Q&A with Pamela Ehrenberg

 

Photo by Alexandra Taylor

 

Pamela Ehrenberg is the author of the new children's picture book The See-You-Soon Spice Box. Her other books include Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas. She lives in Washington, D.C.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The See-You-Soon Spice Box, and how did you create your characters Great-Grandma Faye and Silas?

 

A: I've always loved the liminal experience of havdalah, how it's a little bit the fading of Shabbat and a little bit anticipation of what's coming next.

 

I'd been working on different iterations of a havdalah story over the years--different versions were more focused on the spice box craft or of the "see you soon" aspect of something or someone we don't really want to say goodbye to.

 

But the Zoom conversations that our family began enjoying during the pandemic helped me bring these different elements together: the pandemic was a time of so much uncertainty around even the most basic aspects of our lives--the certainty of knowing when Shabbat was coming back, or what time someone dear to us would be smiling and waving from our computer screen, was especially comforting.

 

As I remember creating this family, I'm imagining many readers may not notice that Silas's dad is a single dad, and that Silas is nonetheless surrounded, in-person and virtually, through a joyful and loving extended family, including Great-Grandma Faye and an aunt who is credited with making his stuffed elephant.

 

It's actually great if readers don't notice and just absorb this as one of the many joyful and loving family configurations found in our world.

 

Same thing with the fact that they live in an apartment--I think we need more books (including more Jewish books) reflecting the many different structures that joyful and loving families call home.

 

Great-Grandma Faye is named after my late husband's grandmother, who died in 2007 after the generation of her great-grandchildren had started to be born.

 

I was so happy to have acquired her as a "bonus grandma" after my own grandparents had passed away, and I sometimes imagine how she'd react to ways that the world continues to evolve since 2007--I know the opportunity to talk with her great-grandchildren on Zoom would have brought her much joy.

 

Q: What do you think Gabby Grant’s illustrations add to the story?

 

A: I fell in love with Gabby's illustration style the first time I saw her work, and I'm so thrilled by how she brought the story to life!

 

Gabby's vision for the characters and their joyful home convey so much more than words alone could have done about their love for one another and the joy they experience together even when the world doesn't deliver exactly what we expected.

 

Q: What do you think the story says about intergenerational relationships?

 

A: We need each other! And also that we are each team members in our families--everyone, at any age, has something to contribute as well as something to receive from one another.

 

The book is dedicated to my wonderful in-laws, and I credit my mother-in-law for wondering if the grandmother in one of my earlier picture books, Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas, could have played a more active role in the story. Hopefully Great-Grandma Faye and Silas would agree that they are equal partners in maintaining their relationship.

 

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

 

A: I've learned in parenting and in writing that I generally do better not to hope too hard for any one particular message or lesson, since we all (at any age) experience stories and life through the lens of our own experiences, and whatever a reader takes away probably won't be what I intended (though it may be more interesting!).

 

I hope readers who, like me, find comfort in routine and certainty will enjoy seeing ways that they can create that for themselves, including through our Jewish traditions, even when the world feels unsettled.

 

And I hope readers of all ages enjoy a moment to pause in whatever liminal moment they're experiencing--maybe reading a bedtime story surrounded by the chaos of the day that just finished and anticipating the excitement (and uncertainty) of whatever tomorrow will bring--just to be together in the very-in-between present.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A bit of everything: hopefully wrapping up a play (for adults) about cleaning out my late father’s condo in the context of the affordable housing crisis… a poem for a transit contest…and the election may have just helped me figure out a picture book about shoes that I’ve been trying to puzzle through for a couple of years. 

 

Another creative "project" is that I’m finally on Instagram…my goal is to use that platform to offer a peek behind the curtain of what perseverance (or, as one of my kids once defined it, being “not givey-uppy”) looks like for a writer. I’d love to meet some of your readers there at @pamelaehrenbergauthor !

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Mostly that I so appreciate you, Deborah! As a kid who liked to write stories, I never imagined how much the actual work of being a writer depends on community and collaboration--or how many options there are for introverts to be part of that as well!

 

(Including--I'm looking forward to sharing The See-You-Soon Spice Box through virtual havdalah programs in 2025, and I'd love to hear from folks who might want to plan one for your community!)

 

Thank you so much for all the ways you connect readers, writers, and books!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Pamela Ehrenberg.