Time to dance and sing again, dear friends! It’s time to welcome another new book to the world…a world that needs books like this more than ever before.

This post is chock full of important stuff…information about the authors and illustrator…and the story behind the story – plus the challenges the creators overcame along the way. First of all, this book was a collaboration between two authors.
Author Arlene Rosenfeld Schenker is a former teacher and mentor to children. In addition to children’s books, she writes book reviews for the Sydney Taylor Schmooze. She has a degree in child development from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University Law School. Call Me Gebyanesh is her first picture book. She lives in Rochester, NY with her husband.
Website: arleneschenkerwrites.com
Bluesky: @arleneschenker.bsky.social

Author Gebyanesh Addisu immigrated with her family from Ethiopia to Israel when she was a child. Call Me Gebyanesh is based on her experience as a third-grader on her first day of school in Israel. She graduated from Hebrew University in 2024 and is currently completing her master’s degree in history there. Gebyanesh lives in Jerusalem.
You can connect with Gebby here: https://il.linkedin.com/in/gebyanesh

Illustrator Chiara Fedele was born in Milan, where she attended art school and received a degree in illustration from La Scuola del Fumetto. She works as a freelance illustrator for Italian and international publishers. She uses a combination of mixed traditional media and digital art. She lives outside of Milan, Italy.
Website: chiarafedeleillustrator.it

ME: WELCOME!!! We are so happy to have you here, Arlene and Gebby. I know you have a lot to share, so I will let you tell us how the book came to be – and the challenges along the path to publication.

ARLENE: Thank you so much, Vivian. We are so happy to be here. Thank you for helping us celebrate this very important book that is so near and dear to our hearts.
You had asked us what inspired us to write this book…well, Gebby inspired me to write this book! I first met her on a trip to Israel in 2015. We had corresponded a little before that, and I was so impressed by her letters (written in English, her third language) that I requested a visit with her at her high school. She struck me as extremely bright, a lover of learning, very poised, and modest. I had the idea to write about her immigration story years later, and when I wrote to her proposing the idea, she was immediately on board. I knew that the adjustment to her new country had to be difficult because, although Jewish, the Black Ethiopians who immigrated to Israel struggled to adjust to a strangely different culture.  

Although at the time I proposed writing Gebby’s story, she was already very busy with her coursework as an honors history major at Hebrew University, she made time to tell me her story in long emails and about twenty Zoom sessions over the next couple of years. When she told me about her first day of school experience with her name change, I knew that was the crux of her story and the hook for the book!

GEBBY: And what inspired me to write Call Me Gebyanesh was the realization that my personal story, with all its struggles, is something many children experience—not just in Israel, but around the world. I wanted to share an optimistic perspective, showing that identity struggles can be overcome, and that with the support of friends and loved ones we can reclaim who we are. Arlene’s curiosity about my story and the message it could send deeply resonated with me and inspired me to stay committed to writing this book.

ARLENE: I think the most challenging part of getting this book to the finish line for me was the amount of revising it entailed. I literally have more than fifty documents of revisions for this story on my computer! In 2020, when I began to put Gebby’s story down on paper, I was still fairly new at writing picture books, and one of the very first drafts that I sent out to be professionally critiqued came back to me with the comment: “This is not a picture book.” I guess that having been a lawyer and writing legal briefs didn’t really prepare me for picture book writing. But I learned so much by writing—and revising—this book, and I was determined to get it published because I knew that Gebby and I had to share her story.

I’d like to add that I had lots of help along the way. Besides entering every kind of writing workshop available (through SCBWI, 12×12, Storystorm, etc.), competing for mentorships, and listening to countless picture book writing webinars, I had a couple of wonderful critique groups. And the “kid-lit” community is so supportive of new and aspiring writers, Vivian Kirkfield being a superstar here. I also had the good luck to be invited to a picture book writing retreat at Highlights Foundation by PJ Library. So for new writers, I repeat what I’ve heard countless times: develop your craft and don’t give up.

GEBBY: One of the biggest challenges on the road to publication was trusting the process. At the beginning, it was difficult to envision the final result—it required faith and patience. But by the end, every step was worth it.

Preferred sales order links:

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/call-me-gebyanesh-arlene-rosenfeld-schenker/21649876?ean=9781681156606&next=t,

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/call-me-gebyanesh-arlene-rosenfeld-schenker/1145995888?ean=9781681156606,

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Call-Gebyanesh-Arlene-Rosenfeld-Schenker/dp/1681156601/ref=sr_1_1?crid=E6N3HA5JPBSU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pFmaDF8TWbaYGc5d1boU4g.jTQhhbssCWY1i7sPir9tLyIY66BkzfDvcRjrNl4oIV4&dib_tag=se&keywords=call+me+gebyanesh&qid=1745798182&sprefix=call+me+gebyanesh%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-1

THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR SPENDING YOUR PRECIOUS TIME WITH US! The best way to help a book become successful and get into the hands of the children who need to read it is to:
Buy the book
Review the book
Tell friends about the book (please share this post on your social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies of the book.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! And please come back tomorrow for ANOTHER BOOK BIRTHDAY POST…Ann Koffsky has another new book!!!
Oh, and don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of today’s featured book, CALL ME GEBYANESH.