Now more than ever, it’s crucial for us to foster cultural understanding in our children, and books are an excellent tool to help children learn about not only each other’s culture, but their own. We spoke with four Jewish children’s book authors to hear how they bring their traditions to young audiences and what that representation means to them.
The Authors
Sidura Ludwig
Sidura is an internationally published writer of books for children and adults. She is the recipient of the Vine Book Award, Canadian Jewish Literary Award, and the Sydney Taylor Honor. Her most recent publications are the picture book Rising (Candlewick, 2024) and the middle grade novel Swan: The Girl Who Grew (Nimbus, 2024). Rising is a PJ Library selection for June 2024 and will be translated into four languages. Swan is a Junior Library Guild pick for Spring 2025. She lives in Thornhill, ON, with her family.
Sara Holly Ackerman
Sara Holly Ackerman is a children’s book author and school librarian in Brooklyn, NY. Her picture books include The Gabi That Girma Wore, winner of the Children’s Africana Book Award; Not Just the Driver!, Challah for Shabbat Tonight, Woods & Words: The Story of Poet Mary Oliver, and many others.
Jacqueline Jules
Jacqueline Jules is the author of over fifty books, including My Name is Hamburger, The Porridge-Pot Goblin, The Hardest Word, Picnic at Camp Shalom, Drop by Drop: A Story About Rabbi Akiva, and Light the Menorah: A Hanukkah Handbook. Her book, Moses and the Runaway Lamb, was a Junior Library Guild Selection, and Never Say a Mean Word Again was both a Sydney Taylor Honor winner and National Jewish Book Award finalist. Ten of her books for Jewish children have been selected and distributed by the PJ Library program. Jacqueline lives on Long Island near Manhasset Bay. She enjoys walking along the water every chance she gets.
Charlotte Offsay
Charlotte Offsay was born in England, grew up in Boston, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. She is an active Bookstagrammer, SCBWI, 12×12, and Inked Voices member.
Charlotte is the author of Not A Walk, illustrated by Rotem Teplow (Penguin/Rocky Pond Books, 2027); The Quiet Ocean, illustrated by Abi Cushman (SSBFYR/Beach Lane Books, 2026); Matzah Day, illustrated by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House, 2025); Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2024); The Quiet Forest, illustrated by Abi Cushman (SSBFYR/Paula Wiseman Books, 2024); Challah Day, illustrated by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House, 2023); A Grandma’s Magic, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2022); The Big Beach Cleanup, illustrated by Kate Rewse (Albert Whitman, 2021); and How to Return a Monster, illustrated by Rea Zhai (Beaming Books, 2021). Charlotte is represented by Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary.
The Questions
Do any Jewish themes and traditions influence your writing? Are there specific elements of Jewish culture that you weave into your stories?
Sidura: I think everything I write is influenced by my Jewish identity. Judaism is how I see and experience the world, so whether or not I’m writing something that’s Jewish, I’m always writing through a Jewish lens. My debut picture book, Rising, is about a child and mother waking up early to make challah and get ready for Shabbat. I wrote this during the pandemic when all our routines were turned upside down. But for my family, the one constant that didn’t change was preparing and observing Shabbat from Friday night to Saturday night. Making challah was like an anchor for me during a time when I felt completely afloat.
I didn’t think I had written something Jewish when I wrote my middle grade novel Swan: The Girl Who Grew. Then I realized that even though Anna Swan wasn’t Jewish, I was accessing her spirituality through my own connection to God, community and faith.
Sara: My books, Challah for Shabbat Tonight, The Sweetest Taste (out next year), as well as another unannounced title, all include food and intergenerational relationships. Challah for Shabbat Tonight, illustrated by Alona Millgram, follows a girl and her grandmother as they prepare challah for the Sabbath. It breaks a bit of a picture book “rule” in that there is no conflict — just family, Jewish joy, and the best bread on Earth. The Sweetest Taste is based on my grandmother’s childhood growing up in the family music store. It’s also based on an old Jewish custom of licking honey off a tablet or book to symbolize that learning tastes sweet. As a librarian, I find this tradition especially moving.
Jacqueline: Jewish folklore is a great source of inspiration for me. One of my first books, The Hardest Word, was loosely based on a Hasidic legend. A more recent book, The Porridge-Pot Goblin, was inspired by demons described in a body of rabbinic literature called the Talmud. In addition, I have retold several Bible stories, including the story of Abraham’s wife, Sarah Laughs, which was a Sydney Taylor Honor winner. I am a particular fan of midrash, rabbinic commentary on biblical tracts. Moses and the Runaway Lamb is a midrash about Moses and why he was chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Charlotte: I tend to write about the things that take up the most space in my heart. Being the mother of two elementary school-aged kids, this means that most of my writing is inspired by my experiences with them and whatever is all-consuming in our worlds at that particular moment. As a Jewish family, oftentimes we are focused on preparing for and celebrating the Jewish holidays. I adore the Jewish holidays and particularly enjoy preparing for them in the kitchen with my children. For example, we often make challah for Shabbat, matzah candy for Passover (among many other variations), and latkes for Hanukkah.
These moments of baking and cooking with my children are some of my most treasured moments and, as such, have inspired my recent books, Challah Day, Matzah Day, and Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights. Challah Day is an upbeat rhyming book centered around a family making challah together, preparing for and celebrating Shabbat, just as I do with my own children. Matzah Day is the sequel to Challah Day, and while similarly structured in terms of rhyme and tone, rather than focusing on making matzah revolves instead around the many different ways families can enjoy matzah during Passover. Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights is a story about a family much like my own gathering and celebrating during Hanukkah — making latkes and candy dreidels and enjoying yummy sufganiyot/jelly donuts.
To me, food on the holidays is often infused with meaning, and while cooking and baking with my kids, we inevitably discuss the meanings behind the holidays, and you can find that meaning infused within my books. For example, many believe that the strands of braiding challah symbolize the days of the week being woven together. When playing with matzah in the kitchen, we remember the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt and how the Jewish people eat matzah to remember their plight and lack of time to even let their dough rise — and therefore creating the cracker-like substance we know as matzah. And creating and enjoying oily foods on Hanukkah reminds us of the miracle of the oil lasting for eight nights in the Hanukkah story.
When writing for children, how do you ensure that the portrayal of Jewish identity and traditions is both age-appropriate and authentic in your work?
Sidura: This speaks to understanding your audience with any sort of storytelling. I’ve published adult fiction, picture books, and middle grade. Every time I approach a story, I think about why I want to tell this and who I am speaking to. With Rising, I knew that a lyrical ode to challah baking and Shabbat would resonate with young readers and caregivers who share all sorts of traditions between generations. Similarly, I have two more picture books coming out that centre on the Jewish holidays of Sukkot and Chanukah and are told from the perspective of a young child. There is something fresh and exciting for me about exploring Jewish traditions (like sukkah building or a Chanukah party) from the eyes of a child who is both rooted in the understanding of the rituals while also excited about participating with agency for perhaps the first time.
Sara: I approach the age-appropriateness of Jewish content the same way I approach age-appropriateness in any book. I think about the intended audience and what I want them to know, understand, and feel. I am a school librarian with a background in early childhood education. I read, interact, and learn with children all day long, so writing books for children feels like a very natural extension of that.
As for authenticity, I think about my own experiences with Jewish identity and the traditions within my own family as a starting point. That doesn’t mean I don’t have to research. I do! I consult with clergy, historians, and archivists, read books and articles, and work with critique partners to ensure that my work is authentic, believable, and logical. People practice Judaism in different ways. I am only portraying one experience, but it has to make sense to the reader, whether or not we share the exact same background.
Jacqueline: When I write, I spend a great deal of time researching traditional sources. I also consult others with Jewish knowledge for accuracy. Jewish observance is an integral part of my life. The stories I write for Jewish children reflect many of my own experiences.
Charlotte: Having two children in Jewish day school allows me to be continually surrounded by young Jewish children and celebrations/traditions. This means that my books often reflect my own family’s lived experience. That said, I often will have other Jewish children’s book writers read and critique my work to ensure that it is authentic. When writing any book, Jewish or otherwise, I find that it is important to look at everything through a child’s lens and try to write in a way that a young child will not only understand but also enjoy.
One way of doing this is the simple rhyming meter that I use in Challah Day and Matzah Day. The simple meter is easy for the young target audience to follow and anticipate, and also fun for the reader. I have found that it can be challenging to accurately explain or provide enough detail on a holiday in the back matter while still being age-appropriate. Thankfully, I have been able to use the rabbis at our temple/my children’s school as a resource, as they are well-versed in this area. I believe that relying on the community any book is centered around for accuracy and authenticity is essential.
Children’s books can often have a unique way of shaping young minds. How do you think Jewish children’s books can help children better understand their own identity and the cultures around them?
Sidura: I remember when I was a young reader, loving Judy Blume because I could see myself in her characters. When Margaret wrestled with her relationship with God, she mirrored my own questions. When Sally J. Freedman was figuring out her own identity post-World War Two, her pretend play and family relationships rang true to me in the mid-1980s. Seeing myself and my community in books meant I could see myself and my place in the rest of the world.
We need Jewish books because Jewish kids have to see their diverse communities and identities reflected back at them. Similarly, when other children read authentic and diverse portrayals of Jewish experience, they understand that there is more than one Jewish story. I’ve had the privilege of visiting many elementary schools to share Rising since it came out last spring. So many of the children I speak to respond to my book with stories of the special foods they share with their families and communities. Those kinds of cross-cultural connections create understanding and empathy.
Sara: Jewish books show Jewish children that their lives and experiences are valued, but these books also expose all children to beliefs and traditions that are part of the diversity of their world. Jewish books also provide an opportunity for children to find connections between cultures. Challah for Shabbat Tonight is about baking a traditional Jewish bread, but countless cultures have bread-making traditions, with recipes often passed down from one generation to the next. My book contains both the cultural specificity of this particular recipe as well as the universal themes of food and family.
Jacqueline: It is often said that children’s books should be both mirrors and windows for young readers. While it is enriching to learn about other cultures, children also need the opportunity to see themselves in the books they read. Jewish children feel validated when they read books with Jewish characters. Representation is a powerful tool to make all children feel welcome in the wonderful world of reading.
Charlotte: I believe that every child deserves to see themselves reflected in the pages of a book. Jewish children’s books can offer this to Jewish children in addition to offering a window for children from other backgrounds to better understand them. For example, my recent Hanukkah book, Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights, offers a mirror for children similarly celebrating the holiday by baking oily treats and celebrating with their family, as well as offering a window to those unfamiliar with the holiday. Children of other backgrounds reading the book are able to see how Jewish children celebrate, learn about why they celebrate, and form connections between the underlying similarities with their own cultures and traditions.
Similarly, I strongly believe it is essential for Jewish children to read and see other identities and cultures. With my own children, for example, I have used picture books to introduce them to other cultures and their celebrations, such as the Lunar New Year or the Day of the Dead. This has helped them better understand the celebrations of some of their teammates, family, friends, and others they have and will encounter. In this way, children’s books help build universal empathy and understanding toward one another.
How do you approach the challenge of writing diverse characters, especially those who may have different cultural backgrounds?
Sidura: I ask questions, and I research widely. If necessary, I use a sensitivity reader. But before I get to that point, I take my time and I explore my character and their place in the wider story I’m trying to tell. It’s okay that I do not have all the answers when I start writing. That’s what drafting is for. What’s important is that I remain curious and realistic, which helps me write from a place of authenticity.
Sara: Research is the first way I approach virtually any writing challenge. Writing characters who have a different cultural background than I do requires additional care. The Gabi That Girma Wore (illustrated by Netsanet Tesfay) is set in Ethiopia, and although I lived there for years, I am not Ethiopian. I co-wrote this book with Fasika Adefris, an Ethiopian colleague from my years of teaching in Addis Ababa. Our different perspectives and strengths helped us create the text together. Even then, we used a sensitivity reader to check for anything we may have missed in our portrayal of weaving traditions.
Jacqueline: I submit my stories for critique to both Jewish and non-Jewish readers. A Hebrew word that I understand because it has always been a part of my life may not be self-evident to someone unfamiliar with Jewish practice. Critique partners from different cultural backgrounds point out descriptions or terms that could be confusing to someone who doesn’t share my personal experience.
Charlotte: I believe it is important to accurately and authentically reflect the background of the characters in books. For me personally, this has meant asking others from those backgrounds to read and provide feedback. My agent is a strong advocate for this as well and helps me to advocate for diverse character illustrations and for my work to additionally be read by sensitivity readers on the publisher’s end when applicable.
In anticipation of Jewish American Heritage Month, are there any books or authors you’re currently reading or looking forward to?
Sidura: I’m a big fan of Josh Levy’s middle grade fiction. He writes funny, sharp characters and brings in traditional and secular Jewish communities in an authentic way. Similarly, I love Isaac Blum’s YA novels, which do a deep dive into Orthodoxy with a lot of compassion. In terms of picture books, I’m looking forward to Carol Matas’s Kai and the Golem!
Sara: Since the Sydney Taylor Book Awards and National Jewish Book Awards were announced earlier this year, I have been trying to catch up on titles I had missed, especially in the middle grade space. I most recently read Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar and Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy.
Jacqueline: A Ring for a King: A Tale of King Solomon by Martha Seif Simpson and D. Yael Bernhard is coming out April 1, 2025. This picture book is based on one of my favorite folktales about King Solomon. I am also looking forward to reading the 2025 winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards, presented each year to outstanding Jewish literature for children.
Charlotte: I spend a lot of time reading and reviewing picture books online and run the Instagram page @picturebookrecommendations. While it is important to me to review books reflecting all backgrounds, I do particularly seek out any new Jewish children’s books and books by Jewish creators whenever possible and review them for Jewish Heritage Month and beyond. Last year, I highlighted inspiring Jewish women during Jewish Heritage Month, which you can view here. A couple of recently reviewed favorites are a board book, Shabbat Shalom by Suzy Ultman; and Write Here Write Now by Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Andreana Boatta.
Bonus Questions
What would be the most important piece of advice you would give to an aspiring author in writing children’s books?
Sidura: Read what you want to write. And write what you needed to read when you were a kid. Chances are, there is someone out there who needs to read that now.
Sara: Read as much current children’s literature as you can. Write a lot and accept that early drafts may not be very good. The more I read and the more I write and rewrite, the more I develop my craft and my own voice.
Jacqueline: Be persistent. Good writing requires many rewrites. If you believe in your project, don’t be afraid to turn it inside out to create a better story. Some of my books have gone through 50 complete revisions before publication.
Charlotte: The very best thing I did for my career was to find critique partners whose work and advice resonated with me. It took some time to find critique partners who felt like the right fit in terms of critique style and exchange frequency. It took courage to not only put myself out there and ask strangers to read my work, but also to recognize when a critique relationship was and was not working. I am extraordinarily grateful for my critique partners, who have not only offered invaluable advice and support, but they have also become my closest friends, and I wouldn’t have stayed on the publishing rollercoaster without them. I highly recommend finding critique partners who are supportive and the right fit for you.
If you could trade places with one of your characters for a day, who would it be, and what would you do with the day off?
Sidura: I would trade places with my fictionalized version of Anna Swan, who lived in the mid-1800s and grew to be almost 8 feet tall. I spent three years imagining what it was like for her to be a 12-year-old and taller than everyone she knew. I’d love to experience her life for just one day.
Sara: I would love to be the little girl in Challah for Shabbat Tonight for the day. I would make challah, of course! And I would spend the day with my grandma. It’s been many years since I have gotten to spend the day with my grandmothers.
Jacqueline: My Name is Hamburger is my most autobiographical work. In fictional form, it recalls my own childhood in a small southern town as the Jewish child of a German-speaking immigrant. The book is dedicated to my father. If I traded places with the main character, Trudie Hamburger, for a day, I would have the opportunity to be ten years old again. As a senior citizen now, it would be fun to feel that young once more, if only for a day.
Charlotte: What a fun question! I adore the upbeat loving family that Jason cooked up in Challah Day and would love to leap from ingredient to ingredient and swim in a sea of chocolate chips the way the narrator in our book does!
Thanks to these amazing authors for sharing their thoughts! Their work is sure to inspire Jewish children and families to celebrate their culture and take pride in their heritage.
Find Sidura Ludwig here.
Find Sara Holly Ackerman here.
Find Jacqueline Jules here.
Find Charlotte Offsay here.
Want more excellent insights from fantastic authors? Check out our roundtable discussion on representation in children’s literature here.
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