A small brown mouse won the judges’ hearts at this year’s Jewish Children’s Book Awards.
Joe Yaffie, 31, took first prize with ‘Mensch the Mouse’, a tale about the values of kindness and sharing, weaved around a Shabbat tradition.
A copywriter from Glasgow with an MA in creative writing from Brunel University, Yaffie said: “When I saw the competition advertised, I thought it had me written all over it. When I was younger, there weren’t an awful lot of Jewish children stories available to me.
“I grew up in a small, tight-knit Jewish community in Glasgow that celebrated togetherness and I tried to emulate the values I grew up with in the story. I always wanted to be called a “mensch” – it was a great thing to be called – it meant you were a good person, a good egg. I thought it was a perfect name for a character and I liked the idea of a cute mouse living in a shul and it all just came together.”
Lihie Jacob
Lihie Jacob won the illustrators prize for her interpretation of the Japanese proverb of the Three Wise Monkeys.
The 39-year-old Israeli illustrator living in Berlin took her pet cat, Rufus, as inspiration for her winning illustration, a feline interpretation of the Japanese proverb of the Three Wise Monkeys – “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” featuring three intertwined cats playing with a ball of wool.
A former student of visual communications at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem said: “I was trying to think, what does the proverb actually mean? To me, it meant people looking away from something that they’re seeing or hearing or not speaking up.
Three Wise Cats. Lihie Jacob
“Then I saw my cat who is very fat and very lazy and I thought that was a playful way of communicating the idea to children – a cat putting his paws over his ears and in his mouth. Truly he was my inspiration!”
Joe Yaffie and Lihie Jacob will both receive £1,000 and the winning story will be considered for publication by Green Bean Books.
The awards were judged by author and director of acquisitions at PJ Library Chris Barash; publisher of Green Bean Books Michael Leventhal; illustrator and writer Omer Hoffmann; associate curator of illustrated children’s books at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Orna Granot and writer, journalist and broadcaster Hepzibah Anderson.
Joe Yaffie
Leventhal said: “We were once again bowled over by the quality of the entries. Both Joe Yaffie and Lihie Jacob are worthy winners. I can’t wait for their works to reach a wider audience. They have set a high bar for what Jewish children’s literature and artwork should be.”
Alison Green and Sasha Maisel were shortlisted for the writing award and Cecilia Caporlingua and Shachar Bechor for the illustrators prize.
The 2026 JCBA competition will open in April; for more details click here
