By Rita Berman Frischer, Special to the Jewish Sound
Sometimes it seems like a miracle how many different books on Hanukkah are out there. One of the newest and best is It’s A Miracle: A Hanukkah Storybook by Stephanie Spinner, illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Simon & Shuster/Aladdin; ages 4-8). A family-centric tale, it features 6-year-old Owen, newly promoted to O.C.L. (Official Candle Lighter). Each Hanukkah night, Grandma tells him a different bedtime story about a boy or girl, never named, who each sounds, in some odd way, familiar. One boy clowns around in school getting in trouble until he learns to keep his comedy at home, making his family laugh — he’s a real comedian (like Owen’s Uncle Izzy). A girl loves to study Torah and actually becomes a rabbi (like Cousin Shira), even though girls didn’t do that back then. Another night, the story’s about a girl who adored horses. By cleaning stalls at the racetrack and writing about horses, she eventually, earns enough money to get her own palomino. She names it Lucky (like the horse Grandma used to have).
Owen catches on by the eighth night of Hanukkah. He looks around the dinner table at each family member, seeing them as they are now and as they used to be. Grandma’s stories may be the best present he’ll ever get. So, have you told any good family stories lately? Try it.
Noted children’s author Joanne Rocklin provides us a perfect book to introduce not only Hanukkah, but gratitude for the rhythm and miracles of our Jewish year. I Say Shehechiyanu, illustrated by Monika Filipina (Kar-Ben, ages 3-8) takes readers through the four seasons, spotlighting occasions for saying “Shehechiyanu” in each. From the first meal in a sukkah to the first candle of Hanukkah to the first bite of matzoh at Passover to the first day of Rosh Hashanah as the year begins again — for all these, we express our gratitude to be experiencing them, for the first time or again.
In The Golem’s Latkes, (Marshall Cavendish, ages 3-8) Eric Kimmel combines his take on the classic Golem legend with a dash of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”; local artist Aaron Jasinski’s convincing illustrations enhance this Hanukkah mashup. We can almost smell the flood of latkes that overwhelms the city of Prague after Rabbi Judah must go to visit the emperor. Against his better judgment, he leaves his Golem at home to help Basha, the new housemaid, prepare for that night’s Hanukkah party. He gives her specific orders not to ever leave the golem alone since he doesn’t know when to stop doing what he’s doing. Of course, Basha — delighted to find Golem is great at making latkes — lets him run amuck, chopping and frying, while she slips out to gossip with a friend. Not until after the streets are clogged with latkes, does Rabbi Judah fight his way home and shout, “Golem, enough!”
Kar-Ben Publishing this year presents Ellen Fischer’s lovable puppy story, Latke, the Lucky Dog (Kar-Ben, Ages 2-7), illustrated by French artist Tiphanie Beeke. Told in first person, it follows a family’s newly adopted rescue dog through eight days of mischief, mishaps and making up. The way Latke tells it, despite chewing up the family’s candles and slobbering on the gelt, he’s not only forgiven; on the last night, he receives a present too — a chew toy of his very own.
Gracie’s Night: A Hanukkah Story by Lynn Taylor Gordon, illustrated by Laura Brown (A Cookie&Nudge Book, ages 2-7), written in verse, encourages a spirit of giving that reaches out to others. Gracie and her father are happy together, but there’s no money for material niceties. Determined to show her love and appreciation, Gracie gets a job and buys special gifts, warm and cozy and new, to give Papa on Hanukkah. But when she spots a homeless man huddled in a box, much to Papa’s pride and delight, she impulsively takes an action that Papa says made her “Become someone’s miracle; be someone’s light.”
My final book, therefore, is not about Hanukkah lights but about the kind of light Papa prefers, the light of friendship, trust, and concern. Local author Lois Brandt has written her first picture book, Maddi’s Fridge (Flashlight Press, ages 4-8), seemingly inspired by her life as a teacher and a one-time Peace Corps volunteer. After playing together in the park, Sofia runs, uninvited, to her best friend Maddi’s apartment, where she finds the big white fridge is empty. Maddi, embarrassed, says there’s no money for food and makes Sofia promise not to tell. How Sofia tries to keep her promise but still find a way to help Maddi shapes the story. Appropriate touches of humor and the sprightly illustrations by Vin Vogel animate the characters and help keep it from being too earnestly an “issue” book.
Young readers will better understand “haves” and “have nots” after reading this expertly handled, well-balanced introduction to childhood hunger in America. Perhaps, receiving this book, they too (like Sofia, and like Gracie above) may be moved to action. The author has provided a page of possible ways for children and families to help.