Children’s Books About Antisemitism That Actually Speak to Modern Jewish Kids

Your Jewish child will experience antisemitism.  

To deny this is ignorant, and to avoid it is irresponsible. 

Perhaps it’ll happen in college: 83% of Jewish university students have witnessed or experienced antisemitism and 78% of them have hidden their Jewish identity. Or it will happen even sooner: antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools have spiked 424% since 2020, while 62% of Jewish K-12 teachers say they’ve seen or experienced antisemitism at their schools. 

What will you do to prepare your child for this inevitability? 

If you’re quite serious about preparing your kids, you could make a point of studying the conversational and role-playing resources provided by psychologists and watchdog groups to fortify yourself to begin a series of hard conversations.

Or you could turn to children’s books.

Here are some Jewish children’s book titles that put modern stories that confront antisemitism into the hands Jewish and non-Jewish kids.

 

Picture Books (5+)

 

“Sharing Shalom” (2024) is the only picture book in print that depicts the vandalism of a modern synagogue. The result is a gentle and joyful story about a little girl who absolutely loves the place and is very into going to Hebrew school. She worries about the damage to this hub of her beloved community, but feels heartened by the way so many people she knows come together to repair it.

Conversation starters: first introduction to the idea of antisemitism; feeling self-conscious about being different; a reminder to look for the helpers; reinforces that love is stronger than hate

“Red and Green and Blue and White” (2021) is the newest of several picture books based on the true story of how the town of Billings, Montana responded when a Jewish family experienced a hate crime during Hanukkah. In this retelling, after a criminal throws a rock through her Jewish neighbor’s window, a non-Jewish child is the first to come up with the now-famous and heartwarming gesture of gentile-Jewish solidarity: putting up a paper menorah in the window of her own home. 

Conversation starters: first introduction to the idea of antisemitism; how being Jewish can feel brave; why the month of December can be difficult for Jewish people; ways we can be upstanders for our neighbors

 

Middle Grade Fiction (9-12)

 

“Don’t Feed the Lion” (2025) brings the conversation about antisemitism up to a realistic middle school level. A Jewish boy’s favorite pro soccer player makes an antisemitic comment and it emboldens his soccer teammates at school to experiment with antisemitism themselves. When one kid puts a swastika on the Jewish boy’s locker, the fallout is deeply personal but also far-ranging, impacting a network of kids and adults who each handle the problem differently.

Conversation starters: exploring various ways we might react if we faced an antisemitic incident at school; pressure on Jewish kids to respond “the right way”; the role of celebrities and public figures in influencing kids; whether social media helps or hurts when it comes to antisemitism; which adults we would count on to help in an antisemitic situation

“The Do More Club” (2023) also grapples with the after-effects of swastika vandalism, but in this novel-in-verse, we see how the Jewish main character follows up: He evolves his thinking away from fear and desire to blend in, and into his own brand of activism and collective action against prejudice and bullying.

Conversation starters: whether it’s ever appropriate or sensible to hide your Jewish identity; the relationship between visible differences and bullying; the fine line between bullying and hate speech; motivations to take positive action to support a cause (such as community organizing) 

“The Book of Elsie” (2022), a Purim-themed story, features a girl with a perfect Esther costume who is motivated to save her struggling synagogue’s annual Purim party, alongside her non-Jewish best friend. Late in the story the synagogue is vandalised with swastikas, though it happens alongside mention of other forms of prejudice and hatred. The plucky main character takes inspiration from Queen Esther as she bravely contends with the reality of antisemitism.

Conversation starters: the commonalities between antisemitism and other forms of hate and prejudice; the relationship between antisemitism today and antisemitism in stories that are part of Jewish tradition and Jewish holidays

“Linked” (2021) is the most well-known middle grade novel that grapples with swastika vandalism. A thread of “whodunnit” runs throughout the story, as the swastikas continue to appear at a small town Colorado school. The story also features a valiant effort by a group of students to take a public stand against the antisemitic graffiti and memorialize Holocaust victims by creating a paper chain six million links long. The book also touches on the complicated feelings of a child discovering his Jewish heritage for the first time.

Conversation starters: the “contagious” nature of antisemitism; the role apathy or indifference plays in allowing antisemitism to continue; the idea that Jewish people can sometimes be antisemitic; the dubious effectiveness of “Tolerance” lessons

 

Young Adult Fiction (12+)

 

“The Assignment” (2020) is a close study of what happens when a high school history teacher instructs his students to research, and then debate the merits, of Hitler’s “Final Solution” — including the most efficient way to execute it. (This book’s premise is ripped from a real-life headline.) Most students and parents don’t object to the project, but the novel’s two main characters very much do, despite previously respecting this teacher. They take a stand, and it goes viral in their community.

Conversation starters: antisemites will sometimes insist they are not antisemitic; what to do when a trusted adult reveals themselves to be antisemitic; how to take a stand against antisemitism when you have little support

“The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen” (2022) focuses on a thoughtful, funny and slightly rebellious Orthodox teen named Hoodie (Yehuda), whose insular community has just relocated to a fictional town in New Jersey. The unwelcoming vibes from the townies serve as scene-setting background to the main plotline — the forbidden budding romance between Orthodox Hoodie and the daughter of the town’s mayor — until the end of the book when it erupts into tragic, violent hate crimes. Despite being a victim, Hoodie still manages to bridge a divide between the two communities.

Conversation starters: the burden of antisemitism on observant Jews, who are visibly Jewish; the many different (inaccurate) perceptions of Jews, including stereotypes, that exist in the world; the steps Jews in different communities must take to stay safe

“Some Kind of Hate” (2022) shows what happens when an angry high schooler is rapidly radicalized by white nationalism through an online video game. Baseball player Declan starts the book with a Jewish best friend named Jake, and ends the book involved in a plot to attack Jake’s synagogue. Declan’s indoctrination is interspersed with chapters told from Jake’s point of view, as antisemitism seeps through their town.

Conversation starters: the complex reality of how misinformation online contributes to antisemitism; why antisemitism and other forms of toxic hatred take hold in regular people who are hurting or angry; how easily extremism, such as antisemitism, can be ignored by those it isn’t directed at; the idea of antisemitic euphemisms and “dog whistles”