A warm and tender tale of a loving Jewish family celebrating an ancient tradition.
A heavy snowstorm affects a family’s Hanukkah celebrations.
This new version of a tale originally published in 1989 with illustrations by Robin Spowart sees the Menashe family planning to celebrate Hanukkah with the traditional candles, games, and, most especially, delicious feasts of latkes and applesauce. But the snow is falling relentlessly, there are no apples in the house, and the potatoes are covered under the heavy snow. Still, Papa, Mama, Rebecca, and Ezra find joy in lighting the candles, one more each night, playing the dreidel game, and eating their quickly dwindling chicken soup. Two visitors, a small kitten and a skinny dog, provide a surprising and very satisfying conclusion, reflected in the wonderfully appropriate new names they are given. The narrative feels like a folktale, with simple, descriptive language that highlights ever hopeful Papa’s charming phrases as he encourages a cheerful outlook. Easler’s large-scale, digitally rendered graphite and gouache illustrations complement the text and add lovely touches of humor. The family members are expressive, depicted with tan skin and dark brown hair. Although the tale is set “long ago in a village far away,” there is a definite modernity to the family’s clothes and furnishings. The author addresses young readers at the end, asking if the story is a miracle (“Who can say? It happened, and maybe that is miracle enough for anyone!”). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A warm and tender tale of a loving Jewish family celebrating an ancient tradition. (information on Hanukkah, latkes and applesauce, and the dreidel) (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-62354-156-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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