The Bagel Who Wanted Everything, Food Cartoons & the Comfort Zone with Alan Silberberg

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Alan Silberberg, an award-winning author, cartoonist and children’s TV creator, whose latest book is “The Bagel Who Wanted Everything.” This funny, heart-warming story of a plain bagel’s quest to see what else is out there in the world is the latest in his series of silly kids’ books about Jewish food; other titles include “P is for Pastrami” and “Meet the Latkes.”

When asked what it’s like to be in his head, Silberberg says, “”It's like going up a really beautiful hill that sometimes you trip and then fall very fast into a big, splashy pool of chicken soup. I'm up, down, making things up … coming up with characters; it's a fun life.”

Silberberg loves drawing food; it’s the gateway to every kid, every family.

“It's like a muscle memory for your tummy,” Silberberg says. “There aren't enough good funny stories about food, especially Jewish food; I have the Jewish funny food niche.”

Silberberg shares his journey from loving to doodle, to working in kids TV, to author. He also talks about his favorite Jewish foods, bagel preferences, fun with food characters, and how to live an everything bagel kind of life.

“My books allow kids to enter the story and not identify as the kid, but go, ‘Oh, I'm kind of like that bagel,’” Silverberg says. “There's something safe about … being able to connect [and identify] with a food.”

To learn more about Alan Silverberg go to silberbooks.com and follow @alan_silberberg on Instagram. Read the article at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

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