This year Hanukkah starts on Christmas day so there’s still plenty of time to nab some of the fantastic picture books coming out this year, like the one I’ll talk about today.
Welcome back Rebecca!
Me: Little dreidel is adorable. She’s the perfect introduction to the holiday from a young reader’s perspective. What gave you the idea?
Rebecca: Thanks so much for your kind words, Jena!
I’ve always wanted to write a Hanukkah book. It was one of my favorite holidays as a kid, and one of my kids’ faves as well – I mean, who doesn’t like a holiday that includes fried potato pancakes (latkes), doughnuts (sufganiot) and EIGHT nights of presents, amiright?!
The trick was finding a new angle, as there are MANY Hanukkah books that come on the market each year. How could I find an angle that hasn’t been done before?
My inspiration for this book, weirdly enough, came from trying to teach my son to ride a bike for the first time. It was during the heart of the pandemic, in the summer of 2020, and my then 9-year-old had yet to learn. He’d shown no interest in bikes when he was younger, and since he always enjoyed many other activities, we didn’t push him. But when the pandemic hit and there was NOTHING to do, I got tired of the “I’m BORED!”s and we got down to work.
After only one try, my son yells: “I can’t do this! This is stupid! I hate this!”
I explained that learning a new skill takes time, patience and practice, but he wanted none of it. Still, after some tears, he got back on and tried again. And again. And again. Within 10 minutes he had it!
Soon after that, I was flipping through my idea notebook and came across one that said: “dreidel who has trouble spinning” and I immediately thought about the experience teaching my son. I thought about how a new dreidel might feel the first time she tries to spin and how difficult and frustrating that might be (I often think about how objects feel!). From there, I wrote my first draft.
Me: I love that. You incorporated Yiddish all throughout the story. Was it harder to include that in your rhyme scheme? Were there many revisions to make it work?
Rebecca: Yiddish has always been a part of my family’s culture. My dad speaks Yiddish fluently, and growing up he would often sprinkle in Yiddish words and sayings mixed with his English. My late grandmother would call me her “shayna maideleh.” Even my mom, who doesn’t speak fluently, used to call my sons “ketzelah” when they were little. I always thought the words were super fun to say. My personal favorites are “plotz!” and “kvetch.”
But to answer your question, no, I didn’t find it any more difficult to include Yiddish words in my meter or rhyme scheme than I do English words. Writing in rhyme is a challenge in ANY language! Lol. But just like in English, all Yiddish words that have more than one syllable have a primary stress, so it was just a matter (as it always is when writing in rhyme) of placing the words in the correct order in each line to make the rhythm feel natural when the lines are read.
The real problem is that by including words in a language that isn’t familiar to everyone, I’m unable to guarantee that a reader will pronounce the words correctly. And a reader mispronouncing a word will definitely throw off the meter! This is why, for example, I chose to call my grandma character “Bubbie” rather than the more common English spelling (“Bubbe”). I was worried that readers unfamiliar with Yiddish would mispronounce the latter as “BUB.”
In fact, I worried a lot about readers being able to pronounce the words correctly (making sure my meter and rhyme is flawless is very important to me) which is why I was adamant that we include a pronunciation guide in this book (I see that’s your next question so I’ll save the rest.) 🙂
Me: I love that the book comes with a glossary and pronunciation of Yiddish terms in the back matter. Was this your idea or your editor’s? Was that included from the first draft?
Rebecca: This was my idea and yes it was included in my original submission.
I’d actually included a bunch of other back matter that got cut, but I insisted the glossary and pronunciation guide stay (for the reasons mentioned above). In fact, I’d even asked for the guide be moved to the front of the book so that readers could know going in how to pronounce the words (I’d successfully requested this for my book AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? which includes some Hebrew words).
However, while the Scholastic team tried to make it work for LITTLE DREIDEL, it was decided in the end that the guide was better in the back. Instead, we added a “burst” on the title page that reads: “Yiddish glossary and pronunciation guide in the back!” so readers know to look for it.
Me: That was a good idea. What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?
Rebecca: I didn’t have any surprises in the writing of the original story, but there was a HUGE surprise that happened at the very last minute. Literally days before the book was set to ship to the printer, we found a MAJOR mistake!
The story, as originally submitted, took place on the first night of Hanukkah. But the final illustrations showed the menorah with ALL the candles lit, which only happens on the very LAST night!
I can’t tell you how many times I looked at those spreads and NEVER once noticed this error! Thankfully, at the final hour my editor (who is NOT Jewish!) noticed it and asked me if we needed to change this somehow. Knowing that it would be much more difficult for Taryn to change the illustrations, I decided that I would try to change the text so that the story could take place on the LAST night instead.
Thankfully, there were only two stanzas that made reference to it being the first night so it wasn’t a complete overhaul. But because the book is in rhyme, making the changes was NOT at all quick or easy. I literally stayed up all night trying to fix it in time. But I’m SO glad I did because the book is so much better for it!
Me: Yes they are! The illustrations by Taryn Johnson are also perfect! I can’t imagine a dreidel any other way now. There are so many fun details included in the backgrounds and I love the color palette. Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?
Rebecca: Oh, I agree! I absolutely love the color palette that Taryn chose for the book! (Purple is my favorite color so I especially love all the purple and how it pops against the yellows, blues and teals). My favorite details are the little framed photos of Little Dreidel and Bubbie in the stairwell and in Little Dreidel’s bedroom, and I especially love “The Spinners” poster on Little Dreidel’s bedroom wall! (Cracks me up every time!)
I also love the spread in the beginning where Little Dreidel is in the bathroom with a hair dryer getting “dry and ready”! I have to take credit for the original idea for this scene, but Taryn brought it to life beyond anything I could have dreamed. It’s perfect. I particularly love how Little Dreidel has a towel wrapped around her middle. So funny!
Me: I have always wanted to work with Scholastic books since I fell in love with their book fairs as a child. Can you talk about the marketing of your book? How did it end up with Scholastic?
Rebecca: OMG, I too was OBSESSED with the Scholastic book flyers and fairs as a kid! Having a book published by Scholastic is literally a dream come true.
How’d it end up with Scholastic? I mean, how does any book land with the right editor and publisher? Basically, my agent sent the right manuscript to the right editor at the right time! The book initially went on submission to 11 editors. Several said it “wasn’t right for them” or passed because they already had too many Hanukkah books in the pipeline. One editor even said: “I didn’t find this manuscript particularly special” OUCH!
But after a couple months, we had one editor tell us they wanted to bring it to acquisitions, and so my agent nudged all the others who still had it. That’s when my acquiring editor at Scholastic said that she too thought the book was “adorable” and was bringing it to HER acquisitions. A little over a month later, my agent called me to tell me they were making an offer! (I remember being in the car after dropping my son at baseball practice and literally SCREAMING! Don’t worry, I pulled over!)
This book was specifically made as a “Scholastic Book Fair and Book Club” book, even though it is, of course, also now available everywhere else books are sold! I mention it because, unlike other books that typically come out first in hardcover, this book was only produced and released in softcover and is listed at a much lower price point, with the intention of selling a larger quantity. I really hope that means that MORE copies of the book will get into the hands of little readers!
In terms of other marketing, I haven’t been told what else Scholastic plans to do, to be honest. Personally, I’ve just been getting the word out on my own with blogs (like yours!) and social media. 🙂
Me: I love that this is a holiday book that isn’t overtly about Hanukkah. It’s more about the SEL notion of persistence when things are hard. Why was this important to you to share with young readers?
Rebecca: As I mentioned in the anecdote I shared about my son learning to ride his bike, the feeling of frustration when trying (and initially failing) to learn a new skill is SO universal – both with kids and adults.
Indeed, anyone who has ever wanted to achieve ANY goal must follow the same checklist: 1) practice, 2) practice, 3) practice. Whining and moping and feeling sorry for ourselves never works. We have to put in the effort. Period. There are no shortcuts. I wanted kids to see through Little Dreidel’s story that if they’ve ever felt that kind of frustration with the process, they aren’t alone. But that doesn’t mean they won’t get there. With enough time and practice, they CAN literally achieve anything they set their mind to.
I love that. Thank you for stopping by my blog again Rebecca.
Dear readers, this book was released into the world in September. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you might want to track down a copy. It’s a sweet look at persistence told through a young dreidel’s perspective. You won’t want to miss it!