Hanukkah falls to the background in this slight story of a medical annoyance.
Is there any help for a bad case of Hanukkah hiccups?
Alas! Poor Hannah cannot stop hiccupping. Unfortunately, it is Hanukkah, and Hannah is busy practicing her solo performance for a recital at her Jewish school. Her family offers remedies, but none work. Her doctor gives her a brown paper bag to breathe into. Her neighbors, a diverse assembly, provide various folk cures. Mr. Taylor, who’s black, urges her to drink “pickle juice backward.” A Mexican-American neighbor tells Hannah to count to 10 in Spanish and place a “wet, red string on her forehead.” Other neighbors offer remedies, some obviously culturally specific and some less so. None of these rid her of the hiccups. In the meantime, she and her family light the candles each night and prepare and eat latkes. Still hiccupping, Hannah does manage to perform a tap-dance solo in front of a diverse audience, and her success will make readers wonder why she was so anxious. (Whether tap-dancing was a last-minute idea to conceal the hiccups or not is unclear.) Finally, on the eighth night of the holiday, as all the neighbors stop by for a feast of lox, latkes, and pickles: no more hiccups. Digitized illustrations are rendered primarily in red, gray, and black and resemble markers. Hannah, who has a huge mass of black curly hair, is paper-white, as is her family.
Hanukkah falls to the background in this slight story of a medical annoyance. (note for families) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68115-537-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
The now-classic tale’s humor still fosters eye-rolling laughter, with Wohnoutka’s illustrations as rib-tickling complement.
A well-used trope of misidentification allows a village elder to innocently open her home to a possible predator with humorous, even endearing results.
Despite her advanced age of 97 and her poor eyesight and hearing, Bubba Brayna “still [makes] the best potato latkes in the village.” When Old Bear is awakened from his winter sleep by the savory aroma of frying latkes and comes to her door, Bubba Brayna invites him in for a fresh batch, mistaking the bear’s rotund girth and bushy face for the heavy-set bearded rabbi’s. Heading straight for the kitchen, the growling bear is encouraged to play dreidel with nuts he chooses to eat, then devours all the latkes with jam like any hungry bear would. Sleepy and satisfied, he leaves with a gift of a red woolen scarf around his neck. After some investigating by the crowd that has gathered at Bubba Brayna’s door, which includes the actual rabbi, a new batch of potatoes are brought from the cellar, and with everyone’s help, Bubba Brayna hosts a happy Hanukkah. This newly illustrated version of The Chanukkah Guest, illustrated by Giora Carmi (1990), is a softer rendition, with acrylic paints and curved lines in tints of yellow, brown and green for warm, earthy atmosphere.
The now-classic tale’s humor still fosters eye-rolling laughter, with Wohnoutka’s illustrations as rib-tickling complement. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2855-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
This Mother’s Day tale is rather limited in its audience to those who can afford fancy brunch after their own religious...
The Berenstains’ son adds a Mother’s Day entry to the series, continuing the adventures of the Bear family with a religious focus.
Brother, Sister, and Honey want to do something special for Mama for Mother’s Day, and Papa helps them think of just the thing—brunch at the Bear Country Inn after church—and they can invite Grizzly Gran, too. On the ride to church, Mama points out all the ways other families are celebrating their own mothers even though these community helpers are working on the holiday: Officer Marguerite’s children bring her flowers as she directs traffic, and Mrs. Ben’s children are pitching in with farm chores. Indeed, the trip to church is eye-opening for the cubs, who never realized that some of their neighbors even had children. During the church service, Preacher Brown thanks God for the gift of mothers and quotes the Bible: “Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches.” While the illustrations are the same as ever (the smiling bears haven’t aged a bit!), the series seems to have moved away from addressing a variety of families.
This Mother’s Day tale is rather limited in its audience to those who can afford fancy brunch after their own religious services, contrary to its apparent message that being together is all that matters. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-310-74869-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
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