Review: Hanukkah, Here I Come
Hanukkah, Here I Come! by D.J. Steinberg, illustrated by Sara Palacios Grosset & Dunlap (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org The Grosset & Dunlap series gets a peppy, diverse, and fun addition to its collection with this book about Hanukah. Or Chanukah. Or Hanukkah, as this book is entitled. One of the challenges of the holiday for authors is how to spell it in transliteration, so it can be searched for correctly. But I digress. This title has a lot going for it, for both Jewish and secular families. Hanukkah (I'll use the author's spelling) is unpacked in funny and engaging four-line rhyming poems, accompanied by energetic artwork. Everything from an ultra-shortened and ultra-sanitized-for-children history of the rebellions of the Maccabees (not exactly the story of Maccabees 1 and 2), to anticipation of good presents, to the intricacies of playing dreidel, to Team Applesauce or Team Sour Cream