Sylvia A. Rouss is the author of the new children's picture book Sammy Spider's Big Book of Jewish Holidays. She has written her Sammy Spider series for more than three decades. Also an early childhood educator, she lives in California.
Q: What inspired you to write this new Sammy Spider book focused on the Jewish holidays?
A: I have written many books about Sammy Spider, who lives with his mother, Mrs. Spider, in the home of the Shapiro family. Sammy is always eager to participate in the Jewish holiday celebrations he observes from his web, but his mother gently reminds him, “Spiders don’t celebrate holidays. Spiders spin webs.”
Recognizing that not all Jewish families are knowledgeable about every Jewish holiday throughout the year, my new book, Sammy Spider’s Big Book of Jewish Holidays, is a collection of all the Jewish holidays in the calendar year that Sammy Spider so desperately wants to celebrate.
It serves as an introduction and overview of nine holidays, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Shavuot, and gives parents the opportunity to learn with their children. Each holiday is highlighted by a short Sammy Spider story and additional information that reinforces Jewish learning.
My hope is that parents and their children will take joy in reading about holidays they are familiar with and those they aren’t.
Q: You’ve worked with illustrator Katherine Janus Kahn for many years now--what do you think her illustrations add to the series and to this new book in particular?
A: Katherine’s delightful paper cut illustrations have been enjoyed by readers of the Sammy Spider Jewish Holiday series over the past 32 years. Her artwork is vivid and child friendly. Some children are afraid of spiders, but they adore Sammy. I have a puppet based on her illustration of Sammy Spider that children love!
In this new book, Katherine continues to demonstrate her skills with engaging detailed illustrations that capture the beauty of the holidays and Sammy’s sweet presence throughout.
Q: How did you originally come up with the idea for Sammy and the Shapiro family?
A: As a Jewish Early Childhood Educator, I discovered that each year when Hanukkah was approaching, the children in my class were also talking about Christmas.
Of course, the children found many aspects of Christmas exciting. Not only were the local shops decorated in the colors of the season, but television had cartoons about Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer among others.
It occurred to me that maybe I could create a Hanukkah character that would engage children. Just as Jewish children are sometimes the observers of a holiday that isn’t theirs, I wanted my character to be the outsider who sees the beauty of a Jewish holiday celebration he can’t be a part of.
I decided on a spider because spiders have eight legs, and Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights. In the Hanukkah story Sammy Spider watches a young family, the Shapiros (the last name of my school director at the time), celebrate Hanukkah. When he sees the young boy spin a dreidel, Sammy wants to join in.
Unfortunately, Sammy Spider’s mother tells him, “Spiders don’t spin dreidels. Spiders spin webs.” The book gained popularity with children and their parents and soon my publisher asked me to write other Sammy Spider Jewish holiday books.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?
A: I hope children and their parents enjoy Sammy’s antics as he tries to convince his mother to let him celebrate the Jewish holidays throughout the year. And, like Sammy Spider, I hope they learn about the beauty of our holiday celebrations and draw inspiration from them.
Perhaps they will build a sukkah for the first time at Sukkot or plant a tree at Tu B’Shevat or host a Seder. Maybe they will create a tradition of holiday celebrations in their homes or participate in celebrations hosted by members of their community or by a local Jewish organization.
I also hope that this book is just the beginning of a journey for children and their parents to learn more about Jewish holiday celebrations, traditions, and values. If readers like this book, I would encourage them to read other books in the Sammy Spider Jewish holiday series as well as other Jewish children’s books available today.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I wrote a book about an acorn’s journey to becoming a tree called The Little Acorn’s Big Adventure that will be published in 2026 by Bedazzled. I was inspired by the quote of a Talmudic scholar, “There is no plant without an angel in heaven tending it and telling it, “Grow!”
My story, with its minimal text, unfolds through dramatic illustrations that capture the beauty of nature and its ability to sustain itself. The interdependence of nature becomes evident as a variety of forest creatures provide “assistance” to help the acorn take root and finally grow into a sapling.
The message to the reader is that our natural environment is a gift and it is our responsibility to protect it, a Jewish value that is integral to our Tu B’Shevat celebrations.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I continue to visit Jewish communities to read my stories and am inspired by the young families that I meet. Many of the adults grew up with Sammy Spider Jewish holiday stories and are now reading them to their children.
I am humbled and thrilled by this revelation and so happy that 32 years ago, I decided to write a Jewish Hanukkah story about a little spider named Sammy.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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