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Karen Rostoker-Gruber talks about DON’T INVITE A BEAR INSIDE FOR HANUKKAH and a GIVEAWAY!

EL: Welcome, everyone!  I am excited about hosting my friend, Karen Rostoker-Gruber on the blog today. Karen was one of my first kidlit friends, and she is not only prolific but also very generous to all of us. By the way, did you notice Karen’s friend in the profile picture? That’s Maria. Lucky me, I met them both. If I recall, Maria didn’t get her own bed when she visited. 🙂 Karen, thank you for stopping by today to talk about your newest book. 

Before we dive into the book,  please tell us a little about yourself.

KR:    I live in Branchburg, NJ, with my husband Scott.  My daughter is now a prosecutor in VA and just got married, so she moved away! 

  I like to visit cute towns, hike to waterfalls, and stay in castles. 

 EL: Ooh…I never stayed in a castle! Ok, back to the book! I think the illustrations are perfect for this book. Did you get to
communicate with your illustrator?

  KR:   Carles Arbat, the illustrator, lives in Barcelona, Spain, and is not Jewish, so the art director had to show him photos of gelt (chocolate coins), latkes (potato pancakes),  dreidels (spinning tops with Hebrew letters: hay, shin, gimmel, and nun), sufganiyot (jelly donuts), and show him what a menorah looks like.

 

    Carles is an amazing illustrator! He took my words and created a magical world full of snowflakes and wonder.  Bear’s expressions are priceless—especially when he’s happy that they figured out a solution to the problem.

EL: Great picture of a happy bear! 

 KR:   But it still makes me sad to see the bear’s tears when he gets kicked out of the child’s house. 

 

EL:  Great picture of a sad bear too!  I  love how he gave the bear personality through his art. Will you talk about your road to publication with this book, please?

 KR:  This book took a different road to publication than others, as I’ve worked with Dena Neusner at Apples & Honey before. 

    Every once in a while I send her a new book to review because I really respect her opinion.  And she understands my sense of humor.   

     I sent a board book (about a cat and a bear) to Dena in 2020.  She told me to rewrite the board book as a picture book, give the bear and cat (at the time there was a cat) more personality, flesh out the story, give it a story arc, and she’d look at it again. 

     It took my mind until February 2022, to rework it for her. 

     You can’t rush creativity.  And, basically, it was a complete redo. 

     Dena offered me a contract for it in May 2022 (and that’s only because I was inquiring about another book that I had sent her way).

EL: Ah, yes. The road to publication can be twisty. I’m glad this worked out! How did you come up with the idea for Don’t Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah?

KR: I wanted to write a metafictional tale, as I didn’t see any for Jewish children.  Once the title popped into my head at 3am, I just kept writing.  

     A metafictional tale is where the narrator speaks directly to the reader, telling the reader what to do and what not to do.

     The child in my story is gender neutral because I wanted any child to feel like the narrator is speaking directly to them.  

     The book is about including all kinds of people–and bears, in this case–into your holiday plans, even if they have differing abilities or different needs. 

     I know that I feel a lot better when I go to people’s houses and they tell me what dishes I can have and what dishes I can’t have; I’m gluten-free and dairy-free. 

     At my daughter’s wedding, just recently, they had gluten-free and dairy-free signs for all food at the rehearsal dinner and the cocktail hour.  It was very freeing. 

EL: Yes, and kids need that. Check out this trailer for Don’t Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqp0vv-HkAc

 AND…if you’re in the area, stop by on Dec, 7th at 11:oo am to hear Karen read the book at The Howling Basset Bookstore. 

39 Old Turnpike Rd, 

Tewksbury, NJ 08858

(908) 572-0757  

To RSVP and sign up for the reading / signing:

https://www.howlingbassetbooks.com/event-details-registration/storytime-with-karen-rostoker-gruber/form

 If you want a signed copy, and can’t come to the signing, but need it shipped, call

The Bookworm at: 908-766-4599

 The book is NOW available for pre-order (It won’t be out until November 5th):

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Invite-Bear-Inside-Hanukkah/dp/1681156423

 Find out more about Karen at her website, http://www.karenrostoker-gruber.com 

And now a…

 

Karen is offering a free book to one lucky person. To get in the running,  comment on this post, and let me know if you shared it, or if you are a subscriber to get an extra chance to win. 

Good luck! 

Again, thank you for joining us today, Karen.

Until next time,

Ellen


On a personal note, I’d love you to check out my school visit section on the website. I’m currently booking visits for this school year. Also, please check out some of my books here. They are also available wherever books are sold. THANK YOU! 

DEBBIE’S SONG: THE DEBBIE FRIEDMAN STORY

https://bookshop.org/p/books/debbie-s-song-ellen-leventhal/18680277?ean=9781728443027

A FLOOD OF KINDNESS

https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-flood-of-kindness-ellen-leventhal/15150623?ean=9781546034582

 

13 Comments
  • Annette Schottenfeld
    Posted at 09:06h, 29 October Reply

    Congratulations Karen! Don’t Invite A Bear Inside For Hanukkah sounds like the perfect holiday gift! I love that you wrote it as a metafictional tale!

  • Kim Larson
    Posted at 09:43h, 29 October Reply

    What a fun book! I look forward to reading it. I shared this post on Twitter.

    • Karen Rostoker-Gruber
      Posted at 13:24h, 29 October Reply

      Thank you, Kim, for the share on Twitter.

      This is the second time I got kicked off that platform. And now I have 2 accounts that I can’t access there. Oy!

    • Karen Rostoker-Gruber
      Posted at 09:27h, 31 October Reply

      Thank you, Kim!

      And, also thank you for sharing this on Twitter, which for some reason, I’m locked out of–again. LOL.

  • Laura Talisman Russell
    Posted at 10:49h, 29 October Reply

    A book about Hanukah?! I’m ordering it for my grands. I am a collector of children’s books, and specifically love Judaic books. I am a subscriber to the blog, so it’s nice to find out about new books by authors, illustrators, and esp Hanukah books.

    • Karen Rostoker-Gruber
      Posted at 13:30h, 29 October Reply

      Hi, Laura,

      Since you’re a collector of Jewish Children’s books, do you have my other titles:

      “Farmer Kobi’s Hanukkah Match” (became a National Jewish Book Award Finalist)

      “Maddie the Mitzvah Clown” (became a PJ Library selection two times!)

      “The Family & Frog Haggadah” This is a REAL haggadah with all of the prayers and songs, but for families, which was written up in: The New York Times, Martha Stewart.com, The Baltimore Jewish News, The JTA, New Jersey Jewish News, and more!

      “Happy Birthday, Trees” (became a PJ Library selection)

      And, one title that was based on a Yiddish Folktale:
      “A Crowded Farmhouse Folktale”

    • Karen Rostoker-Gruber
      Posted at 09:32h, 31 October Reply

      Dear Laura,

      Thank you for ordering this for you’re grandkids! If you want a signed copy, and you live in the US, you can call The Bookworm. I’ll sign the books on November 5th and they’ll ship them right to you!
      908-766-4599

      Also, if you head to my website, I have 5 Jewish-themed books:

      “Farmer Kobi’s Hanukkah Match;”

      “Maddie the Mitzvah Clown;”

      “The Family (& Frog) Haggadah,” which was written up in the NY Times, Martha Stewart.com, New Jersey Jewish News, etc., It’s a REAL haggadah for families with prayers and songs;

      “A Crowded Farmhouse Folktale: A Yiddish Tale Retold;”

      and “Happy Birthday, Trees” (a board book about Tu B’Shevat).

  • danielle hammelef
    Posted at 13:04h, 29 October Reply

    Some of my favorite books are those in which the narrator talks directly to the reader. My first encounter with this way of story telling was in the middle grade series The Name of this Book is Secret and I instantly fell in love. The manuscript I’m working on (since forever it feels like) uses this reader/narrator relationship. I’m a subscriber and shared on tumblr. Thank you for sharing your path to publication.

    • Karen Rostoker-Gruber
      Posted at 13:33h, 29 October Reply

      Hi, Danielle,

      Good luck with your manuscript and thank you for sharing this on Tumblr, which I have no idea how to use. I’m not very tech-savvy.

      Head to my website for tips on getting your manuscript published!

    • Karen Rostoker-Gruber
      Posted at 09:35h, 31 October Reply

      Dear Danielle,

      Thank you for sharing this on Tumbler, which is a platform that I have no idea how to use. I’m still trying to figure out Threads. LOL.

      Anyway, on my website there are tips to getting published, along with charts and forms to help you.

      Good luck with your manuscript.

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