Q&A with Kerry Olitzky

  

 

 

 

Kerry Olitzky is the author, with Dori Weinstein, of the new children's picture book Queen Esther Rabinowitz. His many other books include Just Like Queen Esther. He is also a rabbi.

 

Q: What inspired you and Dori Weinstein to write Queen Esther Rabinowitz?

 

A: I am always looking for ways to deepen the Jewish holiday experience and its messaging, especially when dealing with a festival like Purim whose celebration and observance is too often trivialized.

 

As a trained social gerontologist -- and perhaps a result of my own status as a grandparent and a result of my own aging -- I wanted to use the ubiquitous Queen Esther beauty contest (that is happily losing favor) as a vehicle to emphasize the beauty of aging--in body and soul. 

 

I actually approached Dori to work with me on a different approach to the Purim story (which became my book published last year called Just Like Queen Esther). But Dori was more interested in developing Queen Esther Rabinowitz when it was still in its ideation stage.

 

I approached Dori because of her exceptional writing talent expressed in her YaYa and YoYo series of middle grade readers. 

 

Q: What do you think the book says about beauty?

 

A: Simply put, I think that the story tells its readers that real beauty like wisdom is a product of lived experience. And while much of the pop culture that surrounds us emphasizes the culture of youth and therefore its beauty, more profound beauty is evidenced in older adults. 

Q: What do you think Rachel Robinson’s illustrations add to the story?

 

A: Rachel immediately took to the story and captured precisely the message of the narrative. I feel like the story could almost have been told without the narrative through her illustrations alone. Her illustrations added immensely to the story. 

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

 

A: I hope that the book will offer a deeper level to the Purim story than is usually presented to young children, in particular. In addition, I hope that the story provides them with a different lens for seeing the older adults in their own lives. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am always working simultaneously on multiple projects. Look for my book for very young children ABC Jewish Heroes and Me (written with my frequent writing partner Deborah Bodin Cohen and published by Apples and Honey) available for preorder and due out this fall.

 

Deborah and I also have two fascinating biographies which are due out in '27 and '28, also from Apples and Honey. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: There are some small, independent publishers like Bedazzled Ink/Dragonfeather Books that are willing to take a risk on publishing books for Jewish kids which is, by definition, a smaller audience than kids books for the general public. For them to continue such publishing efforts, they have to be supported.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Kerry Olitzky.