Bill Farnsworth is the illustrator of The Christmas Menorahs and painted a beautiful new cover for the new edition of the book. A graduate of the Ringling College of Art + Design, he has spent more than forty years as an illustrator and fine artist. Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1958, Bill spent most of his life in New Milford, Connecticut, painting landscapes of the rural area, while supporting himself and his family with his growing illustration career. His paintings have appeared in many national shows, museums, and private collections throughout the United States.

This is what Bill had to say about his work on The Christmas Menorahs: "I have illustrated many books over the years, including The Christmas Menorahs. We were living in Connecticut at the time, and I used my local friends and family as models. It has always been a great experience having people near and dear to me involved in the process. One night, we had a great spaghetti dinner at our friends’ house with all our kids, and I photographed the feast for an interior spread in the book.

My approach to illustrating a children’s book is to vary the perspective with panoramic and midrange scenes, and close-ups. In the first few pages, I want to give the viewer a feel for where the story is geographically located, but also to show a close-up of the main character to establish empathy right away.

With The Christmas Menorahs, I wanted to be brutally honest but with a window of hope. That hope was the town of Billings, standing together and becoming heroes. Throughout the history of the world, during tragic times, a few people stepped up with great risk to help in any way they could. These heroes walk among us and don’t have capes or white horses. They just jump right in without thinking about themselves. Irena Sendler—who saved over 400 children during the Holocaust—said she learned from her father, who told her, ‘You don’t ask a person if they can swim, you just jump in and save them.’”