The Keeper of Stories

• “This poignant story introduces young readers to the real-life fire that engulfed New York City’s Jewish Theological Seminary Library in 1966…celebrating the community effort and the importance of books…capturing the destructive power of the fire and, more importantly, the diverse community efforts to preserve the library’s stories.” – Booklist, starred review“A warm celebration of community spirit….An inspirational instance of people spontaneously coming together to help out in the wake of a natural urban disaster.” – School Library Journal * 2/1/25 “Pritchard’s forceful writing is marked by inspired turns of phrase….The marvelous illustrations, created with acrylic paints, colored pencil, and collage, are abuzz with spirited, robust movement…A stirring testament to the power of books to unite us all for good.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review * January 2025 “Readers are pulled into the desperate fight to save irreplaceable treasures throughout a work that emphasizes the keeping done not only by libraries but by communities and people, too—guardians of memory and meaning, preserving the past for future generations.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW * 11/24/2024 *

Caroline Kusin Pritchard grew up as the youngest of four children in Dallas, Texas, where she spent her childhood writing poems and reciting them to her loyal fanbase of stuffed animals. She is the author of many children’s books, including Gitty and Kvetch, The Day the Books Disappeared, and The Keeper of Stories, which is a Sydney Taylor Book Award Picture Book Honor, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and received three starred reviews. She has an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and their four kiddos.

Selina Alko grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, surrounded by the melody of words and stories from different places. Selina’s books include The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage, Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama, Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport, and I Is for Immigrants, which garnered a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators. She also illustrated The Keeper of Stories, a Sydney Taylor Book Award Picture Book Honor. Selina lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her children and her cat Czen.

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