An imaginative and inclusive take on Hanukkah that ought to be lots of fun for readers.
This interactive tale presents the candles on a menorah as small booklets to be pulled out and read, each describing one night of Hanukkah.
Opening up this picture book, readers are presented with nine glued-down sleeves that create a menorah. Each sleeve contains a small rectangular booklet whose cover is illustrated to look like a candle on the menorah; they are labeled “shammash” (the candle used to light the others), night 1, night 2, and so on. Pulling out a “candle,” readers open up the booklet to learn about the holiday through the eyes of Lena, a young girl who lives with her parents and her cat, Pickles. Stories include activities such as lighting the menorah, playing the dreidel game, making latkes, giving gifts, helping those in need, reenacting the triumph of the Maccabees, and visiting the synagogue on the eighth night. The whole presentation is effectively illustrated and well thought out, both as an informative introduction to Hanukkah and a lively, family- and community-oriented tale. Lena and her parents are brown-skinned; other characters are diverse in terms of skin tone and hair color. A child using a wheelchair is depicted, and Lena’s abuelita, who was raised in Cuba, offers a nod to Sephardic Jewish heritage. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An imaginative and inclusive take on Hanukkah that ought to be lots of fun for readers. (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780063242487
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area.
A pair of cardinals is separated and then reunited when their tree home is moved to New York City to serve as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
The male cardinal, Red, and his female partner, Lulu, enjoy their home in a huge evergreen tree located in the front yard of a small house in a pleasant neighborhood. When the tree is cut down and hauled away on a truck, Lulu is still inside the tree. Red follows the truck into the city but loses sight of it and gets lost. The birds are reunited when Red finds the tree transformed with colored lights and serving as the Christmas tree in a complex of city buildings. When the tree is removed after Christmas, the birds find a new home in a nearby park. Each following Christmas, the pair visit the new tree erected in the same location. Attractive illustrations effectively handle some difficult challenges of dimension and perspective and create a glowing, magical atmosphere for the snowy Christmas trees. The original owners of the tree are a multiracial family with two children; the father is African-American and the mother is white. The family is in the background in the early pages, reappearing again skating on the rink at Rockefeller Center with their tree in the background.
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7733-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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