05 Sep Michal Babay and THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LUNCHROOM Plus a GIVEAWAY!

 I couldn’t be happier today because my friend, Michal Babay is on the blog.  Well, maybe I’d be happier if she were here in person, but that will have to wait. Kids are going back to school, and it’s the perfect time to talk about Michal and Paula Cohen’s hysterical picture book, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LUNCHROOM.

 I feel like we can’t continue without talking about Paula. She has left a huge hole in the kidlit community, and she is missed. Michal, I know that Paula meant a lot to you. Can you tell us a little about her and your relationship?

MB: Yes, I need to mention the late great Paula Cohen, my amazing collaborator for The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom. Authors and illustrators don’t typically have much contact during the publication process of a picture book, but I was lucky enough to find a “behind the scenes” friendship with Paula while she was illustrating our book. She had reached out to me on Facebook Messenger to tell me how much she loved this story and how excited she was to be illustrating it. In her art for the book, Paula was determined to showcase diversity in the student body as well as Jewish pride throughout the book. Paula passed away before our book came out, but I will forever be grateful to have known her and for the chance to have worked with her.

EL: Thank you. Readers, you will find snippets of Paula’s work throughout this post. Michal, how did you get the idea for this book?

MB: When my kiddos were young, we received monthly PJ Library books. One of them was the brilliant classic book by Margot Zemach, It Could Always Be Worse. I’ve always adored this Yiddish folktale, and my experience as both an elementary school teacher and a mother really brought home to me the importance of being able to change one’s perspective in certain situations. Although we can’t always change the reality of our environment, the one thing we can control is our reaction. As the child of a Holocaust survivor, this message had been taught to me from birth. Find the good in a situation (or at least the humor), and you’ll find your soul again.

I actually wrote an author’s note at the end of The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom about my inspiration. I also explain why I chose to set this story in a school lunchroom, and the importance of being able to change one’s perspective in certain situations:

“The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom is my way of saying thank you to a story that influenced my entire life. In the original Yiddish folktale, popularized by Margot Zemach’s classic book It Could Always Be Worse, a poor farmer and his family live together in a tiny house. Life is chaotic, loud – and very crowded. The farmer asks his wise rabbi for advice on how to handle the difficult situation. Over the next few weeks, the beloved rabbi instructs the family to bring a horse, goat, cow, and chickens into their house. The hut becomes even more chaotic, loud, and crowded! Finally, the rabbi tells the farmer to put all the animals back outside, and the family delights in their quiet, spacious home. Although their hut remains as small and crowded as it was at the beginning, the family’s perspective has changed so much that their home now feels wonderfully roomy and peaceful.

… My hope is to share this timeless Jewish wisdom of sameach b’chelko (being content with what you have). As a former elementary school teacher, I purposefully set my retelling of this folktale in an overcrowded school because that, unfortunately, is our modern reality. Schools have more students than space and less money than needed -and teachers work twenty-five hours a day.

…Let’s take a moment to celebrate educators. These amazing people are experts at advocating for change, being resourceful, and inspiring students to shift their perspective.”

EL That is lovely, Michal. I totally agree with you. I appreciate how you and Paula wrote and illustrated a story with not just humor, but with heart. Please tell us a little about your road to publication.

MB: I wrote the first draft of this story in 2017. It went through many revisions (and many agent rejections) until I finally wrote a version that felt just right. At that point, I purchased an in-person manuscript critique for this story with Yolanda Scott during an SCBWI conference in 2019. It turned out that Yolanda was very familiar with the original Yiddish folktale, and she loved my modern take on it. After listening to her feedback, I took a deep breath and summoned the courage to ask if it was something she’d be interested in publishing. When she said “yes,” and to send it to her, I calmly walked out of the room and down the hall, and then ran screaming to my critique group in disbelief that someone wanted my story!  Of course, after I officially submitted the revision to her, it took many months until she had a final answer from her Charlesbridge team. And the stunning part of this story is that my Uber was LITERALLY pulling into the parking lot of another SCBWI conference when I opened my email to see those game-changing words: “I’m writing at long last with some very good news. We would love to publish The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom on our 2022 list.” I spent all my free time during that SCBWI conference sending out “Offer of publication” emails to every agent who had my query at the moment. And when Laurel Symonds responded with enthusiasm, I knew I’d found my perfect agent.

EL: What a great story! Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone and go for it! I’m so happy that you summoned that courage! Do you have anything else in the pipeline you can talk about?

MB: I’m very excited about my next book from Charlesbridge, coming in Spring 2024. It’s a window into the chaos and joy of a Friday afternoon as a traditional Jewish family prepares for Shabbat. In the style of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Leelee and her dog, Pickles, whirl around their house in a small tornado of “helping” as their family races to cook, clean, and clear up before sunset arrives, and it’s time to light the Shabbat candles. This book feels like home to me. I am thrilled that Charlesbridge loves this story and allowed me to share with readers the hustle and bustle of our Friday afternoons, as well as the peaceful calm that descends over our house after we light the Friday night candles.

EL: Michal, thank you so much for being here and for writing such wonderful books. I can’t wait until the newest one comes out!

If you’re interested in buying THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LUNCHROOM (and I highly suggest it!), here are some places you can find it.

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Shrinking-Lunchroom-Michal-Babay/dp/1623542944

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-incredible-shrinking-lunchroom-michal-babay/18263163?ean=9781623542948&gclid=Cj0KCQjwusunBhCYARIsAFBsUP-c6v4mBz83-_IMoG2rvFrvwpfMF4Er8-Ds794Aam2msdC_ACfUc0IaAk0JEALw_wcB

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/incredible-shrinking-lunchroom-michal-babay/1140372365?ean=9781623542948

Or your local bookstore can order it!

Thank you so much for visiting us, Michal!

And now a

Michal is happy to give a signed copy of The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom to one lucky winner in the US. Please comment on this post and let me know if you are a subscriber or if you share this post for an extra chance to win!

Thank you, Michal! 

Until next time,

Ellen 

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On a personal note, please check out other parts of this website to read more about me, my books, and my school visits. Thanks so much!