Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom

In our interview we talk about modern retellings of a classic Yiddish folktale and celebrate Michal Babay's upcoming book The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom (Charlesbridge, 2022),  illustrated by the late Paula Cohen

The students at Parley Elementary have a hard time using the space in their lunchroom efficiently. When they get tired of shoving and arguing, they write a letter to their principal asking for help. She responds by moving all the science projects into the lunchroom. Now it’s even more crowded! Through a series of letters and increasingly hilarious scenarios, the lunchroom gets more and MORE chaotic. When the principal finally announces that the lunchroom is once again only to be used for lunch, the students are overjoyed with the result.

Michal Babay is a former teacher and elementary school specialist. She is the author of I'm A Gluten-Sniffing Dog (Albert Whitman) and On Friday Afternoon... (Coming Fall 2023 from Charlesbridge). Michal lives in her own incredibly shrinking house in California with her husband, three kids, three dogs, one cat, and a bearded dragon named Gus Pirate Potato. www.michalbabay.com

Joining us for the interview is Karen Rostoker-Gruber whose recent book, A Crowded Farmhouse Folktale, appeared in 2020 (Albert Whitman).

Mel Rosenberg is a professor of microbiology (Tel Aviv University, emeritus) who fell in love with children's books as a small child and now writes his own. He is also the founder of Ourboox, a web platform that allows anyone to create and share awesome flipbooks.