‘Sometimes, when I am cooking, an idea comes to me and I have to write it down’

With this book, I wanted to explore other cultures with him, so I spoke to a family friend who introduced the dreidel to Carlo, and he thought it was amazing. I decided that the dreidel would be an excellent way of writing about the values of generosity, sharing and family.

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What do you think about kids and screen time?

There is a lot of demonisation of parents who let their kids have a lot of screen time, but we have to remember that parents have busy lives; they are trying their best, and they are only human. I thought there must be a middle way. Books like this give a child at least 20 minutes a day when they are engaged with something other than YouTube or Roblox. All my books encourage not just reading but an activity too. In a previous book, I included a cardboard box, which became a time machine.

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As a non-Jewish writer, can you share your personal experiences of Chanukah?

I grew up in Italy, where I had a best friend who was from America. When I was 10, I remember seeing her beautiful Chanukah candles, with their beautiful colours. She explained to me about the miracle of light, so I went to my mum and asked if we could also light these candles, so she put a row of candles meant for our Christmas tree on the shelf next to it.

An illustration from Poppy DeLuca's book, Carlo, Bianca and the Spinning Dreidel (Photo: Poppy DeLuca)[Missing Credit]

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As a writer, what is your work routine?

It is really random. There might be a moment, such as when I am cooking, when an idea comes to me, and I have to write it down. At a certain point, I sit down and write the story. When it comes to the illustrations, I tend to use an iPad. As a child, I wanted to be an artist and later attended art school in the evenings and went on to exhibit my paintings in Italy.

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What advice could you give to children – and their parents – to inspire them to write?

I would firstly suggest turning off your screen. But if you can’t, use a writing or drawing app, so instead of screen time being something passive, it can be something creative.

Remember that writing starts from just a sentence. For my son, I have created a paper diary for him. As he is still young, I am doing the actual writing, but even just watching me with a pen and paper encourages his thoughts to come out. At first, he was saying things like: ‘Today, I had fish and chips’, but yesterday, he discussed Harry Potter with me. He said: ‘Everyone is talking about it, Mum. Is it kid-friendly?’ I said: ‘Let’s go to the library and find out.’

​Carlo, Bianca and the Spinning Dreidel, By Poppy DeLuca + Story and Spoon Books (Editor), Available on Amazon

@storyandspoon