Haviva Kierzenblat is the author of the new children's picture book The Elephant and the Purim Crown. Also an educator, she lives in San Marino, California.
Q: Was The Elephant and the Purim Crown inspired by your own family stories?
A: The Elephant and the Purim Crown was inspired by the sprinkling of specialness that made up my childhood. One inspiration for the story was a pagoda-shaped costume crown I grew up dancing and daydreaming around. It glittered gold, and was displayed with such dignity, I fancied my mother a real queen.
Another inspiration came from a decision I made as a young girl to NOT ride an elephant that I REALLY wanted to ride! Like my protagonist Rachel, I too wanted to sit on top of the elephant and pretend myself a princess. Instead, I felt suddenly sorry for the exhausted elephant, and refused to ride.
Finally, The Elephant and the Purim Crown was inspired by the spectacular senses surrounding me…The tantalizing taste of the jiggly pink coconut milk and seaweed agar-agar dessert my mother made for parties, the smell of the soothing spices in my Nani’s rice and curry, the sentimental sound of my grandfather speaking about Sephardic life in Burma, the sight of scenery and smiles in the pictures of my relatives in Rangoon, and the touch of the glistening bangles on my own arms.
Q: For people who are unfamiliar with the history of the Jewish community in Burma, what would you want them to know?
A: I’d want them to know that at the time my family lived there, Burma (Myanmar) was a peaceful place for the Jewish community to live and thrive.
The Jewish community of Burma began in the latter half of the 19th century and remained vibrant until perhaps the mid-1950s when the community began to dwindle and immigrate to countries such as Israel, England, the United States, Canada, and Australia. They did not immigrate all at once, but more staggered in style, through the 1950s and 1960s.
The community came mostly from Iraq and India. They spoke Arabic, Hindustani, Burmese, and English, all with a queen’s tongue English accent. Entrepreneurs, like my great-grandfather Ezekiel and his brother Efraim Solomon, developed businesses such as an ice factory, which was quite the success in a country with such a warm climate!
The Sephardic community was close-knit, with a beautiful Baghdadi synagogue in Rangoon, which exists and is maintained with great care to this day. Male family members were seated in the main sanctuary downstairs while women sat in the spacious balcony upstairs, with special sections saved both upstairs and down, for each family. There was also a grandfather clock beloved by all, that ticks to this day!
In addition to the synagogue, the cemetery of the Burmese Jewish community where my family members are buried, still exists.
It was rather rare that the Jewish people would settle in such an exotic environment of pagodas and elephants, but they blended beautifully with the Burmese and lived both lovely and lively lives there.
Q: What do you think Rebeca Luciani’s illustrations add to the story?
A: Rebeca Luciani’s illustrations exquisitely captured the enchantment of the exotic Rangoon Burma setting, and created a colorful world for my words. Her artwork for the book is ethereal and expressive, bringing the essence and existence of the characters to life while supporting the soul and spirit of the text.
She gifts the reader of The Elephant and the Purim Crown with a color palette that is truly unique, providing on each page a visual feast!
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?
A: One takeaway is that though children do not yet have many layers of life, they too, like Rachel of Rangoon, can make a difference when it comes to compassion toward animals.
And that there is hope that human beings can change for the better, such as the elephant owner in the story who has a change of heart after hearing Rachel’s words and seeing Rachel’s actions of love toward his elephant.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m polishing up a picture book manuscript that takes place in
Paris, France.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Yes. That The Elephant and the Purim Crown is a work of children’s fiction, with all the literary loftiness of a work intended to inspire the imagination of a child. It is not meant to be a reality-based book looked at through the lens of an adult.
It is intended as an introduction to the beautiful world of the once-vibrant Burmese Jewish community, highlighting the Jewish concept of compassion toward animals, as well as a gentle child-friendly introduction to the plight of the precious elephants that exist on our earth.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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