By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Liz Rosenberg is a very versatile writer, so much so that it’s impossible to predict the genre and age range of future works. Rosenberg has written everything from poetry and literary novels for adults to picture books for children and nonfiction biographies for tweens and teens. Her latest publication, “Giant Baby” (Marble Press), is a picture book with illustrations by Eva Byrne.
The inspiration for her latest work didn’t take much thought on Rosenberg’s part. “‘Giant Baby’ was very much inspired by my grandson Max, now 4 and a half years old, though the child in the story is more of a toddler – let’s say between 14 months and age 3,” she said in an e-mail interview. “I think all of my best picture books have been inspired by my own actual children – and now, by my actual grandson. So, I hope Max will keep on influencing my work.”
However, when writing the book, she couldn’t help but think back to when Max’s father, Eli, was a toddler: “I remember as a young mom looking at our first-born, Eli, saying, ‘He’s getting so big! It looks like he grew two sizes overnight.’ I had a vision of him pushing through his footie pajamas while we were sleeping... And, of course, I thought the same thing about Max when he was born. They grow up so quickly. That’s the heart-aching, beautiful truth, one that every parent learns. ‘Giant Baby’ just accelerates the process a little, in a zany, comical night-time adventure.”
Rosenberg did note that the picture book “ends with another truth: ‘He’ll always be our baby.’ I certainly feel that way about Max’s bearded dad. And about our 21-year-old daughter. In some large corner of our minds and hearts, our grown kids are forever our babies.”
The author doesn’t plan ahead when it comes to writing, noting that “I do hop around a lot, from genre to genre, and even within the children’s book arena, from baby books to YA non-fiction, to easy readers, and back to picture books. There’s always something new to write. I can’t dictate what that will be. In other words, I can’t sit down and think, ‘Hmmm, today I think I’ll write a book for teenagers,’ or ‘I’d like to write a book for my daughter.’ I just have to see what floats my way and try to capture it before it floats off somewhere else.”
Rosenberg feels she was lucky to have a “brilliant editor named Michael Green, former president of Viking/Penguin Children’s Books,” for this book. He matched her with illustrator Eva Byrne. “I can’t imagine an artist more perfectly suited for this story than The New York Times best-selling Irish artist Eva Byrne,” she said. “We talked back and forth at a distance, with Michael doing all of the diplomatic mediation. Eva was responsive to a few of my suggestions, and I adjusted a few things as well. One of the best parts of writing picture books is seeing the great surprises an artist brings to the work; their vision makes the book come alive in ways you never could predict. Eva’s sense of humor is hilarious – each time I read ‘Giant Baby’ I find something new to laugh over.”
Working with Green proved to be a real pleasure for Rosenberg because 30 years ago, he was a student in the “Writing for Children” class she teaches at Binghamton University. “He was a C+ student – a very sweet and lovable one,” Rosenberg added. “I still remember hesitating for one half a second when he asked for a recommendation at Philomel, a small imprint at Viking/Penguin. Then I thought, you know, he was so eager and likeable and childlike in many ways, I thought he should be helping to make kid’s books rather than writing papers about them. He turned out to be one of the most important figures in children’s publishing in the last 50 years. Our publicity person at Marble Press, Christine Swedowski, is also a BU alum. And now her son is currently a student here. The whole experience feels beshert. I haven’t been this thrilled about a picture book in a while.”
As for her next project, Rosenberg doesn’t have firm plan in mind. “I am currently working on several different projects at once, which means I’m not yet seriously working on any,” she noted. “Poems, yes, because those come one at a time, willy-nilly. But I’m hoping to settle on one of these possible longer projects soon. I’ll be teaching ‘Writing for Children’ again this fall at BU, and that should inspire some new ideas.”

Pages from “Giant Baby” with text by Liz Rosenberg and illustrations by Eva Byrne (Used with the permission of Marble Press)