A mother’s celebration of the power and wonder of lifelong reading

Zibby Owens, My Most Anticipated Books 2025

In Children of the Book, Ilana Kurshan reveals how literature weaves an invisible thread through the tapestry of family life. Kurshan, a mother of five living in Jerusalem, struggles to balance her passion for books with her responsibilities as a parent. Gradually she learns how to relate to reading not as a solitary pursuit and an escape from the messiness of life, but rather as a way of forging connection and teaching independence. Introducing her children to sacred and secular literature―including the beloved classics of her childhood―she becomes both a better mother and a more compassionate reader.

Chief among the books Kurshan reads with her children is the Torah, whose ancient wisdom illuminates her family's path. Structured in five parts corresponding to the first five books of the Bible, this memoir traces the profound parallels between the biblical narrative and the daily rhythms of parenthood – from the first picture books that create the world through language for little babies, to the bittersweet moment our children begin reading on their own, leaving us behind, atop the mountain, as they enter new lands without us. A luminous meditation on how shared stories become the foundation for family bonds, Children of the Book celebrates a life richly lived through literature.