Richard Michelson

I was excited to see a book about the life of Sarah Brenner/Sydney Taylor the author of the All-of-a-Kind-Family books. I loved the books as a girl and read them repeatedly. Having been raised by church-going parents, I learned things from the books I didn't know about the Jewish calendar and specific holidays. As a teacher, I have given thanks so many times for the ways Sydney Taylor's books gave me a bit of cultural capital that has served me well in my interactions with students.

That said, I didn't love One of a Kind the way I hoped I would. This is less because it's not a good book for the age range it's written for, ages 7-10, and more because what it really did was make me frustrated with myself that I've never tried to find and read a biography of Sydney Taylor written for adult audiences. The one biography of this type I've spotted is From Sarah to Sydney: The Woman Behind All-of-a-Kind Family by June Cummins and Alexandra Dunietz, which is now at the top of my TBR pile.

If you have grade-school aged kids, I strongly recommend sharing the All-of-a-Kind Family books with them. Then you can share One of a Kind with them and start them dreaming about the ways they'd like to change their world.

I received free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own.… (more)

Sydney Taylor (born Sarah Brenner) "knows she is One of a Kind": born in 1904, she was the middle sister of five (later, baby brother Charlie came along). The Brenner family are German Jewish immigrants who live in New York; they are poor, but Sarah loves dance, keeps a diary, and even changes her own name from Sarah to Sydney so that people will pay attention to what she writes. She believes in women's right to vote, and becomes a socialist; she meets Ralph Taylor at a meeting of the Young People's Socialist League, and they are "two of a kind." They get married, and Sydney dances with Martha Graham for years before having a daughter - who asks why all their bedtime stories feature Christian children. So Sydney tells Jo stories from her childhood, eventually writing them down. The stories are rejected by publishers at first, but years later, Ralph sends them in to a contest, and they win first prize.

Back matter: afterword about Sydney and the All-of-A-Kind Family books, about Ralph Taylor, about Jo Taylor Marshall; author's note; sources; photographs; acknowledgments.

See also: Just Like Beverly… (more)