Six Questions with Audrey Barbakoff

Dr. Audrey Barbakoff (Mazel Toes!, The Schlemiel Kids Save the Moon) is an author, librarian, and educator. Years of working in libraries developed her love of joyful read-alouds that support bonding and literacy. As a mom, she is passionate about passing down the vibrancy and diversity of Jewish humor, language, and stories. Her new board book, Mazel Toes!, celebrates generations of love for new babies with playful, Yiddish-inflected rhymes and sweet gestures for every part of the body, like a kiss on the keppie and a boop on the nose.  Visit Audrey's website or find her at @BarbakoffBooks on Instagram and Bluesky.

1. How did you begin your journey as an author?

I wrote my first picture book in the middle of writing my dissertation. I was slogging away and in desperate need of a brain break. I had done so much focused writing that the vowel keys started falling off my laptop! My mind started wandering – and almost unintentionally, I found myself writing a picture book instead of my literature review. Writing for children became my creative outlet. As a new mom, a doctoral student, and a full-time employee during a pandemic, I suddenly needed that outlet a LOT. So you could say I procrastinated my way into authorship!

2. Did you have a favorite teacher when you were a child? What made them so special?

I could tell a lot of stories about my middle school English teacher, Mr. Downey. But I think the thing that really set him apart was the way he treated us as sophisticated thinkers, even at our age. We wrangled with nuanced, challenging literature and topics. We read banned books. He made space for us to think independently, discuss context, and construct arguments – and fully expected us to do so. This is where I learned to take a book apart to the smallest detail, see how it works, and put it back together. That’s a skill I use every day as a writer. And even more importantly, this experience was foundational in learning to trust myself, my ideas, and my voice. Did I mention that he would occasionally do backflips all the way down the hallway? He was something.

3. Do you work on multiple projects at the same time?

The way I take a break from one project is to start another! I’m a big believer in letting ideas simmer. Especially if I’m stuck, I find the best thing I can do is usually stop trying so hard. I can’t push and shove my way to creativity! Taking a break by writing something very different instead seems to free up some semi-conscious part of my mind to mull over the story. If I’m revising a fiction picture book, I’ll start writing nonfiction. If I’m in a rut with nonfiction, I’ll write poetry. They have to be very dissimilar, or the magic doesn’t work.

4. Was this always the title for this new project? If not, what other titles did you consider and how did you land on this one?

For Mazel Toes!, the title came first. I was just struck by this adorable pun, (a play on the Yiddish phrase for congratulations, “mazel tov”) that made me think of cute baby feet. Then I had to figure out how to write a book to fit! At first, I thought it would be a funny story about a mis-heard word. Then one night, when I was cooing over my own snuggly new baby, I found myself wishing I had the words to express just how fiercely I adored this tiny creature. That love is amazing - so unique and yet so universal. In that 3am brain fog, I realized that what I needed to write was a love poem to our babies. So that’s what Mazel Toes! became.

5. What was the most challenging thing you faced while writing/researching this book?

I had so much fun weaving Yiddish into this book. I got to have conversations with my family, my dad in particular, as I decided which words to use and how to place them. It also took a lot of work to make the rhyme and meter work when blending languages. But I’m a stickler for a really smooth, natural flow in rhyming books. I want reading my poetry to feel as effortless as speaking in prose. (Which of course, takes a lot of effort!) It was a puzzle I really enjoyed, and it was so satisfying to get all the pieces to come together in just the right way.

6. If you read Mazel Toes to a room filled with kids, what message would you want them to leave with?

You are loved, always and forever, exactly how you are. You are linked to an unbreakable chain of love, forged from generation to generation.  

Indirectly, I also hope children will absorb the idea that there are many kinds of people and families, and all of us love our babies. We can embrace our differences and our shared humanity at the same time. Of course, I don’t expect a toddler to think about this consciously after hearing a sweet little poem about booping their nose. But I do believe that repeated exposure to diverse books, like this one, helps our children develop empathy, respect, and love for all people.