Like a menorah shining in the window, a true Hanukkah treat.
One family’s observation of Hanukkah, told through eight poems, one for each night.
This unusually realistic and detailed window into a contemporary family’s celebration provides a mirror for Jewish children and a window for readers of other backgrounds. In addition to engaging in commonly depicted traditions like lighting menorahs and sitting down to a meal with extended family, these characters order pizza, untangle decorations, and use a hair dryer to melt last year’s caked-on wax off the menorah. And when an unexpected flat tire delays them, they make do by sticking candles into a banana balanced on the car hood. (The author’s note dubs this a “bananukkiah.”) Notably, overt gift-giving isn’t depicted, which will be especially appreciated by the many Jewish families whose traditions de-emphasize presents or don’t include them at all. Most of Snyder’s poems are told in second person; both the art and the sweetly simple language suggest that the narrator is the youngest child. Accordingly, the verse focuses on the child’s observations and sensory experiences. Each poem is followed by an informational sidebar covering a loosely related topic. These eschew basic facts and vocabulary for richer explorations such as rabbinic discourse and what time to light Hanukkah candles on Shabbat. Hatch's cozy illustrations lovingly render scenes of home and family with the feel of hand-drawn oil pastel. The main characters are light-skinned and dark-haired.
Like a menorah shining in the window, a true Hanukkah treat. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9780063278141
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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