Ann Diament Koffsky is the author and illustrator of the new children's picture book The Three Little Sheep: A Tale for Sukkot. Her many other books include Fairy GodBubbie's Shabbat. She lives in West Hempstead, New York.
Q: What inspired you to create The Three Little Sheep?
A: About five years ago, the day after we built our family Sukkah, there was a terrible storm. The wind was so strong that it just blew the whole thing down-canvas, poles, schach—everywhere!
When I looked at the remains the, it reminded me of the wolf in The Three Little Pigs, and how he huffed and puffed and blew down some other homes. That was my AHA! moment. What if the wolf blew Sukkahs down?
Q: What did you see as the right balance between the original folktale and your own version?
A: I loved working with a classic folktale, because even young kids are so familiar with it, so it means they already know the characters and have assumptions about them, and the story. This allows me to play them, and surprise readers by overturning them.
In the original story, Wolf is quite malicious! But in my story, he’s not even a grownup—he’s a toddler having a temper tantrum. And he has no intention of eating anyone-- he just wants to be included, and is feeling a little left out.
Conversely, in the original story, the three little pigs are quite frightened by the wolf. Here, they are not scared at all, and they even choose to invite him to dinner.
It’s also important for me, when writing a Jewish story, to find a way to surface some kind of Jewish value. In this story, I was able to talk about Hachnasat Orchim—inviting guests, which is perfect for Sukkot.
Q: Why did you choose sheep as your characters?
A: Oh, for a mundane reason. I just didn’t want to do a Jewish books about pigs! Not that there’s anything wrong with having pigs in a Jewish book. But it just didn’t feel as Jewish-y as sheep.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?
A: The Jewish values I mentioned above—and I also really hope they laugh. It’s a silly story!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Next year, I’ve got books coming out about Mel Brooks, called Blazing Humor, and a book about Emma Lazarus, What Emma Wrote. I’m excited for folks to read both—they led extraordinary lives.
And of course, my Kayla and Kugel series is continuing, with Rosh Hashanah coming out this year and hopefully their story about Shavuot next year.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Yes, please let your readers know that I create free, Jewish coloring pages which they can sign up to receive at www.annkoffsky.com.
And that they can find me on social media here:
On Facebook, Insta, Twitter, and LinkedIn: @annkoffsky
Substack: Coloring Jewish
Website: annkoffsky.com
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Ann Diament Koffsky.
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