Congratulations to Elissa Brent Weissman and Omer Hoffmann, the author and illustrator of Hanukkah Upside Down, for being a Sidney Taylor Book Award Honoree in the picture book category!
Let’s learn more about their book, how they celebrated, and more!
Hanukkah Upside Down: Interviewing the Sydney Taylor Book Award Picture Book Honorees!
Hannukkah Upside Down by Elissa Brent Weissman, illustrated by Omer Hoffmann
Two cousins, Nora and Noah, live on opposite sides of the earth; Noah in New York and Nora in New Zealand. They have a friendly debate about who has the best Hannukkah but find that although they have more in common than they realize. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Omer Hoffmann
Q1: What was your inspiration behind Hanukkah Upside Down?
It was fairly easy to find inspiration because it was also somewhat personal.
The story takes place in two locations – New York City and New Zealand. Luckily for me, I have lived in NYC for two wonderful years. It still is my favorite city. I have also traveled to NZ some years ago, and believe it to be the most beautiful place on Earth. So as one can imagine, all I had to do to be inspired was to reach back to my own pleasant memories and experiences.
Q2: Did you get to interact at all during the creation of Hanukkah Upside Down?
Before I started sketching and illustrating, Elissa sent me some invaluable personal photo references from New Zealand. She has also provided me with surprising details I couldn’t have found out by myself. Did you know they like to walk barefoot over there? And it’s there in the book!
Q3: What are your family’s traditions for Hanukkah?
We love Hanukkah. We love the traditions, singing the songs, getting together, and lighting our makeshift Hanukia. Each year we also try to organize at least one large gathering of our close childhood friends, so we can celebrate Hanukkah together. This usually turns out to be the noisiest Hanukkah night as well…
Q4: How did you celebrate winning the Sydney Taylor Honor Picture Book?
By working on more picture books, of course.
Q5: What’s next for you?
I have several projects waiting for me. My current project is a picture book about God and Gifts. I am really excited about this book since it contains fewer kids running around ( my usual trademark) and more profound, spiritual content.
Elissa Brent Weissman
Q1: What was your inspiration behind Hanukkah Upside Down?
My family and I moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019, and this book was inspired by our first Hanukkah in the southern hemisphere. Hanukkah falls in summer here, which means not only is the weather warmer, but it’s light out until after 9 pm. For a holiday that involves lighting candles after sundown, that was a big shift from the 5 pm sundown in Baltimore’s winter.
Our move made me realize how much northern hemisphere settings dominate popular culture—anything holiday-related is typically filled with wintry scenes and imagery, even though December is summer for half the world! A story about cousins in New York and New Zealand competing to see if Hanukkah is more fun in winter or summer allowed me to flip the narrative and, I hope, get readers in any part of the world to consider a fresh perspective on experiences they might take for granted.
Q2: Did you get to interact at all during the creation of Hanukkah Upside Down?
We didn’t interact very much apart from a few emails to say how excited I was that Omer would be illustrating the book and (later) how perfect the illustrations were. I was a huge fan of Omer’s work ahead of time, and I knew he’d lived in New York and had traveled in New Zealand, so I trusted him to create accurate pictures that would fill the story with energy and humor. It was hard to wait while he worked his magic, but I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.
Q3: What are your family’s traditions for Hanukkah?
Shortly before Hanukkah, the four of us sit down and make a list of how we’d like to celebrate each of the eight nights. The list changes every year, but it usually involves things like movie night, game night, and sushi night. We always have one night for the kids to open their gifts and one day or night in which we do something to help those in need. It makes for an enjoyable week of spending time together…if we can make it work! This December, we were so busy with end-of-school-year events, that the eight days and nights all ended up having the same theme: Just getting by!
Q4: How did you celebrate winning the Sydney Taylor Honor Picture Book?
My family and I were on a trip to Japan when I got the call, so we celebrated with a dumpling dinner in Kyoto, including chocolate-filled gyoza for dessert—yum!
Q5: What’s next for you?
I have a new middle grade novel coming out in 2025. It’s about two girls whose mothers are momfluencers. My first middle grade graphic novel is also in the pipeline, due out in a few years’ time, which is very exciting. I’ve got ideas for more picture books I’d like to write too. More immediately, though, I’m hoping to attend the AJL conference this year. It’d be wonderful to celebrate this honor in person with the committee and the other winners.
Thank you so much, Omer and Elissa! You both had a special “upside down” connection that showed in how this picture book came together. What are the chances that both of you are familiar with New Zealand? That is also some amazing editor magic of book creation!
Congratulations on this great honor of being a Sydney Taylor Book Award Honoree!
p.s. Related posts:
The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour with The Christmas Mitzvah!
The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda & Sydney Taylor Honor Book Award Blog Tour
Contemporary #OwnVoices Jewish Children’s Books
10 Award-Winning Jewish Books for Kids and Kid Lit Blog Hop
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
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