Q&A with Leslie Kimmelman

 

 

 

Leslie Kimmelman is the author of the new children's picture book Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Hanukkah Party!. Her many other books include Eve and Adam Discover the World. A former editor and writer for Sesame Workshop, she lives north of New York City.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Horton Hears a Hanukkah Party?

 

A: Actually, it was an editor at the Dr. Seuss imprint of Penguin Random House who came to me and asked me to propose a Hanukkah story using one of Dr. Seuss's beloved characters. This is the story I came up with.

 

The message in the original Horton Hears a Who book--"a person's a person, no matter how small"--seemed like a good match for the Hanukkah story. That even in the face of something or someone much bigger, each of us can make a difference.

 

Q: Did you decide to write the book completely in the style of Dr. Seuss, or did you add some of your own style into it?

 

A: The Seuss estate (as well as the publisher) is very strict about keeping the post-Dr.-Seuss Dr. Seuss books very much in the spirit, rhythm, and language of the originals. So that's what I aimed for; this is very much an homage. But I hope I kept it fun and lively, while working in lots of Hanukkah tradition.

 

Q: What do you think Tom Brannon's illustrations add to the book?

 

A: I think it would be hard to tell that the illustrations aren't by Dr. Seuss himself. Tom is an extremely gifted artist. I was lucky enough to work with him in my days as an editor and writer at Sesame Street as well. Not sure how he's able to do what he does!

 

He's added so many fun touches--one of my favorites is the Wickersham Brothers painting a nun on an acorn dreidel.

 

Q: What's your favorite Dr. Seuss story?

 

A: That's like being asked to pick your favorite child! When I was a kid, I thought Happy Birthday to You! was magical. It was so wildly imaginative.

 

With my own kids, I had a special soft spot for The Cat in the Hat. My son thought that eating cake in the tub was the funniest thing ever; I have at least a couple of photos of him wearing a cat in the hat hat, eating chocolate cake in our (empty!) bathtub.

 

And of course, how can you not love How the Grinch Stole Christmas, both the book and the Boris Karloff animated special?!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Lots of things in various stages of readiness. The next book I have coming out is a Passover story, All Who Are Hungry, Come and Eat! (HarperCollins, early 2026), about an ever-expanding crowd at a Passover seder. Which seems to happen often at my house!  

 

I just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands, so I'm working on something inspired by that, too.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Well, how about if I end with two quotes about reading from Dr. Seuss? 

"I can read in red. I can read in blue.

I can read in pickle color, too."

 

And:

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!"

 

Hard to improve on that!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Leslie Kimmelman.