Author Interview with Joy Nelkin Wieder
about Rosh Hashanah Square-Circle-Star!

Joy Nelkin Wieder’s new adorable board book is a perfect Rosh Hashana book for little ones. I am pleased to share this interview with her about her career and her newest book, Rosh Hashanah Square-Circle-Star!: A First Shapes Book.

About the Author

About Joy Nelkin Wieder

Joy Nelkin Wieder is an author/illustrator. Her book, The Passover Mouse, received honorable mention for the SCBWI/PJ Library Jewish Stories Award and was a PJ Library selection. Her historical novel, The Secret Tunnel, was selected for PJ Our Way. When she’s not writing or illustrating books for children, she might be painting landscapes or training service dogs. Joy lives outside Boston with her husband and two cats. Visit jnwieder.com for more information.

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Interview with Joy Nelkin Wieder

Q. You spent most of your career writing for school age kids and contributing to poetry collections. A few years ago, you began writing picture books. Your first picture book, The Passover Mouse was an award winner and became a PJ Library selection. What sparked that shift to books for little ones?

A. As an illustrator, I really wanted to write and illustrate my own picture books. While THE PASSOVER MOUSE was illustrated by the talented Shahar Kober, I was able to write and illustrate my next picture book, THE MOUSE WHO LOVED LATKES from Kar-Ben Publishing.

Q. Two of your most recent books are board books from Abrams. Last year’s Hanukkah 1-2-3! Introduces Hanukkah and counting at the same time. Why the shift to board books?

A. I heard that PJ Library was looking for board books for their program, so I set out to write a series of board books. At first, I focused on the various Jewish new year celebrations – new year of the trees, animals and calendar year – while pairing them with preschool concepts. But that was too obscure, so I switched to more familiar holidays. The series has not been picked up by PJ Library yet – but fingers crossed!

Jewish Holiday Concept Book series

Q. Your new book, Rosh Hashanah Square-Circle-Star!  teaches shapes using Rosh Hashanah symbols. What inspired the pairing of shapes and holiday symbols?

A. The concept of shapes for Rosh Hashanah started with the round challah for a circle, and I went from there. The series has not been picked up by PJ Library yet – but fingers crossed!

Q. Your catchy rhymes are paired with Aura Lewis’ simple illustrations in bright bold colors that will catch the eyes of the little ones. Did you have any art notes for her?

A. Yes, the original manuscript had art notes for each spread. Then once we had an illustrator, we went back and forth on the art for several rounds. The spiral shofar was especially tricky! But I couldn’t be happier with the final outcome. Aura did a phenomenal job.

Q. Your other book from last year was The Mouse Who Loved Latkes from Kar-Ben Publishing. This cute story has a timid mouse overcome his fears to make friends with the Katz family! What inspired this story of unlikely friendship between a mouse and a family of cats?

A. My original idea stemmed from an image in my mind of a mouse watching a Jewish family practicing their rituals and being afraid of something unfamiliar. But once I named the family Katz, I knew it had to be actual cats which would make the tension even higher!

Q. As I mentioned in the first question, you have written and illustrated a variety of books. Can you tell us a little about your other works.

A. The first book that I wrote and illustrated was a chapter book based on my family history in WWI Poland, called THE GREAT POTATO PLAN. I did many interviews with my great-uncle who had an amazing memory of his childhood in Warsaw. My next book in the “Fun-to-Read” series by Hachai, THE SECRET TUNNEL, is set in ancient Jerusalem and became a PJ Our Way selection.

Q. Thank you for taking time to talk about your books. I always close by asking authors if there is anything else in the pipeline. Your new board books are subtitled as “A Jewish Holiday Concept Book.” Do you have more holiday concept books in store for your readers? What else might we see soon?

A. Thanks for asking. My agent is currently subbing a graphic novel based on a non-localized Holocaust memorial throughout Europe called Stumbling Stones or Stolpersteine, created by artist Gunter Demnig. As I said, my family is originally from Warsaw. Some family members did not escape WWII and were killed in the Holocaust. May their memory be a blessing.  There are several more Jewish Holiday Concept Books in theory, but we’ll have to wait to see how sales go for the first two.

About The Book

Learning shapes is easy in this unique board book celebrating the holiday of Rosh Hashanah

From baking a circular challah to listening to the blast of a spiral shofar to folding triangular napkins for the dinner table, young readers will grasp the concept of shapes as they learn about the Jewish New Year!

With simple but clever rhyming text paired with stylish, appealing art, this is a perfect starter board book for children just beginning to learn core concepts—and it doubles as the ideal Rosh Hashanah gift.

The book also includes an age-appropriate explanation of Rosh Hashanah and the ways in which the holiday is celebrated.

Storybook Lady
Review

Rosh Hashanah Square-Circle-Star!

This adorable board book pairs the holiday of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah with the concept of shapes. The cute catchy rhymes pair the shapes and symbols illustrated by aura Lewis. Little ones can see the basic shape along with a picture of a holiday symbol. Toddlers can recognize a circle in the round challah or a square in a piece of honey cake. But the author also adds concepts that a preschooler would be working on like a spiral shofar or a cylinder jar of gefilte fish. This cute book is ideal for the holiday or any time of the year.

I have a Goodreads shelf just for Rosh Hashanah books.

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