Jay’s New Picturebook, Raspberries November 19, 2009

My classic story Raspberries is now a book! Included is a CD of the book version of the story in the back of the book. This popular story was born when my son, Teddy was four. Teddy banged his shin outside their cottage and was weeping, “I broke my leg.”

The original Raspberries was very short. I wrote it down and put it away for a year. Then one day at the Pierce School in Brookline I decided to tell it to the fifth graders. They loved it and Raspberries became my favorite springtime story.

I recently got an email that I’d like to share with you.

Danny, from San Francisco, wrote, “I have listened to Raspberries since I was a small child. I think it planted a seed in me to become a baker. And now, I am! I started an organic whole wheat vegan challah bicycle delivery service in San Francisco. I am 28 years old. We’re still underground and baking out of my kitchen. I sing to myself, ‘Kneadin, knead, all I do is kneadin,’ as my business partner, Helen, and I bake through the night on Thursday and on into Friday morning. Then it’s onto my bike and off to my friends’ houses through beautiful sunny San Francisco. People love their fresh bread, and I get to imagine those 24 or 28 loaves being eaten happily by people dotted all round the city. Or maybe being blessed at a shabbat meal. The good feeling it gives me – well, I guess I was born to be a baker.”

I so enjoy people sharing such stories with us!

You can now listen to the first few pages of my book as well as “look inside” the book and see the first three pages! Visit my website to read and listen. Enjoy!