Hannah Shafiroff, "My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays" (Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2025)

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Mel Rosenberg
Guest: Hannah Shafiroff
Episode: "My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays" (Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2025)
Date: September 19, 2025

In this episode, Mel Rosenberg interviews author and illustrator Hannah Shafiroff about her debut picture book, "My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays." The conversation explores the creation of her book, her journey as a writer and artist, and her approach to bringing Jewish traditions to young readers of all backgrounds. Shafiroff describes the book as both an accessible foundation for Jewish holidays and an inclusive celebration of joy, family, and culture.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis & Purpose of the Book

• Debut Work: It's Shafiroff's first book both written and illustrated by her. (02:58)
• Scope & Approach: The book is a 64-page, fully illustrated "treasury" of Jewish holidays. Unlike narrative-driven children's books about holidays, hers focuses on the meaning, rituals, and ways of celebrating.

  “I wanted to create something that was more about the meaning behind the rituals, why we celebrate, how we celebrate…for people who maybe aren't as familiar…or families just starting out on that journey.” — Hannah Shafiroff (03:05)

• Target Audience: Geared for all families—Jewish, interfaith, classrooms, and non-Jewish families who want to learn about Jewish traditions.

  “I wanted it to be joyful…not seen as a burden…something that was a joy to be done together with family and with community…” (03:24)

• Inclusive Structure: No "back matter"—everything needed is in the book: pronunciations, dates, meanings.

  “Everything that you’d need to know is contained within the pages… It’s just going to draw you in a warm hug, I hope.” (04:36)

2. The Art of the Book

• Creator as Illustrator: Shafiroff did all illustrations with acrylic gouache and colored pencil. (05:04)
• Timeline: She created around 30 illustrations in 8 weeks.

  “I only had eight weeks to do the illustrations.” (05:22)

• Favorite Illustrations:
  • Shabbat candle scene: Emphasizing warmth and family.
  • Rosh Hashanah shofar: Dynamic visual spanning the page.

    “The Shabbat candles and the light just wraps all the families around like a ribbon.” (05:13)

3. The Publishing Journey

• Miracle of Book Deals:

  “Having a book deal is a miracle. It's almost like the light that lasted eight days on Hanukkah. How did your miracle happen?” — Mel Rosenberg (05:50)

• Development:
  • Shafiroff’s agent sent her work to publishers; initial attention was for her series of Jewish holiday illustrations.
  • Proposal for a "treasury" created in 6 weeks.
  • Received contract from Bloomsbury after some months. (06:04–07:23)
• Supportive Editorial Team:

  “[Megan Abate] took a chance on me. I had no publishing credentials…she and the team saw something in this, and I’m forever grateful…” (07:28)

4. Personal Background & Influences

• Homeschooling Experience:
  • Avoided traditional school from an early age due to discomfort.
  • Benefited from supportive parents who valued her drawing.

    “It was never like ‘put down the crayons and go do something productive.’ No, they thought it was great…” (08:08)

  • Most of K-12 spent homeschooling, then community college via proficiency exam.

    “I was happier at home. I did better there…my mom…was able to be my teacher...” (08:53)

• Art Education:
  • Discovered joy in college art classes.
  • Attended Cal State Long Beach for illustration.
  • Created pandemic-themed art for her final project.

    “I finished college during the COVID-19 pandemic…turned out really good.” (11:04–13:59)

5. Love for Children’s Books

• Motivation:

  “I like to create things that are happy and whimsical and joyful because then I feel those feelings.” (14:17)

• Emotional Investment:

  “If I'm drawing a kid who's having a tantrum...I got to put on some happy music or else I'm going to get way too affected by this…” (14:17)

6. Finding an Agent

• Serendipitous Discovery:
  • Agent Sorcha Fairbank found her through Instagram's "kidlit postcards."
  • Initial email seemed like spam—her father confirmed its legitimacy.
  • Signed with her at end of the year.

    “I got a follow from someone I didn’t recognize. It would be my agent…but at the time I was like, ‘Who is this?’” (15:28–18:01)

7. About the Book’s Content

• Launch Timing: Released just before Rosh Hashanah. (19:47–19:56)
• Order of Holidays: The book starts with Shabbat, the "foundation of Judaism."

  “More than the Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.” (20:19)

• Childhood Celebrations: Family attended synagogue, celebrated all holidays joyfully, saw being Jewish as a blessing, not a burden.

  “It was seen as a blessing and not a curse to be Jewish, and I took that to heart.” (21:11)

• Favorites:
  • Favorite to celebrate: Shabbat, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot (weather permitting!). (22:56–24:09)
  • Favorite to illustrate: Passover (frogs!).

8. Reading from the Book

• Sample Read – Rosh Hashanah:

  “We eat crisp apples dipped in golden honey to symbolize a sweet new year…round challah to symbolize never-ending goodness in the new year.…we add raisins—extra joy and sweetness.” (24:58–25:27)

9. Research Process

• Fact-Checking:
  • Most knowledge came from her own practice, but required extensive verification.

    "You ask 10 rabbis, you're going to get 12 different opinions." (25:34)

• Purpose:

  “This is just a diplomatic into the traditions and culture…it’s not the Talmud…It’s my little book of big Jewish holidays…to spark a little joy.” (25:34)

10. Future Works & Creative Process

• Fiction Plans: Working on fiction books; more Jewish stories to come (26:42).
• Writing & Illustrating: Prefers to both write and illustrate her own stories; words and images are conceived together.
• Openness to Illustration: Open to illustrating for other authors, but her writing is deeply entwined with her art (27:17).

11. Advice for Aspiring Creators

• Persistence and Joy:

  “You have to keep on creating because you never know what's going to happen. You have to find the joy in that.” (28:22)

• Motivational Songs:

  “I find listening to motivational songs really helpful…when you sing those songs out loud…maybe you're, like, dancing a little bit. It does something to the brain chemistry…” (30:06)

• Celebrate Small Wins:

  “Celebrate every little win, even if it's just with some ice cream…whatever feels right…reminds you why you're doing this.” (31:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why she wrote and illustrated the book:

  “I wanted something that they could, like, dip their toes into…I wanted it to be joyful.” — Hannah Shafiroff (03:08)

• On Shabbat’s importance:

  “More than the Jews have kept Shabbat. Shabbat has kept the Jews.” — Hannah Shafiroff, quoting tradition (20:19)

• On the research process:

  “You ask 10 rabbis, you're going to get 12 different opinions.” — Hannah Shafiroff (25:34)

• On creating:

  “You have to keep on making. You have to keep writing the words, drawing the pictures. You have to keep on creating because you never know what's going to happen…if I'm not creating, something's off.” — Hannah Shafiroff (28:22)

• On overcoming rejection:

  “Every time you get rejected, you listen to a happy song. I love it.” — Mel Rosenberg (31:03)

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Key Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |:-------------:|:-------------------------------------------------------| | 01:26 | Host Mel Rosenberg introduces Hannah Shafiroff | | 02:58–04:22 | Hannah describes the book and its purpose | | 05:04–05:32 | Art process and illustrations showcase | | 06:04–07:47 | The road to publication and working with Bloomsbury | | 08:08–13:59 | Personal background, homeschooling, and art education | | 14:06–15:02 | Why children's books and art bring joy | | 15:28–18:01 | How she found her agent | | 19:47–20:56 | Launch timing and book’s starting point (Shabbat) | | 21:11–22:51 | Celebrating holidays in childhood and adulthood | | 22:56–24:24 | Favorite holidays to illustrate and celebrate | | 24:36–25:27 | Excerpt reading: Rosh Hashanah | | 25:34–26:37 | Research process and handling Jewish diversity | | 26:42–27:17 | On writing fiction and illustrating | | 28:22–32:21 | Advice for aspiring writers/illustrators and motivation | | 33:59–34:08 | Closing remarks and mutual appreciation |

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Final Thoughts

This episode is an engaging, heartfelt dialogue about cultural celebration, the creative process, and the realities of making it in children’s publishing. Hannah Shafiroff’s passion for Jewish tradition, illustration, and inclusive storytelling shines throughout. Her optimism, practical advice, and personal warmth are matched by Mel Rosenberg’s humor and genuine admiration.

Who should listen:
— Parents (Jewish and non-Jewish), educators, aspiring children’s illustrators and writers, or anyone interested in the intersection of culture, joy, and art for young readers.

Transcript

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[Mel Rosenberg]

Welcome to the New Books Network. Hello to the Dear Hannah Safiroff.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Hello, Mel Rosenberg.

[Mel Rosenberg]

It's so great to you. Usually the people I get to interview, I'm not fortunate enough to actually meet them, but you and I spent the whole week together last hammered highlights and you are just as bubbly and the generous and the beautiful as you look on the. On the zoom.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Thank you. Thank you. And likewise to you.

[Mel Rosenberg]

There's no comparison here, Anna. These vacuous comments aren't going to help. It's so. There's three wonderful reasons for having you on the show, beyond the fact that we're buddies. The first is that this is your debut picture book that you've both written and illustrated. And secondly, it's a book that's very close to my heart. It's a book about Jewish holidays. It's called the Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays. But it's a big book. And thirdly, it's published by Bloomsbury, which is not necessarily a publisher of Jewish children's books. You have a lot of explaining to do, dear. Start by talking about the book and then we'll talk about your life and how the this wonderful book came to be. This is well before you start. I forgot. I forgot. I forgot to Introduce me. I was so excited about you. I'm Mel Rosenberg, and I am the host of the Children's Literature Channel of the New Books Network. There, I've said it. Hannah, the microphone is yours.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

All right. This is. It's like you said, it's my debut book. I wrote and I illustrated it. It's 64 pages long, and it is the first fully illustrated treasury of Jewish holidays in a bit of time. I. There's so many beautiful books about holidays that have a wonderful narrative and story to it, but I wanted to create something that was more about the meaning behind the rituals, why we celebrate, how we celebrate, to really give people who maybe aren't as familiar with the holidays, or maybe it's families with young children and they're just starting out on that journey. I wanted to give them a base and a foundation, just like a little smidge. You can spend your whole life learning about these holidays and about the rituals and traditions and customs. But I just wanted someone. Something that they could, like, dip their toes into. And I wanted it to be joyful. I didn't want the Judaism. I didn't want the traditions and everything to be seen as a burden. I wanted it to be seen as something that was a joy to be done together with family and with community. And I also wanted to make something that was friendly for interfaith families, for classrooms for even families who aren't Jewish. But maybe they have Jewish friends.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I would say, Hannah, especially for families who aren't Jewish. This is really a great portal for children from all over the world who want to learn.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yeah.

[Mel Rosenberg]

About how and what Jewish children celebrate.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

That's why there's no back matter to the book. Everything that you'd need to know is contained within the pages. There's easy pronunciations. There's dates, there's. There's meaning to everything. It's. It goes through how we celebrate, why we celebrate. And it's all fully illustrated. So it's just going to draw you in a warm hug, I hope.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Let's. Let's now give some kudos to the wonderful illustrator who happens to be you, and wave your book around and show us a few of the lovely.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Here's the book, and I'll show you a few of the illustrations. I did all the illustrations with acrylic gouache and colored pencil. You can see it. So this one is one of the Shabbat illustrations. I had a lot of fun doing this one because it's got the Shabbat candles and the light just wraps all the Families around like a ribbon. I only had eight weeks to do the illustrations. There are about 30 illustrations in the book, and I did them all in eight weeks.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Incredible.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

The one for Rosh Hashanah, so we got a big shofar that goes across the page. We got the congregation, got some instruments up here for the holiday, and. Yeah, so I hope everybody likes it as much as I enjoyed making it.

[Mel Rosenberg]

It's obvious that you enjoyed making it. Let's now talk a little bit about how it happened. Having a book deal is a miracle. It's almost like the. The light that lasted eight days on Hanukkah. How did your miracle happen?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

It happened. It started about three years ago. So I was already working with my agent for almost a year at that point. And this was in the fall of 22. She. My agent, had sent out my work to art directors and editors, and they really liked my work. They didn't want to take in on anything that she had sent them, but they liked some illustrations. I had done a series of illustrations for the Jewish holidays. I had done a mentorship with the illustration department podcast, Giuseppe Castellano, and I made a series of. I think it was 12 holiday illustrations. And a lot of a few art directors were like, oh, this is really cool. Let us know if she does anything with this, because we really. We like this. This is really nice. And so my agent said, how about you make a proposal for a treasury of Jewish holidays? And I said, okay. So I put together in about six weeks a proposal for this book, and I did that. I finished that around. Around the high holidays of 22, and I got the contract for this in 23. It took a few months, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[Mel Rosenberg]

It's incredible. And who was the editor that you worked with at Bloomsbury?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yeah, I worked with Megan Abate, and she was absolutely amazing. She was so sweet. She was so supportive. She took a chance on me. I had no publishing credentials to my name whatsoever, but she and the team saw something in this, and I'm forever grateful for that.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Okay, so I want to take you to a little baby Hannah. And then following that, we'll talk about how you found the Sorca Fairbank, your agent. Let's start with baby Hannah. My theory, Those of us who write picture books are stuck as young children somewhere in our psyche. Yeah, yeah, you can dispel the notion, or.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

I was always drawing when I was little, and my parents always encouraged it. It was never like, put down the crayons and go do something productive. No, they thought that it was productive. They thought it was great. They thought it was a great, a great use of my time. And when I was little, I would try to. It wasn't really writing stories, but I would try to like put a book together. I would take cardboard and try to cut like a cover and a spine and a back cover. Like I wanted the whole thing, the whole nine yards. And I was. And so I would try to make little books. I, I was mostly homeschooled growing up and so that gave me time.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Why was that?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Hated school. Oh my gosh. I probably shouldn't talk about that. As a children's book illustrator was like.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I think that you should.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yeah. I was not super happy in school. I was happier at home. I did better there. And I was. I'm lucky enough that my mom, she wasn't in a job, she was a homemaker, she was taking care of me. That's a full time job. And so she was able to be my teacher for the time that I was in grade school. And I spent. Let's spend some time in the morning doing some math, my English history. And then I would spend a lot of time making art. I would do sports in Hebrew school and see friends and that stuff too. But it gave me time to do what I loved, which was drawing and painting and creating.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wow. When did you end up going to school?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

So I went to half of kindergarten. I dropped out after spring break. I'm a kindergarten dropout. I did not. I was. It was not for me. It was not for me. Well, it wasn't.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Hannah. I've never into. Hated kindergarten. It never occurred to me as a five year old that I could actually protest. How do you have this common sense as a five year old to say, oh, this is not for me?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

My, my parents, I think had the idea. It was. What do you, what do I know when I'm five years old? My parents had the idea and I think they. I don't really remember it, but as my mom would tell me, they basically asked me, do you want to go back to school? It was like the spring holidays. They were like, do you want to go back to school? And I was like, no. And they were like, okay then. And I tried again second through fourth grade, and it was okay, but it just, it. I wasn't that happy there. It's not for every kid and I'm blessed that I was able to have something that actually worked for me. So I didn't go to middle school at all. I skipped all the trauma that is middle school. And I went to one year of high school. I actually went to my local Catholic school for that. And I always joke that the only Jews there were me and Jesus and. And it was like, the people were nice. But again, I was like, I don't like being in school. I loved college, though. I studied illustrative.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So you didn't homeschool college at least?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

No, I went to college. I went to college. I started at my community college because I didn't have high school transcripts or test scores or anything. I had the, like, equivalency of my high school diploma because in California, you. You are able to take this proficiency exam which gives you, like, the equivalent of your diploma starting at 16. So I had that, but other than that, I had nothing. And so I started at my community college, and I loved it. It, like, even just the general ed classes, I was like, this is it now this. I'm feeling it. And then I started to take some art classes. I took. I took a drawing class one spring semester. It was just the. It was the basic drawing class that everybody had to take for any other art classes you wanted to take after that. And it was the best. I didn't feel like I was doing work. I felt like I was creating, which I was. And so that's when I said, maybe I should actually go to school for art, because I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. And when you're 17, 18, who knows what you want to do, right? It's. You're just starting out. You don't know anything. And so I'd taken the drawing class, and then I started to add on more art classes. It was like 2D design and 3D design, which were like, all just the basic classes, art history classes, and it was the best. And I was like, okay, I'm going to transfer for art. And so I transferred to Cal State Long Beach. I transferred into studio art. And the way it works at the Hazas school is you arrive as just a studio art major. So that would be just. That would be your BA and you take a whole bunch of different classes. It would be like, painting and sculpture and drawing and illustration and a whole bunch of stuff. And I said, I want the focus to be illustration. So you apply for the BFA program. And they had a dozen different ones you could take. Like, you could do a BFA in, like, woodworking and fibers and metals and jewelry, and they had illustration. And so I sent my portfolio in for the, like, the professors to review and and they. And they accepted me and I started to take all the illustration classes. So it was. We had the four illustration classes. We had sequential imagery, we had like production classes. It was. And we had a special studies class. And I finished college during the COVID 19 pandemic. It was 2020. And so for that special studies class I did like a whole series of illustrations of what life was like during the pandemic. So it was like waiting in like these long lines, like six feet apart at the grocery store. I had. I had. Was like driving around and I saw someone getting their hair cut in their garage and I did an illustration of that. It was. That was a wild time for sure to finish school during that. But got it done and couldn't, honestly. Turned out really good.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I'm just gonna. I wanna go back. So you did choose to illustrate children's books.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yep.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Was it because of this passion you had reading the books as a five or six year old? Was there something about your life then that you have to go back and revisit or it's just a very happy period for you?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

It was a happy period. And I'm very. I'm sensitive, I'm affected by what I create. And I like to create things that are happy and whimsical and joyful because then I feel those feelings. So if I'm drawing a kid who's having a tantrum, there's a little part of me that's okay, I got to put on some happy music or else I'm going to get way too affected by this because I'll be creating with my own faces, like, with my own face, like the, the expressions that the characters have. And I get into it, I get invested in what I'm creating. And so I like to have things that feel like a happy childhood because that's what I had.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Baruch Hashem, you've just destroyed that theory. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's okay. The last time I'm having you on the show.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Get her out of here.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I'm just joking. So back to your. Back to your post university. So you have a degree now in fine arts, majoring in illustration, but very few illustrators. I know this from Bologna. Actually get a job and find an agent. And how did this happen?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yeah, it. It took a minute. I finished school. It was December 2020. I took two weeks to basically couch rot. And I didn't do anything because I was taken a lot of classes the last year working around the clock. And I just wanted two weeks to Just relax. And then after that, I started to sell prints and cards and illustrations online. Just starting to get it going. I was working on my portfolio and doing things with scbwi. And then I got a job teaching art for young kids. And that was incredible experience. They. They were something else. They were, they were wild and hilar and they. They were big points of inspiration for a lot of illustrations and pieces. And it was about. And I was posting on Instagram, I was posting the work that I was making on Instagram. And about a year out of school, I was posting for the kidlit postcards. And I got a follow from someone that I didn't recognize. It would be my agent, Sorca Fairbank. But at the time I was like, who is this? I don't know. Moved on with my day. And it was about a month later I was at work and I received an email from her saying that she had been looking at my work and she really liked it and she was wondering if I was looking for representation because she was interested. And I've joked about this with her, but I like glanced through it really quickly. I was at work, I was just on a five minute break and I was like, this looks like spam. And I forwarded it to my dad because I was. I just had a quick break. I was like, is this legit? And I checked back on my phone at lunch and he said, this is legit. You should follow up with her. And I was like, oh, okay. An agent is contacting me and is interested in me. I had sent out after some conferences, I had sent out like my portfolio or a book dummy to editors or art directors. And I didn't hear anything like it was. It'd be like, oh, thanks so much. Enjoyed your work, that sort of thing. But I was like, wait, this is someone who's interested in my work, who likes my work and can help me get my work out there. And so we did a phone call. She was cool and she liked me. And so I signed on just at the end of the year and we haven't looked back since. We've been working together and it's been great.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wonderful.

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[Mel Rosenberg]

So you have your new book out. When did it launch?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

It launches. Okay, so we're recording this on the 4th and it launches on the 9th, so.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Okay, so we're five days early.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Pretty early.

[Mel Rosenberg]

The early version, yeah. And it's just in time for Rosh Hashanah, the Hebrew Jewish New Year. Let's talk a little bit about the book you start out with Shabbat. I know. I have an interest in Shabbat. We talked about that. I'm trying to write a manuscript for children about Shabbat, about the dream Sabbath. And you start your book with the Shabbat. It's the big one.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

It's the big one. It happens every week and it's the foundation of Judaism. I forget who said it, but somebody said more than the Jews have kept Shabbat. Shabbat has kept the Jews. And it grounds you. It centers you for the week. It reminds you of what's really important, of taking that step back from work and spending time with family and loved ones and community and eating your weight in hala.

[Mel Rosenberg]

It's, you know, the. We, the Jewish people, invented the together with God, invented the work week.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Exactly.

[Mel Rosenberg]

This is a. This is ours. And then you go on to describe all of the Jewish holidays. And like you said, you don't go into the. Some of the other fast days other than Yom Kippur, but you've covered the whole gamut. How did you celebrate these holidays growing up?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Oh, I had so much fun when I was really little. I started going with my parents. We went to Tat Shabbat at our synagogue, and that was for like the little toddlers, like 2 to 4 years old. And we would sing some songs, we would say a few prayers, and then there'd be a dessert oneg afterwards. And we would go to services for the high holidays. We would build a sukkah or we would go to a friend's sukkah, and we would do all of it. We would have a seder. We would have friends over for it. And I found my parents always celebrated the holidays with joy. It wasn't like. It wasn't like there was like, all this complaining. We got to build a hut and we got to get rid of all the bread. On Passover, there's always a little kvetching. We're Jews. We got to kvetch a little bit. But it was seen as something that was a blessing. It was a blessing and not a curse to be Jewish. And I took that to heart and I. You grow up, you go to college, and you lose focus a little bit sometimes, as happens in. In one's youth. And. But after a while, I started to get. Can you hear me okay?

[Mel Rosenberg]

I hear you. Fantastic.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

I was a little worried. I was a little worried. It was like lagging or something. Okay. I started to do some studying on my own of Torah and traditions and commentary on it. And it just. It re centered me for what was important. And I said, I want to. I want to make this part of my art practice. I want this to be a focus because this is important. It's big stuff, and I want other people to find joy in it as well.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Fantastic. Of this whole selection Jewish holidays, what's your favorite?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

My favorite to celebrate or my favorite to illustrate?

[Mel Rosenberg]

That's an open question. We're going to do Both of them.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Oh, I love Shabbat. It's. Every week it's something so special, whether it's at home with my parents and just like a nice cozy night in or going to a Shabbat dinner where there's a hundred people. It's. There's something special. There's a different feeling to that day than all the other days, as there should be. And I also. But I also really loved illustrating Passover. I love Pesach. I love the. I love that it's like one of the oldest rituals that's still practiced today. I had a lot of fun illustrating frogs for in the book. And I love that there's this continuity, this continuation of these rituals and traditions for thousands of years, and it's still going strong.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And your favorite holiday to celebrate is.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Shabbat, Pesach, Rosh Hashanah. Not Yom Kippur. Sukkot. I love Sukkot. I love building the Sukkah. Oi. That's a different story. But having friends over to celebrate it, I love that. I absolutely love that.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And the weather is good in California. There's no problem.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yeah, yeah. We. We just. We get a lot. We get a little bit of mosquitoes. So you get some bug spray in the Sukkah and you're good to go.

[Mel Rosenberg]

God created the mosquitoes too, for some reason.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

When the moshiach comes, we'll have the answers to that.

[Mel Rosenberg]

That's correct. They're looking for the Messiah to take care of the flies and the sex and the pathogenic bacteria and viruses and so on. Exactly. Hannah, would you like to read a little bit from your book?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Sure, I can read a little bit. What holiday would you like?

[Mel Rosenberg]

Why don't you pick one?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

How about we start with Shabbat?

[Mel Rosenberg]

Okay. We already talked about Shabbat, but I.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

See your picture do a different way.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And so am I, so it's fine with me.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

You do Rosh Hashanah?

[Mel Rosenberg]

Sure.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

All right.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Well, it's your show, dear.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Okay, so this is Rosh Hashanah. So we got. We got some apples and honey, and we got some round challah, and of course, a little doggy. And so how we celebrate during Rosh Hashanah, we eat crisp apples dipped in golden honey to symbolize a sweet new year. The challah we enjoy every Shabbat takes on a new shape for Rosh Hashanah. Instead of a braided loaf, we eat round challah to symbolize never ending goodness in the new year. And sometimes we add raisins, extra joy and sweetness. Do you want.

[Mel Rosenberg]

That's so sweet. Maybe in a few minutes. Let's talk now about the research that goes into writing a book like this. Ooh.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

That was a lot. It. I knew most of it myself. It was things that I had learned, things that I had, like growing up or things that I had researched on my own. And so I had the information in my brain. A lot of it was fact checking myself and making sure that what I thought I knew was actually true. So it was checking, and it was checking like several different sites. Because you asked 10 rabbis, you're going to get 12 different opinions. So it was a lot of. It was a lot of just seeing what different people thought, what different. What different groups thought, and taking that and making sure it was all cohesive and also understanding that this is just a diplomatic into the traditions and culture. It's not the Talmud. It's not this big encyclopedia worthy book. It's my little book of big Jewish holidays. I wanted it to be like this overarching umbrella that you could just get a little idea for. It could spark a little joy and make you want to delve a little deeper into it.

[Mel Rosenberg]

That's wonderful. The book is nonfiction. What about fiction, Hannah?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

I'm working on some fiction. We'll see what. We'll see what happens with that. More Jewish stories and more Jewish joy. Well, I can't talk about it too much just yet, but soon, hopefully.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Okay, we'll have you back. So there's another thing. Like having the ability to write and to illustrate is a very. It's a rare talent, and it's a very sought out, sought after talent in this, in this genre. Do you feel that if you write a text, you have to be the one to illustrate it? Are you going to illustrate other people's stories in the future? How does that work for you?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

I would illustrate other people's stories, but I think stories that I write, ideally, I would like to illustrate all of them because I The. For me, the words and the text are something that are born together. I see it all unfolding at once. I'd say it's like a movie in my brain. And to separate. I could separate the illustrations, but to separate just the text? I don't know if I could do that. I don't know if I'm up for that challenge. Mel.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I'm just asking, as an author who. Looking for an illustrator, who knows, what advice do you have, Hannah, for the up and coming writers and illustrators who don't have agents, don't have book deals what can you share with them about your journey, especially given as you're so young and you're already. Some of us spend 70 years in the desert, which is 30 more than Moses, and you're young, very young. And they're a wonderful book out with a major publisher, and the sky's the limit for you. So you must have some advice to share.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

I would say to it, it sounds cliche, but you have to work for it and you have to want it. And sometimes more than that, you can have the greatest portfolio in the world. It sometimes comes down to timing. And it can be you send something to someone at just the right time, or someone sees something at just the right time. And that's why you have to keep on making. You have to keep writing the words, drawing the pictures. You have to keep on creating because you never know what's going to happen. Can feel disheartening at times when it feels like nothing's working. But you have to sometimes take a step back from that and remind yourself, okay, I create, and I create the way that I breathe, that I have to drink water, that I have to eat food. If I'm not creating, something's off, it doesn't feel quite right. And you have to find. You have to find the joy in that. And sometimes you have to rekindle the joy a little bit. Maybe you take a step back for a minute, maybe you find some studies that you're working on, maybe you find that you just want to do some observational sketches for a while, but it's finding the joy and remembering the joy and why you want to keep on making. And this might sound also really silly. I find listening to motivational songs really helpful.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I. Oh, yeah, listen, that's advice we haven't had on the show. Well, these are children's songs. No, you mean I won't survive or something?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Yeah, like that. Or like Katy Perry's Firework. Like, I feel that when you sing those songs out loud, it can be whatever you like, as long as it's motivational. No depressing songs. We can save those for later. But like, when you're listening to happy motivational songs and you're singing it out loud, maybe you're, like, dancing a little bit. It does something to the brain chemistry, and it creates this new joy, this new feeling. And it's like how exercise helps you release endorphins. I think singing and dancing can help you release that, too. And so I'm no scientist, I'm no physiologist, but make a playlist of happy motivational songs. Listen to it while you're working, while you're driving, and it couldn't hurt. It couldn't hurt. It'll keep you in a good mood. Nothing else.

[Mel Rosenberg]

This is such Michigan advice that I love it.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Sometimes that's the best advice.

[Mel Rosenberg]

No, Hannah, I was counting on you. Where were you when I was getting your jacket? Hundreds of times. And I'm a musician and I would never say, oh, what's going to be good for you now is the place of happy music. Because when you're rejecting, like, somebody stabs you in the heart. Oh, I'm thinking that Hamlet doesn't say, oh, put on a happy tune. But this is really good advice if you can. It's like a playlist of rejection. Every time you get rejected, you listen to a happy song. I love it. The next time I get rejected because even people with agents and with book deals get rejected all the time.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

I still face rejection.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I'm gonna, I'm gonna put on a Survivor song. Yeah, that's great advice. Any other advice?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Celebrate every little win, even if it's just with some ice cream. Because it's all a journey. It's like it cliche again. It's a marathon, not a sprint. And you need to reward yourself with whatever feels right, whether it's like a little trip to the beach, a little ice cream, maybe your favorite comfort movie, Something that reminds you of why you're doing this. And it's like the happy motivational songs that keep. It keeps you going to the next milestone.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I think that's wonderful. So listen, we're gonna have to say goodbye, but when your next book comes out, let's do another. Another interview. And I'm really, I'm astounded by the success. We talked about it last summer and now it actually happened. Your miracle, your well deserved miracle has, has come to fruition. And let's again applaud you and everybody else involved for your book, my little book of big Jewish Holidays. It's actually My Big Book of Bigger Jewish Holiday by Hannah Schafarov. And this coming out in five days with Greenberg. And I know you have other books cooking that you can't talk about yet, which will be a good reason to have you back on the show. In the meantime, I would say it's a great book for Jewish families. It's like an encyclopedia for very young kids. So beautifully illustrated. And there's so much love in this book, Hannah. And so then I'm also going to recommend this for my non Jewish friends who want to know a little bit about our wonderful religion. Hannah, it's been great having you on the on the show. I'm at Tycho Pink, and it's great to see you again. And I will just sign off because I'm Mel Rosenberg, the host of the Children's Literature Channel and the New Books Network. And I've been here with the wonderful Hannah Shafaroff, a wonderful author and illustrator who's at the beginning of a stellar career.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Thank you so much, Mel.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So, Shanah Tovah, which means Happy New Year, and your parents did well by you. What can I tell you, dear?

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Tell them they did a good job homeschooling you, semi homeschooling you. Whatever they did, you turned out splendid.

[Hannah Shafaroff]

Thank you so much.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Bye, dear. Until we meet.