Q&A with Joy Preble

 

 

 

Joy Preble is the author of the new children's picture book Lost and Found Hanukkah. Her other books include Happy Passover, Edie Rose!. She lives in Houston. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lost and Found Hanukkah?

 

A: When I began Lost and Found Hanukkah, I wanted to write a story that was about more than just celebrating the holiday. As I wrote in the Author’s Note at the back of the book, I had an initial image of a boy picking out a new menorah.

 

Who was he? I wondered. What would happen to him next? How would his journey connect to the Hanukkah story itself?

 

Fortunately, my own extended family provided the answer. Nate and his two dads are inspired by my cousin, his husband, and their young son, who celebrate all the Jewish holidays with great joy and enthusiasm.

 

After that, the story became one of things lost and found—cats, menorahs, friends, and traditions.

 

I loved playing with the Hanukkah story concept of rededication. The Maccabees rededicated the temple when they took it back. And Nate and his dads experience a form of rededication—figuring out how to celebrate the holiday in a new apartment with new friends and some things still missing, including Nate’s original menorah, even as so much wonderfulness (Nate saves Kugel the cat!) has been found.

 

Q: What do you think Lisa Anchin’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: My first thought is that they add EVERYTHING! Lisa is truly brilliant. But to get specific, I  am simply over the moon at the world building she created.

 

The thing that lots of people don’t know about picture books in the world of traditional publishing is that if, like me, you are the writer but not the illustrator, you typically don’t get much say so about the illustrations.

 

I did have some general input about my vision for the story, for Nate and his dads, and about my hope to reflect Jewish diversity on the page. All of us—Lisa, me, and our editor—were in agreement about these larger ideas.

 

But beyond that, it was Lisa creating her magic and bringing what was in my head to life. In the process, she created a Jewish world and a Jewish family that came to life with stores and menorahs and cats, and clothing and wall art and more.

 

My words were elevated, and parts of the story were told without me having to spell them out on the page. It’s like magic, right?

 

This book thrills me every time I look at it and notice something new, like how Nate mentions that he misses the blueberry pancakes at Goldie’s but rather than a scene with Goldie’s, there is a Goldie’s coffee mug that appears here and there in Nate’s apartment. Or the various rainbow colored clothing items. Lisa Anchin is a genius!

 

Q: Can you say more about how you created Nate and his dads?

 

A: I’ve talked above about the general inspiration for Nate, but beyond that, it was the usual process of development, asking myself questions like: What does Nate want? What does Nate need? What is his relationship with his dads?

 

And crucially, asking myself what Nate loves about Hanukkah and what he is missing now that they have moved. So the book begins with that. Nate says, “I love Hanukkah. I love how it is always the same.”

 

Those two short sentences set up the entire story. This is a holiday that Nate loves and in particular, he has specific traditions that make him love it so much.  But soon thereafter, he tells us “But Hanukkah is almost here, and I can’t find my menorah,” and proceeds to tell us how this happened.

 

So not only do we learn about Nate and what he loves and enjoys, but the conflict is made evident early on. Nate’s journey set in motion.

 

As for the dads, they are obviously in the background to a certain degree since this is Nate’s story, but I still wanted them to each have a clear personality shown not only through what they say and do but also through Lisa’s artwork that brings them to life.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

 

A: Well, I’m fond of saying that once I finish a book, it’s no longer mine and readers can now come to it and take away whatever they like, which I think is true of all art, whether books or plays or movies or visual art or music.

 

That said, I do hope young readers enjoy a story that’s about change, about keeping old traditions but also building new ones. I hope that readers get a deeper understanding about Hanukkah and the concepts of rededication and resilience—something more than just “we light candles every night and eat latkes.”

 

Also, if kids walk away with the knowledge that Jews and Jewish families are a diverse group of people even as we share traditions that go back thousands of years, that would also be great!

 

On the other hand, maybe they will just enjoy the part about Kugel the cat! That’s cool, too.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working a few different projects right now including a couple of picture books as well as a time travel middle grade. We’ll see how it goes!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I think that’s about it! Happy early Hanukkah! And make sure to read the author notes and info in the back, especially the part where I explain why dreidels made in Israel have one different letter! Plus we included Nate’s latke recipe!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Joy Preble.