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Celebrate Purim with Three Amazing Authors & a Three-Book Giveaway!
- Heather Macht
- 52 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Hi readers, writers, and holiday lovers alike! 🎉 What’s better than celebrating Purim? Celebrating Purim with three amazing creators who each have a brand-new Purim book, and who are joyfully celebrating their launches together!
We’re beyond thrilled to welcome authors Barbara Kimmel and Nancy Churnin, along with author/illustrator Varda Livney, as they share their festive new books inspired by Purim - a holiday filled with feasting, laughter, and joy.
Want to know more about these talented creators and their newly released books PLUS, want a chance to win a three-book giveaway? Read on... the celebration is just getting started! 📚✨
Q: Hi everyone and thanks for joining #SeasonsOfKidLit! We’re excited to hear from all of you about your amazing Purim books with PJ Publishing. What’s most exciting to me is we have three different books celebrating the same holiday with totally different takes. Can you each share a little bit about your background in writing and what inspired you to write your books?
Barbara: I’m a children’s book author and playwright. My first children’s book, Hanukkah Hippity-Hop, came out in 2024 from Kar-Ben Publishing. I had so much fun writing that one that I stayed on that path and wrote Purim Possibilities, also a rhyming holiday board book. I love creating playful, interactive stories for the youngest readers, especially around joyful Jewish traditions.
Nancy: I’m a longtime journalist and theater critic who always dreamed of writing books. That journey didn’t start however until I wrote about a play being staged locally about William Hoy. After the article was published, a man named Steve Sandy, who is Deaf, shared with me his dream that one day Hoy would be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I got the idea that if I wrote a picture book about Hoy that might inspire kids to write letters to the Hall and make it happen. With the help of Steve’s research and encouragement, I wrote what would become my debut picture book, The William Hoy Story, How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game. That book gave me a mission for the books that would follow – to write about those that kids might not know about otherwise, those who persevered and made the world a better place, those that would encourage kids to make the world better, too.
Varda: I started out as “just” an illustrator and eventually found my way into licensing greeting card designs for Recycled Paper Greetings. I went on to illustrate and write over 400 cards for them, discovering along the way that I loved writing. Eventually, I tried writing books for toddlers (they are just a little bit longer than greeting cards), and here I sit, writing board books and picture books.
Q: What age range is each of your books for? What would young readers enjoy most about your books?
Barbara: Purim Possibilities is for ages three and up. Kids love the four pages of reusable stickers that come with the book. They can mix and match Purim costumes over and over again, making it fun for children—and adults!
Nancy: Purim Baskets is aimed at age one, but I have just had the most wonderful experience sharing it with a pre-K class in Richardson, Texas in February. This public school has already planned on me doing presentations for kindergarten and older and asked if I had anything for their four-year-olds, I read Purim Baskets. The kids LOVED guessing which animals received each basket. The clues are written in rhyme so they can use sound cues, but they also figured it out from the contents of each basket. I teased them for getting all the answers right, asking them if they had ever heard the book before (of course they hadn’t, they were the first ones to hear it), and they yelled, “No, we’re just smart!”
Varda: Today I Am a Hamantasch is for babies. I think they’ll mostly like the colors, the pictures, and maybe chewing on them as well.
Q: Can you share a little about your path to publication with your book? Did you approach the publisher or did they approach you? I think this is amazing as some publishers worry about titles competing - I ADORE the fact your publisher is publishing/promoting your books together.
Barbara: PJ Library has an open, anonymous submission process, so I submitted the manuscript myself. Once I received an offer, I brought in my wonderful agent, Eve Adler at Red Fox Literary, to handle the contract.
PJ Library mails Jewish children’s books to families each month, and the titles are carefully chosen based on a child’s age and developmental stage. They’re incredibly thoughtful about what works for kids at different ages. For example, Purim Possibilities includes reusable stickers, so it’s meant for children three and up who are ready for that kind of hands-on play.
Our books aren’t competing with each other. Instead, it’s been fun to support one another and help spread the word about PJ Library’s amazing program.
Nancy: I am very fortunate to have had my author journey nurtured and encouraged by PJ Library for a number of years, starting with a scholarship to the Tent program at the Yiddish Book Center in 2019, the PJ Authors and Illustrators trip to Israel in 2023 and a retreat later that year at Highlights for Israel journey alumni. I think because they know me and my work, they asked me to come up with an idea for a board book. Of the ideas I pitched, they liked Purim Baskets best. I took advantage of Chris Barash’s willingness to give me notes on early versions, revised, and then submitted. There was no certainty or promises that PJ Library would acquire it even after all that development. I’m so glad they did!
Varda: I approached PJ Library with my idea and book dummy. “Hamantasch” is my 7th book with them. At PJ, they understand that books which are appropriate for babies are not necessarily appropriate for 2 or 3 year olds. They get lots of credit for acting on that. Being as they are a non-profit, the sales figures aren’t the main purpose. Spreading Jewish Joy IS.
Q: What does Purim mean to each of you and what do you hope readers of all ages will take away from your book (even those who might not typically celebrate)? Please also share a spread from your books.
Barbara: It’s been hard these past few years to find Jewish Joy so what I love about Purim is that it’s all about joy and fun and dressing up. I hope readers who may not celebrate will see the book as a way to be creative, express themselves, and experience some of that Purim joy.
Nancy: Purim is above all a story of standing up for others even at the peril of your own safety as Queen Esther did. But what I’ve learned over the years is that there are many ways of standing up for others and one of those ways is showing kindness. That is why I love the tradition of Purim baskets, which are baskets of treats we give to family, neighbors, friends, the community. Our pets and creature friends at shelters and in the wild are also in need of kindness. It is my hope that Purim Baskets will inspire kids to remember and care for them as well.
Varda: Purim is (like many Jewish Holidays) a celebration of surviving an attempt at our destruction. It’s got some added bonus points, by being the party-est holiday, having a touch of feminism, costumes, and adorable kids.
My book is for the under-one set. My hope is that they will get a first “taste” of happy Purim vibes—its characters, costumes, colors, and, of course, the wonderful hamantaschen!
Q: What’s your favorite Purim memory that you’d like to share with our readers?
Barbara: My favorite Purim memories are from the Purim carnivals at our synagogue that I grew up in. There were tons of booths and games, but the highlight for me was always the cake walk. Winning a cake and getting to choose it felt like the ultimate prize.
Nancy: I loved baking hamentaschen with my grandmother. I loved everything about that floury, joyfully, messy time, transforming humble ingredients into something so fragrant and wonderful. My grandparents lived downstairs in our two-family house in the Bronx and part of the pleasure of baking with my grandmother was running upstairs and sharing the treats with my parents and siblings and whoever was lucky enough to be there when they were fresh out of the oven. I realized then that it was the joy of sharing the treats that made them taste so special! Just as sharing books with kids makes the books special.
Varda: Purim on kibbutz, back in the day. I was on a kibbutz, and I was amazed that about 10 adults were given a couple of weeks off of work to prepare for Purim. Which included building a grandstand in the dining room for a circus themed party! The whole community came to celebrate, there was live music, and it was just wild. A little different than the purim carnival at our synagogue.
Q: Would you like to leave a tip or a treat for our readers?
A: A TREAT. We'd love to offer a three-book giveaway and give one lucky reader a copy of each of our books!
WOW! What an amazing treat! Thanks again for joining us - it was a pleasure getting to know you and your books more!
Giveaway Details: Readers, to enter to win this amazing giveaway, 1) share this post on social media and 2) leave a comment below to thank the authors for stopping by.
Giveaway winners will be drawn and announced on or about 03/17!
Books will be shipped in the US only.
About Barbara Kimmel:
Barbara Kimmel is a children’s book author and playwright. She writes playful, interactive books for the youngest readers. Her debut, Hanukkah Hippity-Hop (Kar-Ben Publishing), was named a Best Jewish Holiday Children’s Book of 2024 by the Association of Jewish Libraries. Her latest book, Purim Possibilities (PJ Publishing), was selected as an AJL Spring 2026 Holiday Highlight. Her short stories appear in Highlights and High Five magazines. Learn more at www.barbarakimmelwrites.com.
Order Purim Possibilities on Amazon here
Website: barbarakimmelwrites.com
Instagram: @barbarakimmelwrites
Facebook: Barbara Kimmel Writes
Bluesky: @barbarakimmel.bsky.social
X (Twitter): @BKimmelWrites
About Nancy Churnin:
Nancy Churnin is an award-winning author who writes children’s books about people (and animals!) who have made a positive difference in the world. Her books have won the National Jewish Book Award, South Asia Book Award, Sydney Taylor Honor and Notables, Grinspoon Jewish Story Award and have been picked for Junior Library Guild, Silver Eurekas, National Council for the Social Studies Trade Book Notables, Bank Street College of Education Best Books, A Mighty Girl and multiple state lists, including Texas 2X2 and California Reads and have received starred reviews. A former journalist, theater critic, and proud daughter of a retired teacher, Nancy loves visiting schools and encouraging kids to follow dreams that can make them heroes of their own stories. Find her, along with resources, teacher guides and projects on nancychurnin.com
Order Purim Baskets on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GF4GV6PQ?dplnkId=e3d2bb46-dbe8-4691-a659-8f98a5892c9b&nodl=1#SalesRank
Website: nancychurnin.com
Instagram: @nchurnin
Facebook: Nancy Churnin
Facebook: Nancy Churnin Children’s Books
LinkedIn: Nancy Churnin
About Varda Livney:
Varda Livney lives on a kibbutz with her family and 1,000 other assorted people, dogs, cats, cows and olive trees. She works in a little shed, smack in-between the baseball field and the cowbarn, which ensures that she gets to hear the crack of the bat and smell the cows while she tries to figure out how to bring world peace through drawing cats and bunnies.
Website:
