Another great picture book about Hanukkah and I love seeing Jewish Joy spreading to children's picture books. I wish more books like this had existed when I was kid.

This is such a beautiful book explaining the Jewish Hanukkah. The reader is taught about Hanukkah and its history and meaning. The artwork is beautiful and it a lovely book for children.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

Although not Jewish, I firmly believe that teaching children about other cultures and religion is an important step in fighting hate. I also find I learn best with children books because the information is usually clear and pictures help me retain information. I found this book on Hanukkah to be full of information no book has given me before and the inclusicivity made me heart happy

Very good book it very good book to teach kids about Hanukkah, I think every body should read it. Kids will love it
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I like to read about all kinds of holidays, and I was curious to read this book, so I picked it up on Netgalley and it was very interesting to learn about the origins of Hanukkah. Cute illustrations too.

The story begins with Lior and his family getting ready to celebrate Hanukkah. They clean the house, cook the food, and get out all of the decorations. Family and friends come. Traditions are told and performed joyously in Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman.

This is the perfect book for all ages, but especially for children, to describe everything to do with Hanukkah and I do mean everything. Newman covers the history, music, food, games, and even crafts that kids can do in this quickly read book.

Illustrator Rotem Teplow does a fantastic job of bringing everyone to life in this story. Teplow depicts characters across the spectrum of race, religion, and love in this holiday tale. The colors are rich. The pictures match the text perfectly.

Newman does justice to this holiday. I think I know everything there is and then I learn something new. It could be just a dump of information, but the author makes it engaging and fun to learn. I’m actually going to go out and get my own dreidel set (I’m late to judaism studies) because it sounds like so much fun. Plus, I’m going to try my own hand at the crafts (chuckle).

Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman is a must read for any home. It’s a great learning tool for all kids to learn either about their own or their fellow schoolmates' culture.

This book discusses Hanukkah and its history. It is a really cute read and I really enjoyed looking at the pictures. When I was a kid, I would have loved to read this book because I was always curious as a child about other holidays. I enjoyed reading the recipes and the craft ideas that kids could create for Hanukkah. This book would make a great addition to a library. It's always great to read about different holidays and pictures books are such a great way to read about them.

Perhaps it's a bit unfair to ding a star on this for not adding in songs, but I do think that while this is a wonderfully inclusive book in many ways with a particularly good page to focus on how being visibly Jewish - particularly now - is important, there really should be a page on Hanukkah songs, particularly Ma'oz Tzur. It just feels like a weird exclusion amidst all the recipes and information at the end. I had a similar picture book when I was young, with recipes and excitedly preparing for a night of Hanukkah, and it had the Dreidel Song and Ma'oz Tzur. Obviously this doesn't need to be a 1:1 recreation of that (and it's not), but it's important, all the same.

I also feel weirdly about the incredibly strange drawing of a synagogue. Maybe there really is a synagogue that looks like that somewhere, I don't know: it doesn't resemble any I've ever seen. It looks like something drawn by someone who's never seen a synagogue before. They don't tend to just be kind of rocky buildings with giant Stars of David on them. It's honestly more reminiscent of a Christian person's idea of a synagogue (a tall building with a big holy symbol on it, prominently, like a Christian church) than the idea of someone who's actually been to one.

I also understand it's a children's picture book, so going into the messy history of the Maccabees isn't really appropriate, but well... it's weird reading this knowing that there really is a lot more needed history there and kids are just going to get the sanitized version. There's also a lot about how and why Hanukkah exists as a "holiday", when it's not a high holy day, that really isn't in here. Or why presents are considered part of the holiday, even though they really aren't. The book, for all it does have great sections on how the Jewish calendar works, and has a good section on different kinds of Jewish people, is missing a lot of historical context in exchange for simplicity. That can be necessary for a children's picture book, but this book goes into a lot of detail in some places, and none in others.

Also, I have never seen sufganiyot served at any Hanukkah I've ever been to. They always appear in Hanukkah media for some reason, and I'm sure they're very important to a lot of people. But I've never eaten them during Hanukkah (admittedly I don't like jelly donuts anyway, but still). Another reviewer noted this seems to be the only way to celebrate Hanukkah. It very much is not.

Overall, the art is nice, it's a cute concept, the inclusiveness is fun. I hope lots of kids like this. I hope their parents bring them into other conversations, as well.

This is a nice little story of a Jewish family celebrating their special festival, Hanukkah. I found it very interesting and informative, a good blend of story and being educational at a child's level. As there are recipes for some of the foods mentioned in the story and some directions for making Hanukkah related traditions, I believe young readers will also find this a fun interactive read.

The various traditions associated with the festival are not intense so easily understood. Explanations of how Hanukkah came about, along with festival related greetings and a mini quiz at book's end will further help engage a younin's attention to the story.

I found the story a rather pleasant read but am puzzled and somewhat disappointed by the dog character that was included. It is rather out of character to have a family dog in a Jewish setting, I would have thought. Biblical reads will inform that dogs are considered unclean animals and therefore rather anathema to Jewish folks. Other than this the book was a good read.

~ Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger ~

September 2024

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentarty review copy sent by Net Galley and the publisher.

For various reasons, I liked this book so much more than the one in the same series regarding Christmas (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6826582835). It may well be that nobody ever tried to make a Jew out of me, where the Christian doctrine was certainly pushed. It may well be that Christmas means so many very different things to different people, whereas this seems to be (in my ignorance, perhaps) the one and only way to celebrate Hanukkah. It may well be that I was learning a lot more from these pages than with the other book – although I should have known all this stuff already. Here we get a disparate selection of Jews, all in one house for principally the first night of Hanukkah, although all the candles get lit by the end of the narrative. Diversity is in the illustrations, for sure, as they show us a gentle way of gift-giving, a concentration on the special party foods of the festival, and the dreidel and its involvement in the most granny-friendly game of chance.

There may well be alternative versions of me, able to lambast these pages for not showing the full story, just as I felt the Christmas one with its outright religiosity only showed one strand of Christmas. But from my point of view this was a better lesson, and a welcome one, and I would happily recommend it. My final point is that this only features the one way to do things, where the other volume only briefly – too briefly – told us of other Christmas traditions from around the world, meaning that for a school sociology textbook it left us needing more. This doesn't, and so gets a strong four stars.

I really loved this book and it is a wonderful introduction to Hanukkah.

I thought that the book really had it all - it has the history of Hanukkah and the symbols we associate with it, the lighting of the candles and what they mean, the prayers, food, games and Jewish traditions.

It is a great read for children and my daughter was really interested to find out more about it. She attends a Catholic school and has been to a Hindu temple with school but not much else has been covered and she is very keen to learn - this was not only an easy read, it was fun, and informative, she loved it and for me as a parent that makes it a big hit.

It is 5 stars from me for this one - highly recommended!

This is a fabulous book. Aimed, and perfectly pitched, for primary school age, I found it informative whilst still being fun to read. A great resource for children to learn about Hanukkah however much or little they know already. Fabulous book.

Hanukkah
Leslea Newman
Author Leslea Newman introduces children to Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. The main character is Lior; his name means “my light.” Hanukkah lasts for eight days. It begins after sunset on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. Hanukkah has a lot of tradition. A menorah is placed on the table. A menorah is a candelabra with nine candle branches. Each candle represents one of the nights of Hanukkah. The middle candle is for shamash; the middle candle is higher than the other eight. One of the traditions is the retelling of the Hanukkah story. One of the foods served for Hanukkah is latkes; they are potato pancakes. Challah is another food served for Hanukkah; it is a braided bread. Another food is sufganiyot, donuts shaped like pillows fried in oil and filled with jelly. Family and friends gather to celebrate and exchange gifts. Blessings are shared each night of Hanukkah. After the meal the group plays a game using the dreidel. On the last night of Hanukkah there is a party at the synagogue.
One of the Blessings: “Blessed are you, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who made us Holy through Your commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah lights.”
This book explains Hanukkah in a way children can understand. This book has a Hebrew Calendar, several Hebrew words including Hanukkah greetings. There are suggestions for making your own menorah out of crackers, pretzels, and mini marshmallows. There is a recipe for latkes. Author Leslea Newman shows that Hanukkah is a diverse holiday. Menorahs are different. The people celebrating are also diverse. The Jewish life is a diverse culture.
I feel like I learned a lot from this book. The Story of Hanukkah is very interesting. At the end of the book is a quiz to reinforce what you learned from the text and the answers are located at the end of the quiz. The illustrations are well done and add support for the text. The illustrator is Rotem Teplow. Twenty-five pages seems very short, but it is long on education. This is not a picture book. It is a book that shares knowledge and also opens dialogue.
Thank you NetGalley for the review copy..

Welcome to the Festival of Lights and giving. The story of Hannukah is told and all of the parts of the celebration and its foods are explained and even recipes given!
The illustrations by Rotem Teplow are fun, clear, and delightfully colorful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to EVERYONE, but especially to a school, hospital, or your local public library!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC on Adobe Digital Editions from Quarto Publishing Group | words & pictures via NetGalley. Thank you! Avail Oct 01, 2024
#CelebrationsAndFestivalsSeries

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is one of those annual events that does not occur at the same time each year. The Christian festival of Easter is exactly the same in this respect. Hanukkah can occur just about anywhere during November and December. It is an eight day festival and in 2024 it begins on the 25th of December and coincides with Christmas Day.

The book follows one family whilst they make preparations for the upcoming holiday - beginning with the cleaning and decorating of the home in preparation, right through to the eighth night when all nine candles are lit. Following this the decorations and menorah are put away for another year.

This is one of the nicest books for children that explains the history and modern practices of Hanukkah that I have come across. It is part of the Celebrations and Festivals series, all of which appear equally well done. They cover Christmas, Diwali, Ramadan and more.

The book is released in the UK on the 3rd of October and I have already preordered two copies of this as gifts. I highly recommend this.

This is a wonderful Hanukkah book and it covers it all. The history of the holiday, the prayers, the food, the lighting of the candles, the games, the Jewish calendar, it does a great job. Really a great read for the children in the family. Nicely done, really enjoyable.

This book is a very detailed and educational children’s picture book great for children to learn about Hanukkah. The recipes and calendar at the end of the book were really nice. The illustrations are bright and vibrant with lots of little details to see. The language is clear and concise, telling story that’s easy to follow while also offering education.

The content was interesting and the characters and their illustrations were beautiful. I was able to know more of the festival and its history, and how it is celebrated by the Jews.

Written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow, this little book is packed full of the diversity found among worldwide Jewry. This story focuses on a little boy named Lior who is celebrating Hanukkah with his family. Nearly every single color on the spectrum is represented in this book, from the lightest “white” to the darkest “black”—all of which can be found around the world. Teplow did a fantastic job representing not just the racial diversity found among the Jewish people, but also religious diversity (e.g., some of the men wear kippahs while others do not) and diverse family forms. For example, Lior introduces readers to his Aunt Rachel, his Aunt Nessa, and their baby Sasha.

The author, Newman, really outdid herself with this book. Besides providing readers with a beautiful Hanukkah story, she also educates children by including “Hanukkah Blessings” in both Anglicized Hebrew and English, and including special spreads on “The Hebrew Calendar: Lunar and Solar, “Hanukkah Greetings,” “Make an Edible Menorah,” “The Story of Hanukkah,” “Make a Hanukkah Tzedakah Box,” and “Make Your Own Latkes and Applesauce.” To boot, she even includes a quiz and a special answers page.

Both Newman and Teplow really went out of their way to show young children how diverse Judaism is, and also how to appreciate it. The author states that each part of the extended family that comes to celebrate Hanukkah with Lior brings with them a unique menorah. But I would also argue that the people who are celebrating with them are just as unique as—if not more so than—the menorah’s themselves.

This is not a picture book that an extremely young child would read themselves. Rather, this book is meant to be read as a group—with at least one adult (or more!) reading along with a child. This book reveals the reality of Jewish life around the world—a culture just as diverse as can be found anywhere, filled with different colors, religious convictions and ideas, and non-traditional family structures.

I absolutely recommend this book, particularly to gentile families who are seeking to understand not just basic Jewish holidays, but are also looking for a child’s version introduction to the who the Jewish people really are. I absolutely adore this little book and hope to find it on library shelves around the country.

I received an ARC of “Hanukkah” by Lesléa Newman from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a really good representation of Hanukkah. I liked the explanation of everything for anyone who doesn't know about Hanukkah.
This will be a great addition to libraries and homes for the holiday season.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.