children and the importance of stories in their lives.

From the words of the author, Ilana Ketshan, “It is a story about traveling through the wilderness, going through periods when we navigate our ambivalence and uncertainty as we try to forge a way forward. It is a story about taking our children as far as we can until we recognize that the time has come for us to let go, and for them to move ahead—and read onward—independently.”

This is a fascinating book and I enjoyed the connection to the Torah. I also enjoyed how the author included her kids in the story.

An intriguing look at children's literature through the lens of the Torah. Kurshan's thoughtful and considered exploration of both beloved works is unique and highly personal.

I hate to rate memoirs because it truly is judging someone's life. My rating here is not for the actual tale - I think reading is important and as a mother and reader myself, I am stunned at how much reading Ilana gets done during the day with her children. I loved little points she made about being a parent reading books for herself, validating a lot of things I feel with four young kids who do need me all the time.

I do, however, feel a little misled with the title of the book. I was thinking we were going to get another book similar to the Read Aloud Companion, or Raising Readers, or something along those lines. This one, beautifully told, is aligned with the stories in the Torah and the seasons we go through as we read the Torah in temple. Love that, but it’s very very niche and I feel like I either skimmed that part or that wasn’t fully mentioned. In any event, this is a deeply personal memoir about reading in the throes of motherhood, in Jerusalem, with young young kids. Worth a library checkout.