The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Eight Knights of Hanukkah by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Galia Bernstein Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Laurie Adler   Buy at Bookshop.org My calendar tells me that it’s time to start thinking about Hanukkah. The Eight Knights of Hanukkah , by established author Leslie Kimmelman and illustrator Galia Bernstein, is an entertaining story and a perfect holiday refresher for children from kindergarten through third grade. The story begins in the Renaissance-style kingdom of Lady Sadie. It’s the last night of Hanukkah, and the entire village is preparing for a gala celebration. But alas! A dastardly dragon named Dreadful is roaming the countryside and foiling the party preparations. Oh no! Fair maiden Lady Saidy calls upon the Eight Knights of Hanukkah to “fix things with some deeds of awesome kindness and stupendous bravery” and save the day. Along the way the diverse group of knights replace a scorched dreidel, peel potatoes for latkes, and do a variety of mitzvot before vanqu

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 8 Nights of Chanukah by Eric Carle LLC Category: Board Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The original Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1969) is a beloved classic of secular children's literature. In recent years, the caterpillar has become something of a franchise, available as a toy, on party supplies, and in a plethora of spin-off books. Now, at long last, we get the intersection of the famed caterpillar with Jewish culture in The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 8 Nights of Chanukah . Eric Carle's signature style of painted paper collage has been employed on eight spreads, one for each night of Chanukah. On the left side of each spread, we see a menorah correctly depicted with the shamash elevated above the other candles, and with candles being added each night from right to left. On the right side, bright illustrations on a clean white background depict typical holiday activities such as eating latkes and sufganiyot,

The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol by Arthur A. Levine, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Bridget Hodder Buy at Bookshop.org As we all know, spinning Hanukkah dreidels isn't just about gleeful shrieking over heaps of shiny chocolate coins. The Hebrew letters on each side of the dreidel represent the beautiful phrase, "Nais Gadol Haya Shum"-- "A great miracle happened there." And from this shining holiday thread of words, coins and miracles, author Arthur A. Levine has spun a Hanukkah tale about a magical giver of gifts with eyes bright as coins, whose name, Nate Gadol, echoes the Hanukkah phrase on our dreidels. True to his name, (in Hebrew, Nathan Gadol can loosely translate as "a great act of giving"), Nate Gadol appears in the book as a large smiling fellow with an equally large and giving heart. Nate also happens to be a heaven-sent spirit who answers people's prayers by making crucial things last as long as they are

The Littlest Candle: A Hanukkah Story by Rabbis Kerry and Jesse Olitzky, illustrated by Jen Kostman Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org A group of animate candles living in a kitchen drawer are excited about Hanukkah's approach. They enter into a lively debate about who should be lit on the first night of the holiday; the various Hanukkah candles, and oddly, the Shabbat candles, and even the Havdalah candle argue for their own suitability for this role. Only Little Flicker, the smallest candle, hangs back, instead supporting others and providing useful information. At last the rest of the candles realize that modest Little Flicker is so helpful that he should be the shamash, the helper candle. "He smiled brightly because he knew he was there to help. And that was the most important way to bring more light to Hanukkah." The logic of anthropomorphic candles who apparently survive repeated lightings is a bit shaky, and the text i