children’s books

Preorders available now for my latest: HOW TO WELCOME AN ALIEN!

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I’m very excited to announce that my upcoming project with Kalaniot Books is now available for preorders! HOW TO WELCOME AN ALIEN will IY”H be published this fall, but preorders are available now on Amazon. It’s illustrated by Shirley Waisman and perfect for kids aged 4 – 7.

Shirley Waisman’s fabulous cover for my forthcoming book, HOW TO WELCOME AN ALIEN

This picture book would never have happened without my writing group friends: Ann Koffsky, Devorah Talia Gordon, Linda E. Marshall, Freddie Levin, Devorie Kreiman, Sarah Pachter, Shayna Horowitz, Jackie Jules, and Yehudis Litvak (that’s two sets of writing group pals!). HOW TO WELCOME AN ALIEN examines themes of hospitality, welcoming refugees, befriending lonely people, and chessed with a sci-fi twist. End matter connects the story to the tale of Abraham and Sarah welcoming three guests in the book of Genesis/Bereishis.

You can find out more about the book here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Welcome-Alien-Rebecca-Klempner/dp/B0BNVC2XHD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QSNY556TKKJO&keywords=how+to+welcome+an+alien&qid=1675043451&s=books&sprefix=how+to+welcome+an+alien%2Cstripbooks%2C178&sr=1-1.

Signs you might want to buy one of my new books

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BOTH MY NEW BOOKS ARE UP AND RUNNING ON AMAZON! WAHOO!

(Do I sound excited?)

Mazal’s Luck Runs Out is for ages 8-11.

My life is being taken over by marketing (What? Did you say there’s a Jewish holiday coming? More than one? You mean I have to cook, too? ARGH!). Also, I’m working on no budget here, but at least people can actually buy both Mazal’s Luck Runs Out and Sliding Doors and other stories online now.

With no further ado… Continue reading →

Writing for Children: not for those who want glory, fame, or big bucks

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Last week’s Hamodia/Inyan Magazine had an article by one of my favorite columnists, Rabbi Fishel Schachter entitled “Guided by Tale Winds.” While today Rabbi Schachter is well-known in the Torah world for essays and presentations for adults about the weekly Torah portion, parenting, and other subjects, he first gained popularity as a rebbi and storyteller to students in Jewish day schools.

Rabbi Schachter explains in the article that one of the adults in his audience told him many years ago that he had to choose between teaching grown-ups or kids — and he indicated that the natural choice for a man of Rabbi Schachter’s talent and intelligence was to teach adults.

Turning to his own rebbi for guidance, Rabbi Schachter asked if teaching kids was really beneath him? Were all the silly voices and so on undermining his stature?

Continue reading →

4 Questions for author Tamar Ansh about her new Passover cookbook

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I recently conversed via email with the enormously popular author, Tamar Ansh, about her new cookbook. Let My Children Cook! is her first cookbook for kids, and it tackles a particularly pertinent area of Kosher cuisine for this time of year: Passover.

ansh book cover

Tamar Ansh’s latest cookbook, out in time for Passover!

4 Questions:

Rebecca:

What made you want to write a cookbook for children this time? And why specifically one for Passover?

Tamar:

For this book, Let My Children Cook!, Hashem sent me the inspiration from a totally unexpected angle. Continue reading →

My thoughts on Tablet’s article “Do Jewish Children’s Books Have a Problem with Gender?”

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Emily Sigalow, in Tablet this week, published an article entitled “Do Jewish Children’s Books Have a Problem with Gender?”

While she does make one point I agree with, that awards committee’s tend to favor Jewish picture books with male lead characters and that the females tend to be engaged in traditional roles, she seems to learn from that that Jewish children’s books as a whole have a problem.

I have to disagree with the overall picture Sigalow paints, though.

You can see my comments on the article if you visit Tablet (scroll to the bottom of the page), but I’d like to make a few more thoughts.

Jewish children’s books do have problems. Actually, many secular books have the same problems. Continue reading →

Can teenagers really save the world? Musings on middle grade and YA lit

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I’m completely behind both writing and housework this week due to a bout of strep throat (thankfully, on the mend now due to penicillin).  This was the second time I’ve been laid up for several days since Sukkos, so it was pretty much a drag, and I really need to try to wrap up at least one story this week. However, I just feel the need to share this with my readers.

airborn by oppel

Can three teens really save their airship from pirates? Not sure I buy it.

While lying in bed trying very hard not to swallow (it just hurt too much), I read a slew of middle grade and YA novels. Now, I know that tween and teen novels tend to share certain characteristics, and that many of these meet the psychological needs of tweens and teens. But as a once-but-no-longer teen, a particular trait rubbed me the wrong way. Continue reading →