Review: Twinkle, Twinkle, Hanukkah

Twinkle, Twinkle, Hanukkah

by Talia Benamy, illustrated by Aura Lewis

Workman Kids, 2025

Category: Picture Books

Reviewer: Julie Ditton

 

Buy at Bookshop.org

Twinkle, Twinkle, Hanukkah is a cute rhyming picture book that takes the reader through the Hanukkah celebration. Youngsters may know the simple preschool song “Twinkle, Twinkle Hanukkah Lights” (based on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star") which teaches the holiday with a familiar tune and hand motions. This book takes the concept a step further. We start with “Twinkle, twinkle menorah” and read about candles and dreidels. But the book goes beyond the party and talks about some important ideas too: the history, celebrating with family near and far, and placing the menorah in the window to spread the light. The watercolor illustrations by Aura Lewis are sweet and simple, and represents a diversity of skin tones.

The afterword discusses the Hanukkah story and all these activities in more detail for the adult reader. This background makes the book appropriate for those who want to learn about the holiday as well as those who celebrate. 

Editor's Note: Librarians doing storytime with this book may find it tricky to determine which part of the text should be sung as the chorus. 

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Reviewer Julie Ditton, AKA The Storybook Lady, is an active reviewer on social media and on her new book blog storybooklady.net. She reviews a variety of genres; however, as her name would imply, her favorite genre is Children’s Literature. About half of the children’s books that she reviews have Jewish themes. She even has a dedicated shelf on her Goodreads profile, Bubbe’s Bookshelf, specifically for Jewish Children’s Books, and is an active contributor to the Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook group.