Edith Tarbescu is the author of 4 children's books and she hopes to soon launch two new books.. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a B.A. in Communications. At Yale Drama School, where she did post graduate work toward an M.F. A, Edith was awarded the Eugene O'Neill Scholarship both years. At Yale she studied playwriting as well as acted in stage productions.

Edith's plays have been performed in various regional theatres around the country and in New York City. She has written 9 scripts for plays or film and contributed items to Connecticut Magazine, The Hartford Current, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, New York Newsday, and The Writer Magazine.

A native New Yorker, Edith was born in Brooklyn, later moved to Connecticut and now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Published Books

Annushka's Voyage by Edith Tarbescu, Lydia Dabcovich (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover - 32 pages (September 1998) Clarion Books; 

   ISBN: 039564366X  

Annushka and Tanya represent all young women who passed through Ellis Island when they came to America. Their hopes for a brighter future were shared by millions of people who left all that they knew and loved to make a new life in a strange land. This book is a charming and thoughtful telling of that immigrant experience. Paul Sigrist, Jr., Director, Ellis Island Oral History Project

Awards:
Chosen by the Children's Book Council as a
"Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies" for 1999

Chosen by the Sydney Taylor Committee as
"One of the Best of The Bunch---Not to Be Misssed."

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist September 1, 1998
Based on the experience of Tarbescu's mother, this picture book is a simple, fictionalized, first-person account of the Jewish immigrant journey from Russia to America. Papa sends steamship tickets from New York City for Anya and her little sister, Tanya. Mama is dead, and Anya must care for her sister on the long journey. When they leave the Russian village, Grandma gives them each a family candlestick; on board the crowded ship, the sisters wave the candlesticks to find each other; when they get to Papa's apartment in the immigrant neighborhood, they light the candles for the Sabbath. Dabcovich's detailed pen-and-ink illustrations with acrylic and colored pencil show the leaving, the long journey over in the hold, the arrival, the terrifying medical inspections on Ellis Island, and the warmth of their reunion with their dad. Add this to all the immigration stories that will get younger readers interested in their own family stories. Hazel Rochman
From Horn Book
Annushka and Tanya await word from their widowed father, who has gone to America, that they can join him. The sisters leave Russia one morning, endure the rigors of the journey and the Ellis Island examinations, and finally fly into their father's arms. The illustrations exude a folksy charm, while the strong, vibrant compositions reveal much detail about the period. -- Copyright 1999 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.

Bring Back My Gerbil!, Hello Reader! by Edith Tarbescu, Steve Bjorkman, Illustrator,   Hardcover, Scholastic, Reading level: Ages 4-8, Edition: Paperback,  48 pages, October 2002

   ISBN: 0439098351 

Best friends Caitlin and Tyler are surprised when she tries an experiment with his gerbil and apparently turns him into a dog.

Reviewer- Albuquerque Journal: "... This is an entertaining book that has fun with science and how friends can play tricks on each other and still be friends. The book is geared to second and third-graders but first-graders and kindergarteners will also enjoy it."

The Crow (Watts Library) by Edith Tarbescu Reading level: Ages 9-12 School & Library Binding - 64 pages Franklin Watts, Incorporated;  
    Hardback (May 11, 2000)
    ISBN: 0531203565
   
    Paperback (Sept.2000) 
    ISBN: 0531164705 

As Europeans began their plunder of the Western Plains states, many tribes, including the Crow, found that their way of life and their land were in great danger. This compelling book, which the author wrote after spending months on a Crow reservation in Montana, compiles the tribe's history, culture, and struggle for survival.

Reviewer: A reader from Arizona
Wow, this gave so much information on the Crows, Ms. Tarbescu has a lot of talent! If you're a teacher or if you're simply interested in the Crow heritage then I highly suggest getting this book

The Boy Who Stuck Out His Tongue : A Yiddish Folk Tale by Edith Tarbescu, Judith Christine Mills (Illustrator) Reading level: Baby-Preschool Hardcover - 32 pages (August 2000) Barefoot Books; 

  ISBN: 1841480673 
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist   Set in a small Hungarian village, this is a lively Jewish folktale in the tradition of the fools of Chelm. "Promise, Schmomise, I'm too busy," the widow's son says when his mother asks him to light the fire. She chases him, he sticks out his tongue at her, and when he falls in the snow, his tongue sticks to the iron fence. All the villagers, including the shoemaker (who thinks he knows about tongues), the butcher, the baker, and the carpenter, try to free the boy, but it's a traveling blacksmith who finally works out the solution: he starts a fire to warm the iron and set the boy free. ... The fun is in the quarrel, the trap, and the silly bumbling of the villagers. Tarbescu tells it with verve, and Mills' big, colorful acrylic pictures in folk-art style show the slapstick action and the warmth of the schlemiels who mean well. Hazel Rochman Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

School Presentations

Edith Tarbescu has a theatre background, as an actress and playwright, and loves interacting with students.

For "Annushka's Voyage,"  (grades 3-5), Ms. Tarbescu shows enlarged vintage photographs of immigrants traveling in steerage, as well as old photos showing life on the Lower East Side of N.Y. at the turn of the 20th century.

For her book "The Crow," a non-fiction book for 9-12 yr. olds about the Crow Nation of Montana, she shows enlarged photographs she took during the annual Crow Fair (Pow-Wow). She also shows students rawhide as well as tanned hide and talks about life on the reservation today.

She is comfortable speaking to adults as well as children.

A day of presentations is $400.for local schools. Half day is $200.

Depending on distance, the fee goes up, plus travel expenses, if necessary.

Budget negotiations can be discussed.

Edith has given many successful presentations including:

She also did a book signing, which was taped by C-SPAN for their show Book T.V. The tape is available through C-SPAN.

Edith visited two boarding schools in Belfast, Ireland during April 2003. She would love to do more international school visits.  Her motto is "Have books, will travel."

Comments on Edith's Presentations

Contact

Edith Tarbescu  
10273 Las Casitas Ct.,. N.E.
Albuquerque, NM 87111

Phone (505) 620-5829

Website: http://www.home.comcast.net/~tarbescu Email: mailto:tarbescu@comcast.net

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