The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Ava's Homemade Hanukkah by Geraldine Woberg, illustrated by Julia Seal Albert Whitman & Company, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva Buy at Bookshop.org   Ava’s family has a Hanukkah tradition: each person brings their own menorah, which tells a piece of their unique story. This year, Ava is old enough to have a menorah of her own. For inspiration, she looks at the other menorahs and tells the story behind each of them to her adorable pet bunny, Maccabee. Ava learns that menorahs can have a connection to people and places you miss, can commemorate a special event, can serve as a bond to one’s history, or can reflect something one cares about. Ava carefully selects important items from her life to make her own menorah. This is a sweet book and presents a family tradition that can be emulated. The story doesn’t have conflict or stakes for the main character, but the value of each person’s story is enough to advance the plot. Thoughtful diversity is portrayed in th

I Love You a Latke! by Joan Holub, illustrated by Allison Black Scholastic, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org The rhymes and lively anthropomorphic illustrations of I Love You a Latke invite the child reader to bounce, spin and sing along with the dancing latkes, dreidels, musical instruments, and Hanukkah gifts that are the characters of this activity book. The playful narrative centers less on the traditions of Hanukkah, concentrating instead on the more universal, sensory aspects of the holiday. Even the sense of touch is included through the touch-and feel features. Part of a series of holiday books that includes secular and non-Jewish holidays, most of the specific Hanukkah content in the book (aside from the pun of the title) is contained in Allison's Black’s bold, gold, blue and white illustrations. In Black’s depictions of smiling candles on a Hanukkah menorah, silly-faced dreidels, and Hanukkah gelt, it is notable that the dreidels

  Puppy for Hanukkah by Nancy Parent, illustrated by the Disney Storybook Art Team Little Golden Books (imprint of Random House Disney), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ann D. Koffsky Buy at Bookshop.org Building on Daveed Digg’s video that went viral last year, Puppy for Hanukkah by Nancy Parent follows a young boy through the eight days of Hanukkah as he enjoys lighting candles, playing dreidel, eating latkes, and tearing open presents. But what he REALLY wants for Hanukkah is a puppy. Will he get one? (Spoiler alert: he does!) The book’s text feels like it has two authors. Excerpts from Digg’s original rap are set in italics, while Parent’s words are set alongside them in roman type. Digg’s words are rhythmic and rappy, while Parent’s words do the heavy lifting of explaining the holiday to the uninitiated: that it’s eight days long, there’s a miracle, and you can eat your latkes with sour cream. What’s most remarkable -even revolutionary- about this deceptively simple Disne

Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story by Fran Manushkin, illustrated by Kris Easler Charlesbridge Publishing, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org In this charmingly old-fashioned Hanukkah story, the Menashe family is accustomed to celebrating the holiday with potatoes for making latkes and apples for making applesauce. But this year, that’s impossible. An early winter snowstorm has buried the still-in-the-ground potatoes under mounds of snow. That same storm also prevents the family from gathering still-on-the-tree apples. Everyone is hungry! Worse, two strays - a hungry cat and a hungry dog come in search of food and shelter. There’s no food for anyone. Nevertheless, the Menashe family – sharing Talmudic-sounding wisdom – helps the animals. After all, the dog and cat are God’s creatures. Yet, still, it snows.  Finally, on the last night of Hanukkah, the sky clears, the snow stops, and everyone goes outside. The dog digs in the snow…and f

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

The Prisoner and the Writer by Heather Camlot, illustrated by Sophie Casson Groundwood Books, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Emily Roth Buy at Bookshop.org The Prisoner and the Writer recounts the famous Dreyfus Affair of late 19th century France, in which military officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of sharing confidential information with the Germans. After Dreyfus was sentenced to life in prison on an island, writer Emile Zola published a now-famous opinion piece in a French newspaper titled “J’Accuse…!” stating that Dreyfus' imprisonment was a blatant act of antisemitism. Although the two men never met, these events inextricably bind them together. The Prisoner and the Writer focuses more on the emotional journeys of Dreyfus and Zola, jumping right into the action of the story and weaving back and forth between their points of view to highlight the contrasts between their lives and their perspectives. Camlot's spare poetic verse does a remarkable job of gett

Tizzy the Dizzy Dreidel by Allison & Wayne Marks, illustrated by Francesca Assirelli Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva Buy at Bookshop.org In this rhyming story, poor Tizzy the dreidel has a self-confidence problem, because she gets dizzy when she spins. When the family competes for the longest spin, Tizzy feels she’ll be overlooked and discounted. Kids will identify with the theme of feeling left out. It’s reminiscent of waiting to be picked for a team in gym, and the disheartening feeling of being chosen last. But four-year-old Sara chooses Tizzy and is excited to play the game. Tizzy is thrilled with getting a chance to shine, and she doesn’t want to disappoint. Tizzy spins through the house for the entire eight days of Hanukkah, winning the contest and the respect of her dreidel friends. The gentle lessons of giving the underdog a chance and overcoming fears and self-doubt are good reminders for kids. Th