Happy Book Birthday: PIPPA’S HANUKKAH HUNT Plus Giveaway

Posted on September 29, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Welcome, dear friends! It’s always a pleasure to celebrate the launch of a new book with a Happy Book Birthday post. And today, my joy is unmeasurable…since the new book is actually one of mine!

When my editor asked me to write a sequel to the popular PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE, I was thrilled. And with talented illustrator Jill Weber on board again, I knew the book would be magical…and I was not disappointed! Every page bursts with color and action!

Join Pippa’s generous friends and neighbors as they come together as a community in this joyful companion to Pippa’s Passover Plate.

Filled with rhymes and repetition, this is a perfect title to share and read aloud as you celebrate your own Hanukkah festivities! Pippa loves everything about her Hanukkah latkes—making them; eating them; and most of all, sharing them! But when her ingredients go missing, Pippa’s dinner guests become Hanukkah helpers as she searches the whimsical winter landscape.

When a surprise twist brings the latke ingredients and new guests to her table, Pippa is thrilled to have gathered the most important ingredient for any holiday meal: a community to enjoy it with.

An end note explains the origins and meaning of the holiday—with special attention to everyone’s favorite traditions like chocolate gelt (chocolate coins wrapped in foil) and the game of dreidel (spinning top).

Just in time for Hanukkah, this joyful story will bring smiles to our youngest story lovers…and by following the illustration clues, kids will be eager to solve the mystery of the missing potatoes.

Please help this story about community, compassion, and kindness become a success.
You can:
Buy the book (the link is from Bookshop.org, but you can purchase it on Amazon or from your local indie bookstore)
Review the book (on Amazon or any other review site)
Tell friends about the book (share on your social media and TAG 2 friends)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

To enter the giveaway of a signed copy of PIPPA’S HANUKKAH HUNT, please do at least ONE of the above…and in the comments, let me know what you have done. If you do more than one, you’ll receive extra chances in the giveaway hat.

And, if you didn’t get a chance to see the unboxing video on Facebook, here it is.

Unveiling Pippa’s Hanukkah Hunt: A Joyful Journey Awaits!

Posted on February 4, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Today is a VERY SPECIAL DAY for several reasons!

Reason #1: It’s World Read Aloud Day! I’ll be sharing ONE GIRL’S VOICE with all of the 4th graders at P.S. 97 in the Bronx, NY.

Reason #2: Today is the anniversary of my very first published book. PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE, illustrated by Jill Weber and published by Holiday House, is 8 years old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR PIPPA!

And Reason #3: We are revealing the cover of Pippa’s next adventure…PIPPA’S HANUKKAH HUNT…which launches this coming fall on September 29!

Oh my goodness…I LOVE this cover…and I hope you do, too!
Jill Weber, the illustrator, really knows what young kids love! Her art is JOYFUL! I’m so excited for children to turn the pages and discover the MYSTERY of the Missing Potatoes. There are clues for the reader on every page, not in the text, but in the illustrations. Great picture book illustrators somehow find a way to show other layers to the story in the pictures…I’m grateful to Jill!

This wonderful book will be flying onto bookstore shelves on September 29…delighting children with Pippa’s search for the missing potatoes. Because Hanukkah is coming and Pippa wants to make potato latkes for all of her friends – and SOMEONE has been taking all of the potatoes.

Do you love Pippa? Did you enjoy the first book? While we wait for the new book to launch, there are a few things followers of Pippa can do:
1. Pre-order the book: At any local bookstore or on Amazon
2. Review the book on Goodreads
3. Ask your local library to purchase copies of the book
4. Tell your friends (Sharing this post on your social media REALLY helps!)

I also wanted to thank folks who have been reviewing ONE GIRL’S VOICE. In my previous blog post, I mentioned that even though that book is a finalist for a Golden Kite in the nonfiction for younger readers category and has received other awards and accolades, it only had 35 reviews on Amazon as of a week ago. After my post, 9 more reviews appeared…THANK YOU to everyone who left early reviews or recent ones! Remember, it’s never too late to review a book! It’s such a worthy book, I hope there will be more reviews. And I will let you all know what happens on Friday night when the SCBWI Golden Kite winners and honor books are announced.

Please make sure you return on Saturday when the Heads-Up-The-Contest-Is-Coming-Soon post goes live…with the huge list of INCREDIBLE prizes for the 2026 #50PreciousWords International Writing Contest. I and my awesome judges, Maria Marshall, Carmen Castillo Gilbert, Leah Moser, Pamela Courtney, Amber Bouchard, Shirin Shamsi, and Diane Tulloch, are so excited to read all of your precious words!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week…and find joy in every day, no matter how challenging it may be.

Book Birthday: ONE SWEET SONG

Posted on January 15, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Strike up the band, dear friends! It’s time to celebrate a new book!!! And how perfect that today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we are sharing a book about community and coming together through music and song. I think Dr. King would have loved this book!

What a beautiful book! Written by one of my favorite kidlit peeps, Jyoti Rajan Gopal, and lovingly illustrated by Sonia Sanchez, and published by Candlewick.

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
In an ode to the power of music and community, this vibrantly illustrated picture book steps out on the balcony for a shared moment of spontaneous joy and celebration.

In a quiet neighborhood, a single note trills through the air. Another note joins, and then another. One by one, curious people are drawn to their windows, doorways, and balconies to support the medley. Professional musicians play instruments from around the world, while others bang pots and pans. All are welcome as the notes swirl and dip and crescendo, coming together to make one sweet song. And when the music fades and this diverse neighborhood is once again silent, the reverberations of unity remain. Written by a kindergarten teacher and inspired by the balcony singing in Italy during the pandemic—with a countdown from one to ten and back gently woven in—this rhythmic synergy of text and art is a buoyant, global-minded celebration of how music connects us, even in the darkest of times.

It’s a story about community and helping each other, with a counting layer added in…what could be better for our youngest lovers of stories!

I know that Jyoti is at Books of Wonder in NYC, celebrating the launch of this fabulous book. And I’m sorry we can’t all be there to support her. But we can help this book succeed! We can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Place the title on our Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf
Tell friends about the book (PLEASE share on social media)
Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection.