LITTLE DREIDEL LEARNS TO SPIN + interview with (myself!) author Rebecca Gardyn Levington AND illustrator Taryn Johnson + a GIVEAWAY!

I know it’s a little early to be thinking about Hanukkah (I mean we still have Halloween and Thanksgiving to get through! Geez, Rebecca!) BUT I was too excited to share my latest book with you that I couldn’t wait!

So, may I introduce…

LITTLE DREIDEL LEARNS TO SPIN, illustrated by Taryn Johnson, out NOW from Scholastic! WhooHoo!

This rhyming picture book is all about Little Dreidel, who can’t wait to whirl and twirl with her older cousins at her bubbie’s Hanukkah party, but soon realizes that spinning isn’t as easy as it looks. It takes practice, persistence (and a whole lot of momentum!), before Little Dreidel finally learns to spin (oops, spoiler!) — giving her family plenty to kvell about!

For those who aren’t familiar, a dreidel is a spinning top that Jewish people play a game with during the festival of Hanukkah, an 8-night holiday that celebrates freedom and miracles. Because the holiday often falls around Christmas, the two are often linked, but Hanukkah is NOT a “Jewish version of Christmas” by any means!

When my Passover book, AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? came out back in the spring, I had so many people tell me how much they enjoyed the interview I did with myself that I thought I’d try it again! 

So here’s my interview with ME! (But also, stay tuned, because I also had the chance to ask the fabulous illustrator, Taryn Johnson, a few questions as well!)

RGL: So, tell us Rebecca, what was your inspiration for writing this book?

RGL: Thanks for asking, Rebecca! 🙂 At age 9, my youngest son had still yet to learn how to ride a bicycle. We’d tried many times over the years to teach him, but he was stubborn and resistant, and seemed happy spending his time doing a plethora of other activities, so we didn’t push him. 

And then came the pandemic. Suddenly, all of my son’s other activities went – POOF! – and after too many months of “I’m bored!” I decided it was time for him to finally learn how to ride a bike, whether he liked it or not. (Spoiler: he didn’t like it!). 

(By now, you’re asking: what does all this have to do with a story about a little dreidel? I’m getting there, I promise!)  

So, we begin the bike-riding lesson, and after only one try, my son yells: “I can’t do this! This is stupid! I hate this!” I explain that learning a new skill takes time, patience and practice, but he wanted none of it. Still, after some tears, he got back on and tried again. And again. And again. Within 10 minutes he had it!  He was off and rolling on his own and was SO proud of himself!

Not too long after that, I was flipping through my idea notebook and came across one that said: “dreidel who has trouble spinning” and for some reason I immediately thought about my son trying to ride his bike and how he immediately gave up after only one try. I thought about how a new dreidel might feel the first time she tries to spin and how difficult and frustrating that might be (I often think about how objects feel!) From there I was off and running!

RGL: Any big surprises arise during the making of this book?

RGL: Oh boy! YES! Literally at the very last minute, like days before the book was set to ship to the printer, we discovered a MAJOR mistake! Oh, I’m getting stressed just thinking about it!

The story, as originally submitted, took place on the first night of Hanukkah. But the illustrations showed the menorah with ALL the candles lit, which only happens on the very LAST night!

I can’t tell you how many times I looked at those spreads and NEVER once noticed this error! Thankfully, at the final hour my editor (who is NOT Jewish!) noticed it and asked me if we needed to change this somehow. I seriously went into a tailspin! Knowing that it would be much more difficult for Taryn to change the illustrations, I decided that I would try to change the text so that the story could take place on the LAST night instead. 

Thankfully, there were only two stanzas that made reference to it being the first night so it wasn’t a complete overhaul. But the book is in rhyme, so making the changes was NOT at all quick or easy. I literally stayed up all night trying to fix it in time. But I’m SO glad I did because the book is so much better for it! WHEW! That was a close one!

RGL: You have a lot of fun Yiddish terms in the book and great glossary in the back matter. Why did you decide to include Yiddish in the text?

RGL: Yiddish has always been a part of my family’s culture. My dad speaks Yiddish fluently, and growing up he would often sprinkle in Yiddish words and sayings mixed with his English. My late grandmother would call me her “shayna maideleh.” Even my mom, who doesn’t speak fluently, used to call my sons “ketzelah” when they were little. I always thought the words were super fun to say. My personal favorites are “plotz!” and “kvetch.” 

I think a lot of people are surprised when they learn how many Yiddish words have made their way into our everyday vernacular, like “klutz,” “chutzpah,” “nosh,” and “shlep.”

And, by the way, for those wondering, Yiddish is NOT the same thing as Hebrew. Hebrew is a language that is/was primarily spoken in Israel and in the Middle East, whereas Yiddish is a German dialect (with some Hebrew, Aramaic and several other languages mixed in) that was primarily spoken by Jewish people in central and eastern Europe prior to WWII. Because so many eastern European Jews were killed in the Holocaust, there are far fewer speakers of Yiddish today.

(Okay, that got dark for a minute. Let’s get back on track…) 

I’m so thrilled that illustrator Taryn Johnson also agreed to answer some questions for us as well… Here’s my interview with Taryn…

RGL: Taryn, thank you so much for stopping by! Tell us, what made you say “yes!” to this project?

TJ: I grew up celebrating Hanukkah with my family, and we had a collection of storybooks about the holiday that I would read every year as a kid. When Scholastic reached out about working on this project, I immediately thought of Little Taryn and knew she would be so thrilled to illustrate a Hanukkah book of her own! I was also eager to have this opportunity to grow as a children’s book illustrator by exploring a new subject matter.

RGL: What was your favorite or most interesting part of the illustration process?

TJ: Character expression and body language are such important components in storytelling. Dreidels, however, are rigid, inanimate objects… so it was a creative challenge for me to find ways to bring movement and life to the characters! Little Dreidel and her family only have angles, arm gestures, and facial expressions for emoting and I enjoyed working within that limitation. It was also fun designing them to look as cute as possible!

(Taryn’s early character design sketches)

RGL: Anything else you’d like to share about the making of this book?

TJ: In my first iteration of sketches, the dreidels were much smaller! They lived in a human world, like toys coming to life. The scenes mostly took place on countertops and coffee tables. The menorah towered over the characters, and Little Dreidel was not much bigger than the gelt! We changed direction to have the dreidels live in their own world, which is what you see in the final illustrations for the book. This is just one example of the many decisions that get made behind the scenes when creating illustrations for a book!

(an example of one of Taryn’s early sketches…)

RGL: Taryn, thank you so much for stopping by to give us the behind-the-scenes view from the illustrator perspective! I’m just so thrilled with how the final product turned out. You are amazing! 

And now what you’ve all been waiting for… Yes, there’s a GIVEAWAY! Comment on this post to win either a signed copy of LITTLE DREIDEL LEARNS TO SPIN or a 30-Minute Ask-Me-Anything with me by simply commenting on this post. Get an extra entry by posting on social media and tagging me! (@WriterRebeccaGL on Twitter/X, @RebeccaGardynLevington on IG). I will announce the winner on my next post, scheduled for Nov. 5th!

And the winner of last month’s giveaway, a picture book manuscript (under 1000 words, rhyming or non-rhyming, fiction or non-fiction) from Carrie Finison, author of PIGS DIG A ROAD is…

**Emily Starr!!!!!**

CONGRATS! Emily, please email me at [email protected] to claim your prize!

Taryn’s Bio:

Taryn Johnson is an illustrator and animator based in Somerville, MA. She brings a playful appreciation of nature to her work through bright colors, joyful shapes, and a little imagination. With each project, she seeks to spark curiosity and wonder for our planet and its life. When she’s not creating art, you can find Taryn out in nature—surfing along the New England coast or hiking snow-capped mountains.

To collaborate with Taryn or learn more about her work, visit tarynjohnson.com or follow her on Instagram @tarynosaurus