I picked this one up at the library to put in a holiday display, and I ended up bringing it home to share with Little Miss. At not-quite-four, she’s a bit too young to be very interested in the stories, but she enjoyed the illustrations and the short recounting of the story behind the celebration.
Hanukkah Around the World by Tami Lehman-Wilzig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After a few introductory pages about the holiday story and symbols, and a two-page spread on how to play Dreidel, brief vignettes describe family celebrations of Hanukkah in Israel, the United States, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Italy, Australia, Poland, and Tunisia. Each story is accompanied by a note about the Jewish community in that country and a recipe (all of which look delicious), plus full-color painted illustrations. The stories are a little contrived, and explanations of things like why Hanukkah is celebrated in the summer in Australia would have been nice. Personally, I was mystified by the “Hanukkah Wheel”. Is this an East Coast thing? Still, the book is a visually appealing glimpse into Jewish customs around the world. Great for browsing, and likely to spark interest in further reading (and cooking).
Check out more fantastic children’s nonfiction in the round-up at The Reading Tub.