When the keynote speaker for the 35^th Annual Jewish Book Festival was assured he is indeed a national treasure, Harvey Fierstein’s response was pure Borscht-Belt humor. In his famous gravelly voice, Fierstein quipped, “That’s why they keep trying to bury me!”

We both laughed, and then Fierstein, speaking last week from his home in Connecticut, talked about “The Sissy Duckling,” his book for children ages 5 through 8. Simon & Schuster published the book in 2002, after Fierstein had penned the tale for an HBO special that aired in 1999. 

Of course, Fierstein, a Brooklyn native, is best known for writing and performing in Broadway shows. With Cyndi Lauper, he wrote the musical “Kinky Boots,” which won six Tony Awards earlier this year. Fierstein has written an additional 10 Broadway hits, including “Newsies” and “La Cage aux Folles.” He appeared on Broadway in the record-breaking revival of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Hairspray” and “Torch Song Trilogy,” which he also wrote. 

Fierstein was the first person to win Tony Awards as both an actor and a writer, and he is a Drama Desk, Drama League, Obie and Dramatist Guild Award winner as well. He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. Audience members likely will hear more about Fierstein’s stellar theater career when Mike Isaacson, executive producer of the Muny, interviews him on the opening night of the book festival. 

Here is Fierstein’s story about his book, his new writing projects and past visits to St. Louis.  

How did “The Sissy Duckling” come to be?

I got a call from a producer at HBO saying they were looking for writers to translate traditional European fairy tales into stories for a more general children’s audience. I asked about writing a story for gay children, and they told me to go ahead.

So you rewrote “The Ugly Duckling” to tell the story of Elmer, a duckling who is different from other boy ducklings. 

I did. Then HBO said they were bringing in the number one animation designer to work on it, and they brought in somebody I went to high school with — Daniel Haskett. When Dionne Warwick recorded the theme song, Daniel and I sat there thinking, “Look at us – we were friends in high school and here we are now with Dionne Warwick working for us. That’s pretty cool!” 

The HBO version of “The Sissy Duckling,” which won the Humanitas Prize for Children’s Animation, had a terrific cast, with you as Elmer, Ed Asner as Elmer’s father, Melissa Etheridge as the duckling’s mother and Sharon Stone as the narrator.  What happened after the show aired? 

Yes, we had a lovely cast! Then I got a call from Random House asking me to do the fairytale as an illustrated storybook. Henry Cole, who illustrated the book, did a wonderful job. 

Was it easy, writing “The Sissy Duckling” as a book?

Everything in life has a form, and it turns out that children’s picture books are very restrictive, with a certain number of pages and such. I liked that challenge, but I also had a good editor. The book has done well. I think it is in its fifth printing now.

The book is available in a hardcover library binding, paperback and a Kindle edition. Have there been any other formats? 

We recorded it, thinking of including an audio version with the next edition of the paperback. Also one or two orchestras have written scores for the book. I haven’t seen it, but a narrator reads it and the musicians perform the score. 

You have two Tony Award-wining shows on Broadway right now, “Kinky Boots” and “Newsies.” What’s next for you?   

My new play, “Casa Valentina,” starts rehearsals in March and opens in April, so we are busy casting that now. This is the first play I’ve written in over 25 years, after so many musicals. Also, I am writing a movie for HBO and an adaptation of “La Cage aux Folles” for the BBC. Then I have three other projects sitting here waiting for me. 

Are you happy to be this busy? 

On one hand, it is lovely to be wanted. On the other hand, every time I think I will take a year off — not write but maybe act in something, have some fun away from the computer — it turns out the opposite, and suddenly I am writing seven things.

With all those options, can you choose what to work on any given day? 

Not really. When I’m writing about life, about emotions, it’s submersive and I can’t easily switch from one thing to the other. Plus, one play is set in 1962, the HBO play is set in 1925 and one project is contemporary, so I’m writing about different  periods. I am not a fast writer, and besides, I tend to become obsessed with whatever I am writing about at any one time.  

Well, soon you will get a short break. Have you been to St. Louis before? 

I have. I don’t remember when it was, but I performed with the Gateway Men’s Chorus, and they are such sweet people. I think the book festival will be fun, and it will be lovely to be in St. Louis again.