Kimmel’s Book Motivates Toddlers to Get Spinning
“Hanukkah Hippity-Hop” is author Barbara Kimmel’s first children’s book.
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
Barbara Kimmel, an Atlanta-based author, released her debut children’s book, “Hanukkah Hippity-Hop,” this past October through Kar-Ben Publishing. This playful and interactive board book for ages 1-4, intends to have toddlers “marching like Maccabees and spinning like dreidels.”
Though Kimmel has been writing short stories and plays for the past decade, “Hanukkah Hippity-Hop” is her first children’s book.
She said, “When my kids were young, I wrote books for them, but life got busy, and I set those stories aside. Now, as an empty nester, with encouragement from my husband, playwright Hank Kimmel, I found myself returning to writing — the more I wrote, the more I was drawn back to children’s books.”
The glossy mini book is 10 pages, with about one sentence per page featuring wide-eyed, smiling, diverse children prancing around with a cat watching and drooling over the chocolate gelt.
The Association of Jewish Libraries named “Hanukkah Hippity-Hop” one of the Best Jewish Holiday Children’s Books of Fall 2024, and School Library Journal called it “a clever and entertaining story that will brighten library shelves during the Hanukkah season.”
Kimmel emphasized the importance of the books’ playful elements. “The lively rhyme and engaging movements make ‘Hanukkah Hippity-Hop’ a fun read-aloud … I also saw a need for more Jewish joy, which inspired me to focus my first two books on Jewish holidays.”
Kimmel’s next book, “Purim Possibilities,” will be published by a division of PJ Library, with a planned 2026 release. That book will include Colorforms stickers, offering kids dress-up possibilities.
Kimmel is preparing for a busy schedule of Chanukah events as she is appearing at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, and taking part in celebrations at synagogues, Jewish community centers, and holiday bazaars throughout Georgia and Florida.
Kimmel and her husband are longtime members of The Temple, where their three children grew up. She has also been a dedicated volunteer with Weinstein Hospice for more than a decade.
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