Tall tales and matzah bread? Yes please!

Ann Koffsky is the author and illustrator of more than thirty Jewish books for children. She lives in West Hempstead, New York. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.

THE MIRACLE OF MATZAH PIZZA is a picture book all about the passover tradition of eating nonstop matzah. Young Sammy lasts three days before he revolts and Zaydee tells him a biblical tall tale (yes! you heard that right!). Together they make matzah pizza along with Moses and Miriam. This hilarious story is both written and illustrated by Ann and it’s sure to have young readers laughing at some of the “truths” being stretched. 

Welcome Ann!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your creative journey? When did you start creating art and/or writing picture books? How did that lead to where you are now as the author-illustrator of this book?

Ann: I actually started out as an illustrator. I’ve loved to draw ever since I was in kindergarten and I just drew all my way through school, majored in Art in college and started showing my portfolio around. But when I would show my work to editors and such, many  would say “oh that’s great, we’ll call you when  we have a project that works.” And then I’d wait and wait. I hated waiting so much that I finally decided to start writing!

Me: I love the illustrations you did for this book. Can you talk about your illustration process a little bit? What media did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Are you mainly a traditional or digital illustrator (or a blend of both)?

Ann: I created the illustrations for this book completely digitally in Procreate. I used to only work traditionally, but now I really have fallen in love with Procreate to the point that I actually spent money and bought a whole set of digital brushes from True grit. Those really helped me re-create my traditional styles of textures. 

Me: I have seen a variety of Passover matzah stories, but none of them were told as a tall tale like this one. What gave you the idea to write a book with such a hilarious recipe creation?

Ann: The idea for this book came because I’ve seen a lot of books about kid friendly foods like Mac And Cheese: the Origin Story  by Michael Benner and Bravo Avocado by Chana Steifel. And I thought, hmmmm! Matzah Pizza is a kid friendly food, and it’s definitely what a lot of kids who observe Passover live on for those eight days. Initially, I tried to figure out what the origin story is about Matzah Pizza so I could write a nonfiction book about it, but I just couldn’t find it.  So I moved on to fiction—making it up! And once I was making things up, I could be as silly as I wanted to be, and hence Matzah pizza was invented with Moses and Miriam at the Red Sea during the original Exodus story. 

Me: Ha! I love that. You allude to some very famous biblical characters in your story. What made you decide to include them in the story?

Ann: Well, if you’re going to talk about Passover—Moses and Miriam are the stars of the story! It’s like talking about the Wizard of Oz—ya gotta mention Dorothy.

Me: I love the look of Zaydee and Samuel (his hair!). How did you decide on the look of the characters? Were they inspired by anyone?

Ann: Sammy is not really based on anyone in particular, but I’m the Mom of two amazing sons and am very familiar with the idea that hair does not always stick where you think it should! That’s why I chose for Sammy‘s hair to stick straight up! For the Grandpa, or Zaydee,  I totally had my father in my head. That’s my father‘s hat. He always likes to wears hats like that. And we often call my Dad Zaydee these days because he is many times over a grandfather and great grandfather. So that was personally meaningful to me.  

Me: I love that. Can you talk a little bit about the marketing of your book? How your book came to be at Intergalactic Afikoman publishing in Seattle when you live on the East Coast?

Ann: The book is very universal, but it’s also a very Jewish story, with a lot of Jewish references. I knew that the best home for it would be with a Jewish publisher who “got it!”  I needed one that understood and was sensitive to the fact that it’s a really funny, silly story but that I’m not making fun of Passover—rather, I’m celebrating it with humor. I knew the place that would understand all those nuances would be a  Jewish publisher, and  Intergalactic Aikoman was perfect! You could tell they have that sense of humor just from their name, right? I had a feeling they would appreciate this story, and they did!

Me: You are the author and/or illustrator of over 50 books for kids. Any advice for other aspiring picture book writers and/or illustrators?

Ann: My best advice for both pre-published authors and already published authors is to find your people! Find a writing group to share your work with and get their feedback on it. There’s nothing like having another set of eyes on your stories and having other people who are trying to do this crazy business alongside you. We all need friends!

Here, here! That’s great advice Ann. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book was published in February. It’s a tongue-in-cheek approach to Passover traditions with delicious results. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it.