From a new audio version of “Hanukkah Bear” — a holiday favorite by National Jewish Book Award winner Eric A. Kimmel — to a global tour of Festival of Lights traditions, there is a fresh crop of books for young readers.
The first Hanukkah candle is kindled this year on the evening of Dec. 24. So if you’re looking to enliven and enlighten your Hanukkah — or simply to just send the perfect gift to a loved little one — look no further than these five offerings:
Toddlers and preschoolers will have fun celebrating Hanukkah with a family of bunnies, an owl, kitty and even a friendly alligator in Lesléa Newman’s “Hanukkah Delight.”
This delightful rhyming board book is perfect for introducing young ones to the rituals and traditions of the holiday. Award-winning writer and poet Newman (“Heather Has Two Mommies”) and artist Amy Husband capture the warmth of Hanukkah’s glow with gleaming candles, crispy latkes and “Dreidels spinning through the night, chocolate gelt — come take a bite.”
The glow of Hanukkah radiates in “Celebrate Hanukkah with Light, Latkes and Dreidels,” by Deborah Heiligman. This global tour of the Festival of Lights includes stunning photographs from India, Israel, Uganda, Poland and elsewhere. The straightforward text traces the ancient roots of the holiday, and explains the rituals and blessings said while lighting the menorah.
Part of National Geographic’s “Holidays Around the World” series, “Celebrate Hanukkah” allows readers to discover the meaning behind holiday traditions, as well as the ways different families celebrate around the world. In this updated version of the 2008 edition, Heiligman explores the themes of religious freedom and the power of light in dark times.
In the enchanting fictional tale “Potatoes at Turtle Rock,” Annie leads her family — along with their goat and chicken — on a Hanukkah adventure. It’s a snowy winter night in the woods near their farm, and as they stop at various locations, Annie poses Hanukkah-related riddles: How did their great-grandfather keep warm during the long winter in the shtetl? (With hot potatoes.) Why is it so dark? (There is no moon in the sky on the sixth night of Hanukkah.) What do they use for a menorah out in the woods? (Potatoes!) Along the way, the family lights candles, recites the blessings, enjoys some tasty treats and, in the end, shares a prayer of gratitude for the blessings of Hanukkah.
This is the second Jewish holiday book set at Turtle Rock by the mother-daughter team Rabbi Susan Schnur and Anna Schnur-Fishman, who also co-wrote “Tashlich at Turtle Rock” — both based on the family’s real-life holiday traditions. Aside from being a writer, Susan Schnur is a Reconstructionist rabbi. The book, she told JTA, reflects her conviction as both a parent and rabbi that when children are empowered to create their own rituals, they find meaning in Jewish holidays.
Joel Edward Stein’s “A Hanukkah with Mazel” is a heartwarming tale set in the outskirts of an Old World shtetl. A kindhearted but poor artist named Misha adopts a cat who turns up in his barn one cold, snowy night during Hanukkah. Misha names his new black-and-gray-striped feline friend Mazel — “good luck” in Yiddish. Misha has no Hanukkah candles, but he finds a creative way to celebrate the Festival of Lights using his paints and brushes.
However, when a peddler arrives at Misha’s home on the holiday’s last day, he recognizes Mazel as his lost cat, Goldie. In the uplifting ending, the men find hope for the future, with the peddler offering to sell Misha’s paintings and Misha taking care of Mazel while the peddler travels.
Kids will have fun following the playful Mazel, who turns up in every scene in artist Elisa Vavouri’s large, vivid illustrations.
Finally, now young children can snuggle up to the newly recorded audio version of “Hanukkah Bear,” which won a National Jewish Book Award in 2013.
On the first night of Hanukkah, one huge, hungry bear smells Bubbe Brayna frying her legendary latkes. The bear shows up at her door — at the same moment, it happens, that she’s expecting the village rabbi. Thanks to her poor eyesight, a fun-filled case of mistaken identity ensues as Bubbe Brayna thinks the bear is the rabbi; she feeds him latkes and insists he play a game of dreidel and light the menorah.
Happy reading!
“Hanukkah Delight” by Lesléa Newman (12 pages, Kar-Ben Publishing), ages 1-4
“Celebrate Hanukkah with Light, Latkes and Dreidels” by Deborah Heiligman (32 pages, National Geographic) ages 6-9
“Potatoes at Turtle Rock” by Rabbi Susan Schnur and Anna Schnur-Fishman (32 pages, Kar-Ben), ages 5-9
“A Hanukkah with Mazel” by Joel Edward Stein (32 pages, Kar-Ben), ages 3-8
“Hanukkah Bear” by Eric A. Kimmel, audio version (Dreamscape Media), ages 4-8