Kar-Ben publisher shares what to read for the Jewish High Holidays

CATHY WURZER: This is Minnesota Now on MPR News. I'm Cathy Wurzer. Thank you so much for being with us. Tonight marks the start of the holiest time of the year for Jewish people. It's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Families in Minnesota will head to synagogue and eat apples and honey, among other traditions.

One Minnesota-based company that has been helping teach those traditions for 50 years, Kar-Ben Publishing. Kar-Ben is the largest publisher of Jewish culture children's books in the world. Its publisher, Fran Greenman-Schmitz, joins us right now. Shana Tova, Fran.

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Thank you very much.

CATHY WURZER: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. I had no idea that one of the largest publishers of children's books with Jewish characters and themes is right here in Minnesota. How did this happen?

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Yes. Well, actually, Kar-Ben has been in Minnesota since 2001 when it was purchased by Lerner Publishing, which is a much larger publisher of lots of different kinds of books owned by the Lerner family and has been in Minnesota for a very long time. I'm not even sure how long.

CATHY WURZER: Wow. I'm curious about what you publish. Obviously, books, picture books, games? What do you work on?

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Yeah. Mainly books, picture books, board books for very young children, and we go all the way up to middle grade books, chapter books for pre-teens and early teens, all about Jewish themes, celebrating Jewish heritage and culture, and really trying to be a platform for diverse voices and perspectives across the spectrum of Judaism.

CATHY WURZER: I hear you publish the Sammy Spider series.

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Yes, we did. And actually, I have done one other interview since taking this job, and the interviewer was not familiar with Sammy, who is like an icon in the Jewish children's world. So, yes, we're very proud to publish Sammy.

CATHY WURZER: When you were growing up, did you read Sammy Spider?

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: I'm a little bit older--

[LAUGHTER]

--than the Sammy world, but I certainly raised my children on Sammy Spider, I'll say that.

CATHY WURZER: So tell me about how the imprint has evolved as Jewish culture has evolved.

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Yeah. So actually, Kar-Ben was founded in 1974, 50 years ago, as you mentioned, by two moms who really felt like there wasn't enough kid-friendly Jewish content in the world for their kids and for other kids, then, by extension. And they really started with, I would say, more religiously themed books.

So bringing like a prayer book down to a level that a child can understand it and sort of putting it in kid-friendly language. The first book that they published was a Haggadah, which is the book that Jewish people use during the Seder on Passover. And they just try to take that story and make it very real for children and then publish other books similar to that.

And then over time, Kar-Ben became one of the only-- at the time that it was founded, it was one of the only if not the only publisher of stories, then, for Jewish children, sort of taking Jewish folklore and the stories of the Bible and things that Jewish kids would hear, but bringing those into a much more kid-friendly voice.

And then from there, it expanded into looking at Jewish holidays and celebrating Jewish culture. As the publishing world has grown and changed across the spectrum, not just in the Jewish world, I mean, certainly, people have become more diverse.

Families have become more diverse. The culture has grown and changed. People are becoming less religious or religious in different ways. And Kar-Ben has evolved to match that as well, publishing all kinds of diverse voice stories and perspectives of different levels of religiosity, different cultural backgrounds, mixed families, all of that.

CATHY WURZER: Are your books just for Jewish families?

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: No. I hope that our books inform all curious kids and families about Jewish values and what it means to be Jewish today. I mean, I think it's important knowledge for anyone, not just Jewish kids. I like to use the analogy of mirrors and windows when it comes to kids content.

I've been in kids content for a very long time. I think kids need windows, which gives them a view into what lives are like for other people and to look into what they experience and what their experiences are. But they also need mirrors so that they can see themselves in stories and know that their experiences are not theirs alone, and they're not alone in the world.

And I feel Kar-Ben provides that mirror for Jewish children, but hopefully, we're also that window for other children and for families of all types who are curious about Judaism and Israel and what it means to be Jewish today.

CATHY WURZER: Give me some feedback from your readers. What are they saying? What do they like?

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Wow. We have really wonderful readers and very loyal readers. A lot of our customers are grandparents who really want their heritage and their experiences to be passed on to their grandchildren.

And that connection of having your grandchild sit on your lap and being able to read a book with them and then talk about your own lived experience and what's in the story relates to their own family and the experience that their grandparents have had-- I think we hear a lot about that.

And we also just get kudos, I think, from people who recognize that we're doing a service. Over time, luckily-- and I think there's a lot of room in this space-- there have been a lot more Jewish publishers that have come out into the market since Kar-Ben started. And also, some of the mainstream publishers are now publishing some more Jewish themed books or books with Jewish characters.

But I think our authors really appreciate being able to have those books that reflect their lives and their children's lives, and so we get a lot of kudos, and that's great. I hope people keep reading and sending us positive feedback.

CATHY WURZER: Say, I'm wondering, because you are pretty new in your position there at Kar-Ben, how you want to help the company evolve into the future.

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Yeah. So I think for me, my biggest goal with Kar-Ben is to continue to expand its footprint and its visibility. I think the previous publisher started with Kar-Ben when Lerner purchased it and had just retired this summer when I took over and has done an amazing job of really expanding the sort of content platforms and the different types of books.

And I hope to continue that. But I also hope that we can take some of this wonderful content and expand it into some of the places where children are consuming content today. So for example, podcasts or video content, more in the interactive and audiobook space.

So I think there are a lot of kids who spend more time on their devices than they do with books. And my hope is that if we can catch them on their devices and have them become interested in the content, that maybe it will bring them back into the world where they appreciate holding a book and having that quiet time to just read.

CATHY WURZER: There's nothing like holding a book. I really love that. Say, before we go, I mentioned in the introduction that the high holidays are upon us. Do you have a favorite book for this time of the year?

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Oh my goodness. Well, Kar-Ben has many, many books about the high holidays, and those can all be found on our website. This year, our new high holiday book is actually about Sukkot, which comes after Rosh Hashanah and then after Yom Kippur in the middle of October.

That book is called An Etrog from Across the Sea, and it's based on a true story about a little girl waiting for her papa to come home with the most perfect etrog for that holiday. But there are so many wonderful books that talk about the history of the holiday and the stories behind it.

There is a Sammy Spider Rosh Hashanah book, as well as a Sammy Spider Yom Kippur book, so those are always favorites. They're like my children now, so it's very hard to pick one over the other.

CATHY WURZER: I'm sure that's right. Fran, it's been a real pleasure. Thank you so very much for taking the time to talk with us.

FRAN GREENMAN-SCHMITZ: Absolutely. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you for having me.

CATHY WURZER: Fran Greenman-Schmitz is the publisher of Kar-Ben Publishing based in the Twin Cities.