Hanukkah

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.

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.

This is not only for observing Jewish readers but for those who wish to learn more about others’ believes, cultures and instil love, respect, and appreciate diversity and practice inclusivity, this is a perfect book. We get a history of Hanukkah as well as the practices, recipes and a quiz to test our knowledge about Hanukkah in the end. The illustrations are sweet.

This Hanukkah book is gorgeous. I am always looking to add to our home library books about Jewish holidays. This one will be a gift for my children for the holiday.

The book itself is informative with dreidel rules for Israel and abroad, prayers and an emphasis on family and community. I especially like how the children give gifts of art they made rather than buying presents for the holiday.

Its illustrations are detailed yet simple. I especially like that they don't cover the whole page and give some blank space as not to overwhelm the words. What really makes my heart happy is the diverse representation of the Jewish characters. Jews don't all look the same and showing this is important.

Thank you for the advanced copy! This is my honest opinion.

Thank you so much to Quarto Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

The story follows young Lior as he celebrates his families holiday Hanukkah, sharing with the reader the traditions, the meaning of the holiday and the joys of celebrating with those that he loves the most.

This was so sweet, it was told in an incredibly wonderful way, you could feel so much of the joy, the excitement and the love that Lior, his family and friends all had over the holidays. It was very educational in that it was sharing all the facts and information but it was told by Lior which made it so much more fun.

The illustrations were really beautiful, I loved seeing all the different aspects of this holiday and seeing what they looked like. I love getting to learn more about different religions and their holidays, this is a perfect read for children of this religion and not of this religion as they will learn so much from it.

I really enjoyed that the book shared the Hebrew language throughout but gave you the English explanation so you could learn the language and the meanings behind them. I liked that not only was the story wonderful, the end of the book was filled with of extra facts and activities that you could do to learn even more. It was a very insightful and wonderful read.

Super cute & educational book for kids (maybe later elementary?) with activities, and a quiz on the last page! Love the representation and illustrations in this book!

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.