Graphic novels
Who’s Ready For Some “Potato Pancake” News?
Happy Holidays, everyone! Of course, one of those holidays is Hanukkah. As I type this, we’re smack-dab in the middle of Hanukkah. Well, not exactly the middle. Somewhat past the middle. But not quite the end. It’s eight nights long in total, and tonight is night six. So Hanukkah is still chugging along like a festive frolicking freight train, and that means that this blog post is still thematically relevant…for the next two days. Perhaps I should’ve posted this a few days ago. Oh, well. Better late than never, I guess?
All of the above is a very awkward prelude to this: I wrote a Hanukkah-themed graphic novel for kids called The Day I Became a Potato Pancake, which was illustrated by the super-talented Beilin Xu. It’s out now from Behrman House. The book has been getting mentioned – and reviewed – in a few different publications recently. So I thought I’d mention some of ’em.
Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly said about The Day I Became a Potato Pancake: “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 Publishers Weekly review HERE.
PW also included the book on its list of Jewish holiday books for children, which you can check out HERE.
The Day I Became a Potato Pancake was included in Booklist’s Fall Youth Preview for 2024, which you can see RIGHT OVER HERE.
It was mentioned in THIS ARTICLE from Book Riot titled “5 Awesome Jewish Children’s Books About Hanukkah.”
And it was mentioned in THIS ARTICLE from The Jewish Telegraphic Agency on new children’s books for Hanukkah.
Here are some other reviews of the book:
THIS is one from The Texas Jewish Post.
And HERE is one from The Jewish Book Council.
THIS is a review of the book from The Reporter, a publication of the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton.
And HERE is one from The Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog.
That just about does it for my press roundup for The Day I Became a Potato Pancake. However…
If you’d like to find out about some of the other Hanukkah-themed comic book stories I’ve written, you can click HERE.
And if you like reading humor pieces, I wrote THIS LIST of Hanukkah-themed horror movie titles (all of which I made up).
Lastly, HERE is a blog post where I talk about a Hanukkah-themed audio script I wrote for Yoto’s 5-Minute Holiday Stories collection (which came out in November of 2023). In that same blog post, I talk about two Christmas-themed children’s books I’ve penned.
“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!