Short Bio
Barbara Kimmel is an award-winning children’s book author and playwright based in Atlanta who creates playful, interactive books for young readers. She is the author of Hanukkah Hippity-Hop and Purim Possibilities, winner of the 2026 Grinspoon Jewish Story Award and a PJ Library selection. Both books were selected for the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Holiday Highlights, its list of the best Jewish holiday children’s books. Her writing has also appeared in Highlights and High Five magazines.
Full Bio
Barbara Kimmel is an award-winning children’s book author and playwright based in Atlanta who creates playful, interactive books for young readers.
Her debut, Hanukkah Hippity-Hop (Kar-Ben Publishing), and her board book, Purim Possibilities (PJ Publishing), have both been selected for the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Holiday Highlights, the organization’s list of the best Jewish holiday children’s books. Purim Possibilities, which features reusable stickers, also won the 2026 Grinspoon Jewish Story Award and was a PJ Library selection. She is the author of the forthcoming lift-the-flap board book No or Yes? It’s Fun to Guess!: A Jewish Holiday Book (PJ Publishing). Her writing has appeared in children’s magazines, including Highlights and High Five.
As a playwright, Barbara’s work has been produced in New York and London, as well as at theaters across the United States and internationally. Her play Reconstruction received an Ellie Award at the Ivoryton Women Playwrights Festival and had its world premiere at Theatre Three’s 27th Annual Festival of One-Act Plays. A selection of her plays is available through the New Play Exchange.
Barbara received the Astra International Picture Book Writing Contest Finalist Prize and was selected for the inaugural PJ Library Picture Book Summer Camp at the Highlights Foundation. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the Authors Guild.
Beyond writing, Barbara advocates for dystonia, a neurological movement disorder she lives with, and has been a hospice volunteer for more than 15 years. She earned her B.A. from Brown University, where she was the university’s first female mascot, “The Brown Bear.” She lives in Atlanta with her husband, and they are the proud parents of three grown children.
Learn more about Barbara and her books at barbarakimmelwrites.com. Barbara is represented by Eve Adler at Red Fox Literary.
Connect with Barbara
Website: barbarakimmelwrites.com
Instagram: @barbarakimmelwrites
X/Twitter: @BKimmelWrites
Facebook: @barbarakimmelwrites
Bluesky: @barbarakimmel
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