A Dragon for Hanukkah:

One of my favorite things about being an author (especially an author who was also a bookseller for seven years), is the opportunity to get early reads of books I’m excited about. And I’ve been super excited about bestselling and award-winning author Sarah Mlynowski’s debut picture book, A DRAGON FOR HANUKKAH (with art by Ariel Landy) ever since I was lucky enough to chat with her about it while I hosted her for school visits back when I was in charge of kids’ events at Brazos Bookstore. A DRAGON FOR HANUKKAH is a magical delight of a book, elevated by Ariel Landy’s equally magical illustrations, the kind of joyful art that makes you want to linger happily on each page. As main character Hannah matter-of-factly receives a Hanukkah gift each of the eight nights from family and friends, starting a dragon from her parents, the story unfolds her magical adventure, even traveling in time to meet the Maccabees! Then the tale cleverly twists as we learn the depth of Hannah’s imaginative play, a turn of events that will surely make young readers want to read this Hannukah book over and over! A two-page q/a with Hannah follows, giving background on the holiday and other clever details such as why Mlynowski named her dragon Nerry. A DRAGON FOR HANUKKAH is destined to be a holiday classic, filled with Hanukkah joy!

It was my pleasure to be able to interview Sarah about writing the book. Here’s what we talked about!

Joy: Sarah! This is such a cute, lively, imaginative Hanukkah story.  Did you know from the beginning that you wanted to make this Hanukkah tale about Hannah’s magical, creative take on her gifts? Tell us all!

Sarah Mlynowski: Hi Joy! Thank you so much. And no, I didn’t! My first idea was just to write about a   girl who got eight magical gifts for Hanukkah. I had this image of a box with an adorable dragon popping out. But when I was brainstorming with a writer friend (Morgan Matson!) she suggested the twist, and I loved it. 

Joy: And speaking of magic, isn’t it magical when brainstorming with writer friends produces exactly the idea you didn’t even know you needed? The creative process can take such varied forms and send us to amazing places! Which seems a good time to mention that you have written everything from magical middle grades to YA to adult novels, but this is your first picture book. What drew you to this project in this specific form?

Sarah: I have wanted to write a picture book for years and years. Since I had kids, and started reading a gazillion of them. So I wrote one and sent it to another writer friend, Emily Jenkins, who as well as being my co-writer on Upside-Down Magic is an excellent picture book writer. She told me that it wasn’t quite a picture book and explained why. Then I sent her another one. Same thing.  When I finally sent her the first draft of Dragon, she wrote back, SARAH, THIS IS A PICTURE BOOK. I am very grateful to have so many brilliant writer friends that are willing to brainstorm with me and give me notes. (And an amazing editor who is also a writer, Aimee Friedman!) Writing, like parenting, really does take a village.

Joy: It does indeed take a village! I’m sure you were thrilled when Emily was finally able to say yes, this is a picture book! Which means it’s time for me to ask about the writing process for a picture book. In what ways did you find it different from writing novels?

Sarah: While the first draft of Dragon definitely took me less time to write – it’s two pages versus a hundred and fifty--I spent ten times as long revising and editing as I normally do. Every word counts.

Joy: As a fellow picture author who recently shifted from YA novel writing, I can definitely relate to how intense the editing is for picture books, even though they are 2- 3 pages long! But I think you’d agree it’s also great fun, peeling down into the core of the story! And something else that’s fun? Dragons! Why dragons? What do you love about them?

Sarah: They are magical, they can fly and they breathe fire! What’s not to love? Although if I am being honest, I mostly like cute, cuddly dragons and am less interested in scary might-eat-you ones.

Joy: Agreed on the cuddly dragons. Much less daunting than the Game of Thrones variety! And speaking of things we both like, I see that like Hannah, you also prefer both applesauce and sour cream on your latkes, which I heartily approve! What was Hanukkah like in your family growing up? And now with your own children? Any magical dragons, cuddly or otherwise?

Sarah: My Bubby used to put sugar on her latkes, which was good, but I am definitely a sour cream and applesauce girl. We didn’t do the one present a night thing growing up – I grew up in Montreal, and maybe that’s an American tradition? But we do the eight nights of gifts for our kids now. It’s a lot. By day five they’re getting unopened scotch tape I find in the kitchen drawer.

Joy: Ha! I did not grow up with one present a night, either, so I don’t think it’s specifically an American tradition, just something some families do. We did a lot of latkes and lit the candles and opened gifts a couple of the nights. For our son when he was growing up, we did a gift a night, but most of those were small things like socks! We did (and still do) go to a lot of friend and family and temple Hanukkah parties, so it’s always a festive time. And now that we’ve given everyone a taste of our Hanukkah traditions, let’s educate them on this: For those who want to know more about the picture book making process if the author is not also the illustrator, did you have any input into the art work? Or was it pretty much a separate entity?

Sarah: I made some suggestions, but most of it came from Ariel. She did an amazing job – her art is just beautiful. It was fascinating to watch my manuscript come to life. Now that I think about it, collaborating with an illustrator is the biggest difference between picture books and my other novels. When I’m writing Upside-Down Magic (with Emily and Lauren Myracle) or Best Wishes (with Christina Soontornvat, Debbie Rigaud or Hena Khan), I speak and text with my co-authors daily. Sometimes hourly. But when you work with an illustrator, all the communication is supposed to go through your editor and designer. It’s the same process as the Whatever After graphic novel. It’s much lonelier, lol. But I’m guessing it’s a tried and true way to make sure the author lets the illustrator work in peace.

Joy: It’s such an interesting process, right? And as you say, so very different than the communication that goes on with other types of books. With my two upcoming picture books, I expected zero communication because I knew the illustrator’s job was to elevate the story and bring it visually to life. But at certain points, I was asked for input about covers and also the illustrations in general. Mostly I was just in awe that both illustrators seemed to have a direct line into my head and not only created the world I’d envisioned, but made it even better!

Joy:  And with that, I think we’ve covered all the things… except for one: What’s coming next from Sarah Mlynowski?

Sarah: Best Wishes 4: LIKE A BOSS, which I co-wrote with Hena, will be out in November. My next Whatever After, the final one, MIRROR MIRROR, will be out in August 2025. And the second Whatever After graphic novel will be out September 2025. And after that…we’ll see! I’d love to do more picture books, and I have an idea I’m playing with…now I just have to run it by Emily. ;)

Joy: I’m sure Emily will keep you line! And wow! So many upcoming books for readers to be excited about! Including me. Thanks so much for this interview Sarah!

And a reminder to everyone: Sarah Mlynowski’s delightful new picture book, A DRAGON FOR HANUKKAH, is available now at your favorite in person or online bookstore!

To find out more about Sarah and her books, go to: https://sarahm.com

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