Four Picture Books For Hanukkah

This has been a particularly hard year for everyone so I'm really glad the holidays have arrived. I don't like it when the days are so short, so I really love to see all the Hanukkah and Christmas lights. But what I really love are the holiday books that I can read with my young readers. Right now, we are reading Hanukkah picture books and I would like to share some of them with you now.

The Ninth Night of Hanukkah by Erica S. Perl,

illustrated by Shahar Kober

Sterling Children's Books, 2020, 40 pages

It's the first night of Hanukkah and Rachel and Max are very excited. But the family has just moved into a new apartment and no one can find the box marked Hanukkah. That means no menorah and candles to light and no dreidel to play with. Each night of Hanukkah, Rachel and Max decide to make do, but soon discover something else they are missing from their usual celebration. Luckily, they have neighbors who can help them out - one offers birthday candles, another offers french fries in place of latkes, still another has chocolate chips in place of Hanukkah gelt with which to play dreidel, and the funny papers are offered to wrap presents, and, one neighbor makes jelly sandwiches in place of the traditional jelly donuts. On the night after the eight night of Hanukkah, Rachel, Max and their parents invite all the neighbors in to thank them for their all their help throughout their celebration. But there's a surprise delivery and only one thing left to do - celebrate a ninth night of Hanukkah. This is a sweet story about neighbors helping neighbors. And it is a delightfully diverse building that the new family has moved into, so you know there will be many diverse holidays celebrated there. I loved that Rachel and Max never felt sorry for themselves, and got right into trying to celebrate their holiday despite the obstacles and being flexible with making do.  

The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol

by Arthur A. Levine, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Candlewick Press, 2020, 40 pages

Nate Gadol is a larger than life figure in this story whose main task is to make things last longer than they are expected to. Big things like making the little bit of oil last 8 days and nights long ago or turning the small lump of chocolate saved by Mrs. Glaser for her children to celebrate Purim into three larger pieces as they sail to their new home in America. And the Glasers are just as friendly and helpful, especially when it comes to sharing (with a little help from NateGadol) with their neighbors, the O'Malleys. One year, Christmas and Hanukkah arrive on the same day, along with a terrible blizzard. Poor Santa and his sleigh are completely off kilter. It seems people are having trouble believing that year. Helping out, Nate Gadol takes the chocolate Santa has, and in return, sends him off with a sparkling sleigh full of Nate magic. Next morning, there are presents for everyone - a box of goodies for each of the O'Malleys under their Christmas tree, and big bags of Hanukkah chocolate for each of the Glasers. And that is how gift giving became a Hanukkah tradition. After all, Nate Gadol's name says it all - just as it does on two of the four sides of a dreidel: נג nes gadol = a great miracle. This is a fun book that imagines the answer to the question: why are gifts are given for Hanukkah. But, like most Santa and Rudolf stories, which don't change the true meaning of Christmas, this one doesn't change the real Hanukkah story about the Maccabees and the miracle of the oil that last so long.  

  

The Eight Knights of Hanukkah 

by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Galia Bernstein

Holiday House, 2020, 48 pages

It's the last night of Hanukkah and Lady Sadie has invited the whole kingdom to celebrate with her and her eight children - all knights - but a dragon named Dreadful is roaming around, ruining the people's Hanukkah preparations. So, she tells her knight children to "fix things with some deeds of awesome kindness and stupendous bravery." Sir Alex carves a new dreidel for a young boy's after Dreadful scorched the one he was playing with. Sir Gabriel helps a lady peel potatoes for the evening's latkes, after Dreadful scared off her helpers. Sir Margaret helps a group of field hands pick apples for applesauce after Dreadful baked the apples they had already picked with his dragon breath. Sir Julian's mitzvah was to bring chicken soup to the sick and lonely, while Sir Lily helped the baker make more jelly donuts after dreadful ate what she had already made. Sir Henry cleaned the castle from top to bottom for the evening's celebration. And finally, Sir Isabella and Sir Ruglach chase down the dragon, and what a surprise - it's just a baby named Rosie. Finally, everyone is ready for the last night of Hanukkah, including baby Rosie who has a unique talent for lighting menorahs. This is such a fun book and really helps the reader understand what making a mitzvah means. And the wordplay, the gender blurring and the community spirit really make this a lively Hanukkah story. 

The Golem's Latkes by Eric A Kimmel,

illustrated by Arron Jasinski

Marshall Cavendish, 2011, 40 pages

It wouldn't feel like Hanukkah without a book by Eric Kimmel and this one one of my favorites. After Rabbi Judah of Prague took a piece of clay and formed it to look like a man, he put a magic word on its forehead and the giant clay man, which he called Golem, came to life. Golem could work hard and long and always do a great job. So when Hanukkah comes around, and Rabbi Judah is very busy, he puts his housemaid Basha in charge of Golem, to clean the house and then to make lots of latkes for his guests that night while he goes out. But, he cautions Basha to never leave Golem alone and always say "Golem, enough" to get him to stop working. But Mary decides that since Golem is such a good worker and has to make so many latkes, she has time to visit her friend Mary. But, Basha loses track of time, and Golem keeps working, peeling potatoes and making latkes. Soon, there are so many latkes they fill the house, then spill out the door, into the street until they top the city walls. When Rabbi Judah and Basha finally get home and yell "Golem, enough" there are latkes everywhere. What to do? Invite everyone to come and enjoy them - for eight days and nights. This is a fun book and a nice rendering of the Golem from Jewish folklore, but with a clear nod to The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The acrylic illustrations are very detailed, and done in a palette of muted earth tones. The Golem, though a giant, is not scary and in fact has a bit of a sense of humor.   

🕎A Dreidel in Time: A new Spin on an Old Tale by Marcia Berneger, illustrated by Beatriz Castro

 

It's the last night of Hanukkah and Devorah, 12, can't to finally open her present. To make it happen faster, she convinces her brother Benjamin, 9, that it will be alright if they light the eight menorah candles and say the blessing while they wait for their parents to come home from work. But Mom isn't too happy to see what they have done, and Devorah isn't too happy when she learns she will have to wait even longer to open her gift - grandparents Bubbe and Zayde are coming over with a very special gift. 

But Devorah's excitement turns to disappointment when she learns it is a gift she must share with Benjamin, and she feels letdown even more when the present turns out to be a large, lopsided old dreidel with red and gray speckles. Encouraged to play the dreidel game with it, Devorah and Benjamin don't notice when they surroundings being to fade as the dreidel spins. But when the stops, the dreidel falls on the Hebrew letter Shin ש. Devorah knows it's not a good spin, Shin means the player loses what is in the pot. 

And indeed, they have lost something. No longer at home, Devorah and Benjamin suddenly find themselves in an unknown place. When they meet siblings Simon and Shoshana, they learn they are in ancient Modi'in and that the Macccabees are leaving to escape the cruel Syrian ruler King Antiochus so that they can practice their Jewish religion in peace. Antiochus had ordered his soldiers to kill anyone observing Jewish traditions. 

Arriving at the Maccabee camp, Devorah and Benjamin, mistaken for Antiochus' spies, are taken to the leader of the Jews, Mattisyahu. Already knowing what happens, they warn Mattisyahu of a coming attack. Mattisyahu orders the children held while his sons Judah and Jonathan investigate this information. Luckily, the old dreidel appears again, and this time, the spin lands on Nun נ, meaning the player neither loses nor gains from the pot. 

Everything looks the same as before, but two years have passed. Simon is now 15 and Shoshana is 12, yet Devorah and Benjamin haven't aged at all. When they learn that the Maccabees are losing to the Syrian soldiers because they are outnumbered, Benjamin remembers how George Washington fooled the British into thinking he had more soldiers than he actually did. Washington's plan is relayed to Mattisyahu's sons Judah, now the leader of the Maccabees after the death in battle of his father. Judah accept the plan, but when Benjamin is too impatient to see if it worked, he gets captured by the Syrians. The original plan is called off and a another strategy is found, one that would rescue Benjamin. 

In the midst of battle, Devorah spins the dreidel, which lands on Hey ה, meaning the player gets half of what would be in the pot. A year has passed, and the Maccabees have been victorious and are now returning to their temple in Jerusalem. But when they get there, they discover everything in the Temple has been destroyed. They spend days cleaning it up, and finally the saved menorah is brought out for the Temple's rededication.  But there is no oil for the menorah. A search is made and Devorah finds a small jar of oil, enough for one night. But the dreidel has once again appeared and it is time for another spin. 

The last spin lands on Gimmel ג, meaning the player gets everything in the pot. For Devorah and Benjamin, it means a return to home in the present and a much better understanding of the history and meaning of their Hanukkah traditions.  

A Dreidel in Time is a fun retelling of the Hanukkah story. And a great way to remember that holidays like Hanukkah and Christmas are not only about the gifts, but are more about the reason why we celebrate them in the first place. Berneger has included all the important parts of the Hanukkah story including how the Jews brought gifts to the rededication of the Temple, which is how the tradition of gift giving began. 

How the dreidel game is played isn't explained at first, not until 15-year-old Simon asks about it and, hearing Devorah's explanation and that the meaning of the four Hebrew letters is "a great miracle happened there," to which Simon responds "Your story is nonsense. There's no holiday called Hanukkah." 

It is a well-written book with humorous black and while illustrations that should appeal to young chapter book readers.  

This book is recommended for readers age 7+

This book was borrowed from the Brooklyn Public Library 

If you are wondering how to play the dreidel game, Scholastic offers simple instructions you can download HERE 

You can also download a template for making a paper dreidel that can be printed out, colored and glued together HERE