A Double Helping of Babka

This year, two picture books have been published with a delicious babka-related theme: The Babka Sisters by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Tika and Tata Bobokhidze (Kar-Ben Publishing, May 2, 2023) and Bring Back the Babka by Marilyn Wolpin, illustrated by Madison Safer (Barefoot Books, October 3, 2023), both aimed at readers ages 3-8. In honor of the "sweet new year" that's just begun, I'm glad to bring you this mouth-watering joint interview.

Marilyn and Lesléa, coincidentally you've both written books about babka. What drew each of you to babka as a subject for a picture book?

LESLÉA: I love the word, “babka.” It’s so much fun to say. I have even used it as an endearment for a beloved baby or pet: “Ooh, hello you adorable little babkaleh!” And it’s a very interesting food. Is it bread? Sort of but not really. Is it cake? Not really but sort of. Whatever it is, one thing’s for sure—it’s absolutely delicious! 

MARILYN: Babka is one of my favorite foods - especially if it’s chocolate filled, so I made it my main characters’ favorite dessert as well. When the original title and missing item with “s” sounds fell through, I naturally gravitated to “babka” and other “b” words. I always want to use alliteration, when possible. And of course, I’d love it if everyone fell in love with babka too!


Lesléa, your story has a bit of a folktale feeling, and is perhaps more humor-driven than your usual lyrical books. What were your influences as you created this story?

LESLÉA: I was totally influenced by language. My background is in poetry, and I am all about sound. I started playing with the names “Esther” and “Hester.” Then I decided to give them pets, “Lester” and “Chester.” And then their neighbor “Sylvester” showed up. The icing on the cake (or the filling in the babka) was when I remembered that the Yiddish word for sister is “shvester.” It’s a really fun book to read out loud to audiences of all ages.


Marilyn, your story is about a missing babka that never turns up, but lots of other Jewish foods make an appearance. How did you decide what foods to include?

MARILYN: Most of the foods come from my own upbringing, but they also had to relate to the character and the life lesson each neighbor was about to impart. And again - alliteration or consonance. So Rachel made cholent (for the ch sound), Gabby made stuffed grape leaves (g), and Faye made gefilte fish (f). There are other reasons for the character names, but I digress. While cholent wasn’t a dish at my house, I had a friend whose mother made it, and many were the Fridays when I would watch my grandmother grind fish for gefilte fish for a Shabbat meal. Gabby is Sephardic and we brought her in to introduce the diversity, worldliness, and richness of Jewish dishes.


Both of these stories are about neighborliness and community. Why is that topic important to you?

MARILYN: Again I have to go back to my childhood when my sister and I could roam the neighborhood and visit our friends. Even our dog went with us without a leash. We were always welcome and always offered a bite. In these times of staying indoors and away from people I hope this book reminds people that there can be joy in interacting with your neighbors.

LESLÉA: Community is everything to me. When I was growing up, we knew all our neighbors, and us kids were always running in and out of everybody’s house. There was no need to lock our doors back then. As a child, community gave me a sense of safety in the world. As an adult, I feel the same way. I have lived in the same community for 40 years and I know there are people here who would do anything for me. They have shown up for happy occasions such as my adult Bat Mitzvah. They have shown up for sad occasions, coming to my home when I sat shiva for each of my parents. And I would do the same for them. It’s important for us to take care of each other.


Tell us about a favorite illustration in your book and why you like it so much. How about a  favorite illustration in each other’s books, too?

LESLÉA: : It’s hard to pick just one illustration—Tika and Tata did such a fabulous job (and isn’t it great that the book was illustrated by a pair of sisters?). One illustration I really love shows Hester and Esther standing outside Sylvester’s door squabbling about who is going to ring the bell or knock on the door. Chester (the dog) is growling at Lester (the cat) who is yowling in response. Chester and Lester are expressing the emotions of Esther and Hester and their expressions are priceless.

I love Marilyn’s book, Bring Back the Babka. My favorite illustration comes towards the end where all the characters who have previously appeared in the book gather for Shabbat. Talk about community! There is so much warmth to this spread. And it even includes a dog and a cat!

MARILYN: All of Madison Safer’s illustrations are bold and full of detail, but I absolutely love the spread in the center of my book where Faye offers the boys a bite of gefilte fish. Sammy is all in, but the younger one, Sol, is dubious as is their dog Mazel - she looks as worried as he is. That makes me smile every time.

In Lesléa 's book, Tika and Tata chose a lovely palette for their illustrations and the entire book is charmingly drawn. But if I have to pick one … while I agree with Lesléa about her choice, I also loved the page where the sisters and Sylvester are eating and both the dog and the cat are begging.

The dogs and cats in both of our books are particularly endearing.


Did you get help testing babka recipes while creating your books?

LESLÉA:I don’t cook, let alone bake, but I have a friend named Aaron Hamburger who is a wonderful baker (he is also a wonderful writer—check out his new novel, Hotel Cuba which is based on his grandmother’s immigration story). Aaron created the recipe and he had several friends test it out, as did I. It was babka season around here for a good long while—babka for breakfast, babka for lunch, babka as a midnight snack!

MARILYN: I am not a baker and had some not so positive experiences testing a cake recipe for a different book I’m working on. My editor, Lisa Rosinsky, however, knew a baker - Cheryl Holbert, who supplied the recipe. Cheryl owns Nomad Bakery in Derry, New Hampshire, and is a baker at Bakey Babka, a bakery in downtown Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. Lisa took a day to test the recipe which she says was a lot of fun. Our illustrator, Madison, told us that her dog (Virginia Woof!) has pilfered and eaten half a dozen of her fresh-baked challah and babka loaves. And Lisa tells me that her cat left a paw print on one of her balls of dough as it was rising! Isn’t it great when all our animals pitch in?!


What is your favorite babka flavor?

MARILYN: I’m chocolate all the way. In fact, I may go have a slice right now! (Though a reminder to our dog-owning friends - keep the chocolate away - it’s poisonous to them.)

LESLÉA: Oh, it’s a tie between chocolate and cinnamon. Usually I vote for anything that contains chocolate, but seriously, the recipe in my book for each of these two flavors is completely swoon-worthy. The recipe is a bit complicated, but entirely worth the effort. I even had a friend bake and send me a babka!


What do you hope readers will take away from your story?

LESLÉA: I hope readers who have never eaten babka will run right out and get some! Or immediately roll up their sleeves and bake some! There are some other messages in the book: welcoming a new neighbor to your street with special food is a kind thing to do. Celebrating Shabbat together is a joyful occasion. Everyone is the best at something. And though siblings sometimes compete with each other and sometimes disagree, they still love each other and that’s what is most important.

MARILYN: Whenever I write a Jewish-themed picture book my hope is twofold: That I can convey the warmth and joy of being Jewish for Jewish readers and to pull the curtain away and allow non-Jews a glimpse into Jewish life. We all come from loving families (I hope) and we’re all part of a larger, hopefully loving, supportive, and warm community. I want to take the “strangeness” out of Jewishness and show just how similar we all are. The little girl’s heart who wrote this story has a simple wish: that everyone will get along and just play nice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LESLÉA NEWMAN has created 80 books for readers of all ages including Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed, Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story, and Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale With a Tail. She has received two National Jewish Book Awards and the Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award.

MARILYN WOLPIN isn't much of a baker, but she's been known to enjoy a thick slab of chocolate babka. Born and raised in Lakewood, NJ, Marilyn was surrounded by attentive Jewish mothers, grandmothers, and aunts who ladled out love and advice in heaping bowlfuls. After a long career in publishing and market research, she retired to write books for children.