Children’s Stories
Mort the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah!
Happy Passover to all those who celebrate! Hope you like matzah, and stuff made from matzah meal, ‘cause that’s what you’re getting for the next several days! When this holiday is over, your G.I. tract will be VERY angry with you. That said, matzah meal pancakes are actually pretty good, when done right.
Hey, speaking of matzah, guess what? I wrote a Passover story for Yoto’s 5-Minute Spring Holiday Stories collection, which is out NOW!
The story I wrote is called “Mort the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah”! In it, Mort – who is a morsel of matzah, as you may have guessed, given the story’s title – wishes that he was bread. He’s even built a high-tech device which will transform him into bread. Will he use the device? Will he have a change of heart? Download the story or purchase the story card to find out!
All of the stories in this collection are short audio dramas for kids. Writing the script for “Mort” was like writing a radio play, and I even wrote the sound effects into the script, which was lots of fun.
And guess what? You can see Mort poking out of the basket the skunk is holding on the poster art for this collection!
Oh, one more thing: “Mort, the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah” was performed by a friend of mine, Eli Schiff!
Here’s Yoto’s official description of the 5-Minute Spring Holiday Stories collection:
Spring into the season with five heartwarming tales of joy, renewal, and celebration, told by your friends at Yoto.
Experience Lunar New Year through Kaylin’s eyes, learn what it’s like to be a morsel of matzah who dreams of being bread, deliver Easter eggs with the Easter Skunk, try to fast for the first time during Ramadan with Saleem, and help the elephants and the bees prepare for Holi in these 5 stories celebrating the coming of Spring!
Tracks include:
- Kaylin and the Noisy Lion Dance
- First Time Fast Time
- Holi, Naturally
- The Easter Skunk
- Mort the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah
Read by Triya Leong, Donya Alizadeh; Nikhil Saboo; Billy Bob Thompson; and Eli Schiff
For more info on The 5-Minute Spring Holiday Stories collection, CLICK HERE.
BTW, I also wrote a Hanukkah story called “The Dreidel Thief” for Yoto’s 5-Minute Holiday Stories collection, which came out back in November of 2023. Now, that was a collection of winter holiday stories, even though that’s not really reflected in the collection’s title. This new story, “Mort the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah,” was written for the 5-Minute Spring Holiday Stories collection. The operative word there is “Spring.” I’m just trying to point out that the two collections have similar but slightly different titles, just so that nobody gets them mixed up.
And you can find out more about “The Dreidel Thief” (and how to listen to it) via THIS BLOG POST.
Last but definitely not least, I just wanted to thank Joe Vitale for hiring me to write the “Dreidel Thief” and “Mort” stories! (Joe was the head writer for both the winter and spring 5-Minute Holiday Stories collections.)
“The Day I Became a Potato Pancake” Is Out NOW!
What if – by some miracle of modern science – you were transformed into a walking, talking, sentient potato pancake? How would it affect your relationships with other people? How would it affect your rapport with your best friend? That’s the premise of The Day I Became a Potato Pancake, a Hanukkah-themed graphic novel which was written by yours truly and illustrated by the incredible Beilin Xu.
And today is the book birthday of The Day I Became a Potato Pancake, because that book was published TODAY by Behrman House!
Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly said about this book: “This speculative, character-focused graphic novel highlights aspects of Jewish identity and culture through multiple lenses to craft a goofy yet nuanced read.”
Read the full PW review HERE.
The Day I Became a Potato Pancake also appeared on a recent Publisher’s Weekly list of Jewish Holiday Books for Children.
And it’s mentioned in Booklist’s Fall Youth Preview for 2024.
Here’s the official publisher description of the book:
A fun-packed graphic novel with Hanukkah-themed, science fiction adventure.
Naomi and her best friend Ben love playing with the cool inventions Naomi’s scientist mother always works on, like the holographic simulation room where they can fight dinosaurs. One day, using special finger-print copying gloves, she and Ben break into her mom’s top-secret lab (otherwise known as the garage) to see what other cool stuff they might find. There they find a device called the Transfogram, an experimental machine that transforms you into whatever you’re thinking about at the moment. While eating potato pancakes, Ben reaches for the button to see what it does– and next thing he knows, he’s transformed into a life-size walking, talking potato pancake!
While Naomi’s mom finally concocts an antidote, Ben discovers that he enjoys being the center of attention at school, and he delays changing back to a human. But the clock is running out and if he doesn’t take the antidote soon, he’ll remain a potato pancake forever.
To make matters worse, there’s a mysterious figure watching Ben’s every move. It’s an alien, called a Dreideltopian, who collects Hanukkah-themed objects from around the galaxy for his museum, and now he wants to collect Ben!
To order The Day I Became a Potato Pancake on Amazon, go HERE.
And to order the book on the Behrman House site, go HERE.
Early Reviews Are In!
Two of my upcoming books – The Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends and The Day I Became a Potato Pancake – were recently reviewed by prominent publications. Now, if they were negative reviews, I’d pretend they didn’t exist. But they are in fact positive reviews, so I acknowledge their existence wholeheartedly!
First, there’s a glowing write-up of The Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends in Kirkus Reviews. The critic who reviewed my book said that it was “A revealing study of ways in which mythology is still very much with us,” and that it “offers a broad perspective and unusually rich and stimulating parallels.” Click HERE to read the whole review.
The Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends comes out in October. So does The Day I Became a Potato Pancake, which is a children’s graphic novel that was written by yours truly and illustrated by the incredible Beilin Xu.
And if you’ve guessed that the second write-up concerns The Day I Became a Potato Pancake, you guessed right, because that book got a fantastic review in Publishers Weekly. And just in case you don’t have a subscription to Publishers Weekly and therefore cannot read the review, here it is:
Young inventor Naomi Hirsch and her best friend Ben Sherman love playing with her scientist mother’s inventions, like the hologram simulation program. But when they break into Professor Hirsch’s lab after being banned, they find something even more powerful: the Transfogram, “an experimental machine” that accidentally turns Ben into a human-sized latke. Naomi’s mother endeavors to develop an antidote before Ben’s transformation becomes permanent at sundown on the first night of Hanukkah, but Ben’s sudden boost in popularity among his classmates makes him reluctant to be human again. Kaplan (96 Facts About Bad Bunny) maintains gravitas amid silly circumstances by utilizing emotional dialogue centered on character relationships and growth. Singaporean illustrator Xu’s brightly colored art showcases facial expressions that emphasize the struggle between knowing what’s right and letting go of something that makes one feel special. This speculative, character-focused graphic novel highlights aspects of Jewish identity and culture through multiple lenses to craft a goofy yet nuanced read. Naomi and (human) Ben have tan skin. Back matter includes an art activity. Ages 7–9. (Oct.) —Publisher’s Weekly
Pretty cool, eh?
And if you DO have a subscription, HERE is the link to the review on the PW site.
The Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends will be published by Quarto on October 8th, 2024, and The Day I Became a Potato Pancake comes out from Behrman House on October 15th, 2024. You can pre-order both books now!