INTERVIEW WITH #JEWISH #KIDLIT AUTHOR CHARLOTTE OFFSAY ABOUT MATZAH DAY, PLUS A GIVEAWAY

By Danna Zeiger

I was lucky to “meet” Charlotte before I actually met her at last year’s NCTE. Through her prolific books (my kids and I especially loved The Quiet Forest) and her impressive social media platform, Charlotte is everywhere in the kidlit world and has so much to offer! Merging these two passions and strengths has been fruitful, and I know I personally have a lot to learn from Charlotte! I have watched her carefully explain the nuances of the social media algorithm (and she was absolutely right!) and I’ve seen her many thoughtful reviews of kidlit online. For all these reasons, I was so excited to get to sit down and ask Charlotte many questions about this publishing world and what she does best.

DZ: Before I dive into questions about your (stunning) book, I wanted to ask about your background! I read that you were born in England but grew up in Boston (which is where I live!) and I’m wondering if there’s a story there? What brought you to LA?

CO: Thank you for having me on your blog! Yes, I was born in England and moved to Boston when I was 9. When we first moved, we intended to go back after a couple of years, but my father’s work kept us here and eventually we all decided to stay. My extended family lives in England and I try to get back to visit them as often as I can – although never as much as I wish! I met my husband, Rick, while we were both studying in the Boston area and moved with him to Los Angeles in 2009. Rick was born and raised out here in LA. I love living out here in the sunshine state, and we have been blessed with two beautiful children.

DZ: Can you share a little about your path to becoming an author? Did you have another life outside of publishing, or did you always know you were going to aim to become an author?

CO: I have always loved books and storytelling, but I actually worked in corporate finance for a number of years before deciding to be a stay at home parent when our daughter was born in 2014. Our son was born in 2015 and those early years were all consuming, but I fell back in love with children’s books as I read (and still read) as many books as I can with them – my hospital bag was packed with my childhood favorites.

It wasn’t until 2017 though when I became inspired after an afternoon of making challah with my children that I sat down and wrote my very first picture book manuscript.

It started as a rhyming how-to challah story complete with photos of my kids as the illustrations. I had it printed to celebrate my love of making challah with my children, never intending for anyone other than my family to see it:

Little did I know that in writing that story for them I had just taken the first step toward a new career. When I created that book for them, I fell in love. Writing, editing and creating filled me up. With a little encouragement from a friend and my endlessly supportive husband, I decided to take a picture book writing class. I took Intro to Picture Books through UCLA Extension’s online program.

The more I learned the more I wanted to learn. I took another class and another and began reading and writing picture books in every spare moment. From there I met my fabulous critique partners and joined groups like 12×12 and Inked Voices. In 2018 I met my agent Nicole Geiger and with her help began selling picture books. In 2023 Challah Day, the real life picture book that started with that very first manuscript, was published!

DZ: Let’s chat about this gorgeous book, Matzah Day! I am blown away: first, by your impeccable rhyme and wit, second, by the brilliance of focusing on matzah and all of the interesting ways to eat it, and third, by the mind-bogglingly creative illustrations where the characters dive into ingredients and there is such a 3D, visceral experience!

How did you come up with this idea?

CO: Wow, what an incredible compliment, thank you so much. I tend to write about the things in my life that take up the most space in my heart. I adore the Jewish holidays and often try to find creative ways to celebrate them in the kitchen with my kids. We have made many kinds of Matzah together during Passover and I thought a compilation of them would be a fun way to continue celebrating Jewish joy as a follow up to Challah Day.

Text © 2025 by Charlotte Offsay. Illustrations © 2024 by Jason Kirschner. Used with permission from Peachtree Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.”

DZ: Did you come up with the idea for the characters to dive into lifesize ingredients and give the book a bit of a fantasy feel, or was this all the illustrator and art director? The artistics perspectives are so unique, as well, like when the family peers into the oven and the reader is placed behind the cooking matzah–the scenes are so exciting and original!

CO: Jason Kirschner the illustrator of Challah Day and now Matzah Day is incredibly talented. When I first saw the narrator dancing across oversized ingredients in Challah Day, I gasped with delight! I never could’ve dreamed up the joyful, creative illustrations that Jason did and am so grateful to him for elevating our books beyond all expectations. All credit goes to him! The only art notes I included were details on the challah baking process since the text is so sparse. I am every bit as delighted with Matzah Day as Challah Day. He brings the fun right from the beginning with the family each eating holes through the matzah covered endpapers!

Text © 2025 by Charlotte Offsay. Illustrations © 2024 by Jason Kirschner. Used with permission from Peachtree Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.”

DZ: I love that you used some words in Hebrew, like Pesach, instead of Passover. Or, the Yiddish schmear. That’s unusual in other Jewish PBs I’ve read! I love how authentic these words feel, and how smoothly you’ve slipped them into the text! Did you get any push-back? Was there any discussion of pronunciation or making a glossary? 

CO: Thank you for that lovely compliment. My editor Grace Maccarone has been incredibly supportive and never pushed back on any language choices. We did not discuss a pronunciation guide or glossary but did include recipes and back matter so that readers can learn more about the holiday.

DZ: How does the final version compare to the version you submitted? Were there many revisions? I imagine that is hard to do in rhyme!

CO: The final is fairly close to the original version I submitted. We did add an extra spread of the family at the seder table but thankfully there were minimal revisions as yes, revisions in rhyme are quite challenging!

Text © 2025 by Charlotte Offsay. Illustrations © 2024 by Jason Kirschner. Used with permission from Peachtree Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.”

DZ: You’ve published so many beautiful books–well done! I truly love them and have read them with my kids. They are honest critics but they also always love your books :-). Some of your previous books are also Jewish books. Have you noticed a change in publishing Jewish books recently in the last year? Since you work with so many broader publishers that aren’t specifically working on Jewish books, has that experience changed?

CO: What an incredible compliment, thank you so much! Please thank your kiddos from me! I have been working with three traditional publishers recently on Jewish books (Holiday House, Random House Children’s and Penguin Kids), and have not personally experienced any changes in publishing Jewish books. My editors have remained excited and supportive to be publishing Jewish books together. I am grateful to them for the opportunity to spread Jewish joy and add light to the world in a time of darkness.

DZ: With so many successful books birthed into the world, has your writing process changed? Have you maintained the same critique groups, or has your revisions process changed in any way?

CO: My writing process has changed significantly in some ways and remained the same in others. I no longer write every day the way that I used to when I was first learning to write. I like to think that I am somewhat more efficient when I do write these days although I have to remind myself of that regularly when staring at the blank page – every story seems to have its own unique journey! I am lucky to still get to write with the same talented critique partners that I have been with for years though and I still regularly read every picture book I can get my hands on (check out my review page @picturebookrecommendations on Instagram). I also still try to let myself get out any crummy first draft that I can, sometimes that is just a beginning or even just an end. From there I build and edit and try to allow more time between drafts than I used to as I find it helps me tackle whatever problems I am facing with a clearer mind.

DZ: Has your relationship with your editors changed over so many books? Once you work with an editor, does your agent submit your new work in the usual way, or do you casually pitch some projects with editors? I always wonder about the editor relationship with time!

CO: I have been fortunate to work with incredibly, kind, talented and nurturing editors. I have gotten to meet a few of them in person and am grateful for how they have helped me elevate my writing. Now that we have already worked together and have developed a rapport, I have been able to develop projects alongside them in a way that I wasn’t able to when first starting out. They have also approached me with ideas. In terms of your question about my agent, it depends on the project. I have a few different styles of writing and certain projects are therefore a better fit for some editors than others. We generally submit to my previous/current editors though before widening our submission pool. My agent is incredibly open and communicative though and allows me to be part of the process of figuring out the best submission strategy for each manuscript we decide to send out.

DZ: Since you’re both an author pro and a social media pro, can you share how you promote your books? Any advice for our readers?

CO: I am not sure I would call myself a pro, but I appreciate the kind words! I do spend a lot of time on Instagram running my page @picturebookrecommendations. Doing so has allowed me to develop relationships with other bookstagrammers and I generally send review copies to any I think would enjoy the book. Most bookstagrammers like myself primarily work directly with publishers however if you follow and regularly interact with any, it can’t hurt to send a nice message and note to see if they may be interested in your upcoming book – your publicist may even be willing to send along a review copy!

I recommend coordinating with the publicist at each publisher and make sure they know that I am open to any opportunities that arise. For example, Holiday House has a ‘Star Storytime’ that they have asked me to participate in, where I will get to read Matzah Day from their social media account. They have also setup interviews for me in the past. I highly recommend coordinating with your publicist and making sure they know what kinds of opportunities you are open to – conferences, school visits, interviews etc.

I also reach out to kidlit bloggers via the contact forms on their websites to see if there are any opportunities for interviews and also to any niche groups for the book. For example, I partnered with ocean advocacy nonprofit Heal the Bay for my book The Big Beach Cleanup. You can see who I have interviewed with as well as school and bookstore readings I have done on the press section of my website.

My biggest piece of advice though when it comes to book promotion is to focus on the pieces that you enjoy. Social media can be draining for example and if you don’t keep up with the algorithm your posts will have minimal reach. I do recommend having a platform though so that you can be easily found and tagged by reviewers. If you enjoy school visits, focus on reaching out to schools and seeing if you can set them up. If you prefer to promote from home, perhaps focus on kidlit blogs. There will always be ‘more’ that you can do to promote your book so try not to do ‘everything’ or you will burn out and remember to spread out your marketing efforts beyond the launch, promotion doesn’t end with your book birthday!

DZ: What’s next for you? Both in books coming out in the near future and long-term? 

CO: My next books after Matzah Day include The Quiet Ocean, which is a follow up to Abi Cushman’s and my book The Quiet Forest, and Not a Walk. In The Quiet Ocean, one small pop sets off a chain of outrageous events, causing the whole ocean to have a very frazzled day indeed! It will publish in 2026 with Beach Lane/Simon Kids. Not a Walk is a picture book inspired by a Yiddish saying, featuring a feisty granddaughter and a clever grandpa who support one another during an outing, reminding readers that sometimes life is just more manageable in bite-sized pieces. It will publish in 2027 with Rocky Pond/Penguin Kids.

*GIVEAWAY*

Charlotte is generously offering an opportunity to win a copy of this book with this interview!

TO ENTER: please comment on this blog post. If you share on Instagram, Bluesky, or Facebook, you get another entry–just add to your comment to share both your handle (e.g. @SOMEAUTHOR) and where you’ve shared it.

We will select winners at random. Giveaway closes in one week.

More about Charlotte:

Charlotte Offsay was born in England, grew up in Boston, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. She is an active bookstagrammer, SCBWI, 12×12, and Inked Voices member.

Charlotte is the author of Not A Walk, illustrated by Rotem Teplow (Penguin/Rocky Pond Books, 2027), The Quiet Ocean, illustrated by Abi Cushman (SSBFYR/Beach Lane Books, 2026),  Matzah Day, illustrated by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House, 2025), Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2024), The Quiet Forest, illustrated by Abi Cushman (SSBFYR/Paula Wiseman Books, 2024), Challah Day, illustrated by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House, 2023), A Grandma’s Magic, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2022), The Big Beach Cleanup, illustrated by Kate Rewse (Albert Whitman, 2021), and How to Return a Monster, illustrated by Rea Zhai (Beaming Books, 2021).

Learn more about Charlotte’s work at charlotteoffsay.com and follow her on Instagram at @picturebookrecommendations. Charlotte is represented by Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary.