The incredible Rebbe Lev Tov and his ragtag group of shipwrecked passengers… A green-faced Esther Hamalkah and a hamantasch-eared Haman… The weeping Jews in Mitzrayim and the downtrodden Fishel the beggar… Which kid hasn’t spent hours enthralled by Gadi Pollack’s awesome comics and illustrations? Let’s speak to Gadi and find out how he makes his drawings come to life.
The incredible Rebbe Lev Tov and his ragtag group of shipwrecked passengers… A green-faced Esther Hamalkah and a hamantasch-eared Haman… The weeping Jews in Mitzrayim and the downtrodden Fishel the beggar… Which kid hasn’t spent hours enthralled by Gadi Pollack’s awesome comics and illustrations? Let’s speak to Gadi and find out how he makes his drawings come to life.
For the past 15 years, Gadi Pollack has been illustrating children’s books on topics ranging from good middos and proper behavior to alef-beis and Jewish history. How, I ask, did he get started?
“I started drawing like all kids do,” Gadi says, half joking. “The difference is that most kids stop at some point and I didn’t.” Jokes aside, Gadi attended art school for many years and trained under master artists in Russia, all of which helped him develop his wide-ranging techniques (see sidebar).
The first book Gadi illustrated for the frum world was Tell Me What You Think! by Tzila Margalit, published in 2000. After that he introduced himself to artist Yoni Gerstein, asking him for help in finding clients. Yoni was the one to make the shidduch between Gadi and talented author Rabbi Baruch Chait, an introduction that led to The Incredible Voyage to Good Middos and its sequels, written by Rabbi Chait and illustrated by Gadi; the beautifully illustrated Pesach Haggadah; and many others, including their most recent collaboration, The Desert Diary. But Gadi has written several of his own books as well, all known for their beautiful, highly detailed illustrations.
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