Anna Olswanger Author & Editor

Anna Olswanger first began interviewing Rabbi Rafael Grossman and writing down his stories in the early 1980s. She is the author of the middle grade novel Greenhorn, based on an incident in Rabbi Grossman's childhood and set against the backdrop of the Holocaust. She is also the author of Shlemiel Crooks, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and PJ Library Book, which she wrote after discovering a 1919 Yiddish newspaper article about the attempted robbery of her great-grandparents' kosher liquor store in St. Louis. Anna lives in New Jersey with her husband. She is a literary agent and represents a number of award-winning authors and illustrators. Visit her at www.olswanger.com. The late Rabbi Rafael Grossman was a respected leader at some of the nation’s most distinguished Jewish organizations, including Baron Hirsch Synagogue, the Beth Din of America, the Rabbinical Council of America, and more. He received several honors and awards for his leadership and work in the Jewish community, and was also a recognized orator and writer whose work was published in The Jewish Press. In 1965, Rabbi Grossman traveled to the Soviet Union as part of a rabbinical delegation to visit Jewish victims of government-sponsored anti-Semitism. Profoundly moved by the experience, he often wrote and spoke about his time there after returning to the United States. His story inspired the graphic novel A Visit to Moscow. Yevgenia Nayberg is an award-winning illustrator, painter, and set and costume designer. As a designer, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts/TCG Fellowship for Theatre Designers, the Independent Theatre Award, and the Arlin Meyer Award. She has received multiple awards for her picture book illustrations, including three Sydney Taylor Medals. Her debut author/illustrator picture book, Anya's Secret Society, received a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection Award. Her artwork can be found in magazines and on posters and music albums. Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, Yevgenia now lives and draws from her studio in New York City. Visit her at www.nayberg.org. Yevgenia Nayberg is an award-winning illustrator, painter, and set and costume designer. As a designer, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts/TCG Fellowship for Theatre Designers, the Independent Theatre Award, and the Arlin Meyer Award. She has received multiple awards for her picture book illustrations, including three Sydney Taylor Medals. Her debut author/illustrator picture book, Anya's Secret Society, received a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection Award. Her artwork can be found in magazines and on posters and music albums. Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, Yevgenia now lives and draws from her studio in New York City. Visit her at www.nayberg.org.