I’m Heidi Rabinowitz and I am so happy to be Jewish. The beautiful and varied customs, the focus on deep thought and learning, and the historical connections going back over the centuries, all bring me joy. That’s why I’ve dedicated my career to synagogue librarianship and why I’ve been podcasting about Jewish children’s literature for 20 years on The Book of Life, and established a new hub for Jewish kidlit this year at The Jewish Book Garden on Substack. That is also why I created the Jewish Joy series here at Multicultural Kid Blogs!
What?
I’m thrilled to share this Jewish Joy series for Multicultural Kid Blogs with you. I’ll be bringing you Q&A’s from diverse intersectional Jewish authors, showcasing the variegated tapestry of Jewish life and books. In each interview, I’ll link back to the author’s appearance on The Book of Life Podcast for you to hear their voice and learn more about them.
Why?
In these turbulent times with antisemitism at record highs, Jewish Joy is crucial. As poet Toi Derricotte says, joy is an act of resistance. Joyful books invite everyone in, so that Jewish stories can, in the words of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, become windows as well as mirrors, bringing hope, demystifying the Jewish experience, and building empathy and understanding.
Who?
In the last Jewish Joy post in this series, you met interfaith author Laurel Snyder. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Erica Lyons, an author who lives in Hong Kong and works hard to support Jewish life in Asia, as the Hong Kong representative to World Jewish Congress and the founder/director of PJ Library Hong Kong. I interviewed Erica along with her co-author Christina Matula about their picture book Mixed-Up Mooncakes on The Book of Life in October 2024.
Erica’s writing represents the Jewish experience across the globe, with stories set in Hong Kong, China, India, Yemen, and Israel. I’m pleased to bring you this exclusive Jewish Joy interview for Multicultural Kid Blogs, and if you’d like to hear more from Erica in her own voice, please click on the podcast link below.
Q&A with Erica Lyons
THE BOOK OF LIFE: Erica, please describe your own Jewish identity, along with any other aspects of your identity that you’d like to share.
ERICA LYONS: Judaism has always been central to my identity. My grandparents and great-grandparents had roots in Persia, Hungary, Ukraine, and Russia, but I was raised to be a wholly new brand of Jew, a real American Jew. I was raised in the Conservative movement and my parents were active in the community. My father taught me that Judaism was hard. There was no disavowing it or avoiding it. It could make things more difficult and possibly dangerous, but that is how it was. My mother taught me that it was a call to advocacy and a responsibility to help fellow Jews (and others as well). But, one thing my new American Judaism wasn’t, it wasn’t tied to Jewish literacy or spirituality. As I got older, I was exposed to the wealth of Jewish texts and learning. I began to understand what is lost when Jewish literacy and spirituality are seen as “old world.”
When my husband and I started our own family, having both been raised in the American secular world, we both knew there was a Jewish world we didn’t know, and we felt we were missing something. We decided to intentionally raise Jewish children with the highest level of Jewish literacy that we could and that we would figure the rest out.
We are active leaders in a Modern Orthodox synagogue, in a community that blends Mizrachi, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi traditions, as well as a myriad of levels of observance. Judaism is now woven into every aspect of our lives. I am driven by Jewish values and it is the primary lens through which I view the world. Zionism is inextricably linked to that view.
I appreciate that I don’t easily fit into a Jew box. I very much value the differences in practice and levels of observance in my community, where we’re all on our own trajectory. With this background, I find myself comfortable in most Jewish communities, while I continuously work to improve my own Jewish literacy and connection to God.
TBOL: Why is it important to you to include Jewish representation in your writing?
EL: When I was little, I spent much of my time reading. Books were my world and my escape. My parents would allow me to bring books to synagogue so long as they were Jewish books. That left me with a well worn copy of Jewish stories from the Bible, Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (with illustrations by Maurice Sendak), and a few bland didactic Jewish holiday books. Later, I discovered books on the Holocaust.
It never occurred to me that books could feature someone like me. As I got older, I started to see Jewish representation in books like those by Judy Blume and my desire for more Jewish characters and books slowly began to expand. This set me on a quest to find Jewish stories. Much later, I understood that I could help to bring even more Jewish stories into the world too.
Every child deserves to see themselves in a book. As someone with Persian and Ashkenzi roots, a quasi-expert in the history of Jewish Asia, and as the parent of Chinese Jewish children, I feel compelled to do my part to help others see themselves in Jewish books too.
There is no greater joy than receiving letters from parents telling me that their children have deeply connected to my stories. I even had a parent tell me that their Chinese Jewish daughter is also named Zhen Yu, like in my book Zhen Yu and the Snake!
TBOL: About being Jewish: what is hard, and what brings you joy?
EL: Even before October 7, 2023 [when Hamas attacked Israel], as my father said, being a Jew is not easy. But in the post-October 7th world, it’s gotten much more difficult. Most notably, the ancient hatreds have resurfaced. That said, it is beyond a privilege to be part of this wonderfully diverse, incredibly adaptive and creative, strong and proud family that is the Jewish people. My true joy is that I will never be alone in the world. I can travel almost anywhere and the same tune and words, in an ancient tongue, can bond me to a complete stranger and bring us both to tears.
TBOL: What do you want the world to know about Jewish people?
EL: We are small for a people. We are large for a family. Like most families, we are diverse and we sometimes argue, but we have an ancient core narrative and common destiny. And because we are a family, our history is memory and it is shared.
Our understanding of peoplehood and belonging and identity far outdates any of the boxes that the contemporary world has attempted to put us in. We have an imperative to add more light in the world even when others try to dim it.
TBOL: Tell us about any Jewish books you’ve written.
EL: I contributed a chapter to the book Growing up Jewish in India: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin, edited by Ori Z. Soltes (Niyogi, 2021). That being said, I’ve been mainly focused on writing picture books for children:
My debut book was Alone Together on Dan Street illustrated by Jen Jamison (Behrman House, 2022). This was followed by Zhen Yu and the Snake illustrated by Renia Metallinou (Kar-Ben, 2023). I also wrote Counting on Naamah: A Mathematical Tale on Noah’s Ark illustrated by Mary Reaves Uhles (Intergalactic Afikoman, 2023). Saliman and the Memory Stone came out in 2024 and was illustrated by Yinon Ptahia (Apples & Honey Press, 2024). On a Chariot of Fire: The Story of India’s Bene Israel illustrated by Siona Benjamin (Levine Querido, 2024) came next. This was followed by Mixed-Up Mooncakes co-authored by Christina Matula and illustrated by Tracy Subisak (Quill Tree, 2024). In 2025, Lily’s Hong Kong Honey Cake illustrated by Bonnie Pang (Apples & Honey Press, 2025) was released.
My next two books to be released are Yingcheng’s Two Hats illustrated by Sally Deng (Levine Querido, 2027) and Festival of Lights co-authored by Reenita M. Hora and illustrated by Kamala Nair (Quill Tree, 2027). And I currently have a middle grade novel and several picture books on submission.
TBOL: What other Jewish books are you excited about, and why?
EL: This is a very tough question! I write a weekly column for JUDITH Magazine where I aim to spotlight as many Jewish authors and books for children as I can. I’m also the founder and director PJ Library Hong Kong. I’m an avid reader (11 non-kidlit books completed so far this year!) of Jewish memoir and historical fiction though I love non-fiction, magical realism/ low fantasy, realistic contmeporary fiction, mystery, and have just read (and loved) my first Jewish romance novel. I most recently read Always Carry Salt by Samantha Ellis and The Best Place on Earth by Ayelet Tsabari. I highly recommend both. I’m also currently on a Dani Shapiro memoir binge.
TBOL: Erica, thank you for sharing your own story, and for adding so much to the diverse representation of Jews in children’s literature!
Heidi Rabinowitz
Latest posts by Heidi Rabinowitz (see all)
- Jewish Joy with Rachelle Burk - August 24, 2026
- Jewish Joy with Adam Gidwitz - July 13, 2026
- Jewish Joy with A.R. Vishny - June 15, 2026
I am a big fan of Erica’s picture books. I always learn so much about Jewish diversity from her storytelling!
Erica is fantastic both as a writer and a person! So glad to see her featured here and to learn more about her.