uide

Chanukah Tale S

Jewish Children's
books make special
Chanukah gifts.

JOAN LIPNICK ABELSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

N

o sooner will we polish off
the last of our Thanksgiv-
ing leftovers than
Chanukah festivities will
be very much with us. The search
for the perfect gifts for the chil-
dren in our lives is complicated
these days by a plethora of choic-
es. In choosing books as gifts we
acknowledge the powerful role
they play in our lives. To present
a child with a book you love, and
to read it together, creates a spe-
cial bond.
Pre-schoolers love repetition
and rhyme, colorful illustrations,
dramatic characters and the sim-
plest of stories. Judah Who Al-
ways Said No' by Harriet Feder .
(Kar-Ben) meets these criteria.
Judah starts off as a small child
who resists the influences of the
culture around him by standing
up for his rights, growing into a
leader, and finally saying "Yes"
to cleansing the Temple and cel-
ebrating the miracle of the oil
which lasted eight days. The book
gives young children the excite-
ment of chiming in on the refrain
and hearing the entire Chanukah
story in a clear, fresh, charming
way. Katherine Janus Kahn's il-
lustrations are vivid and humor-
ous.
Two-year-olds and nursery
school children will fall in love
with the central character in
Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah,
by Sylvia Rousss (Kar-Ben), as
they join in the repetitive chant:
"Spiders don't spin dreidels. Spi-
ders spin webs." Katherine Janus
Kahn's illustrations in bright, pri-
mary colors, are sure to catch the
attention of little ones. .
What makes this book unique
is the integration of colors and
counting with a Chanukah
theme. Teachers in religious
school will welcome this fresh ap-
proach to basic skills in the con-
text of a Jewish holiday, but
adults may wish that more of the
Chanukah story had been in-
cluded.
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso helps
children understand the nature
of God, in In God's Name (Jew-
ish Lights Publishing). The text
is poetic but simple, and the il-
lustrations by Phoebe Stone are
arresting, colorful and primitive.
Many people from all over the
world, in different walks of life,
give God a name to meet his or
her special needs. Each is con-
vinced that his name for God is
the best name. To the farmer He
Joan Lipnick Abelson is a reading
specialist in Minneapolis.

until Jeremy explains that he has
made the four Hebrew letters in
Braille. It is a special gift for his
JUDAH
father, who is blind. This deeply
WHO ALWAYS SAID
felt story describes the loving
bond between father and son as
they celebrate Chanukah.
Young people in the upper el-
ementary and middle school
grades will be drawn to Holocaust
literature if the central charac-
ters are close to their own age and
Evert4
if the books are compelling and
realistic. These children welcome
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the chance to discuss difficult sub-
jects. An extraordinary new book
by Nelly Toll, Behind the Secret
hy Neity si-G41
Window: A Memoir of a Hidden
Childhood during World War H
(Dial Books), is based on a diary
she kept over 13 months when
she and her mother were hidden
from the Nazis by a Polish cou-
ple in their small Warsaw apart-
ment. Eight-year-old Nelly
displays enormous strength, sup-
Written by
K. fetter
ported as she is by the loving
Illustrated by Kattstrine Janus Kahn
mother who never leaves her.
There are light touches against
the tragic backdrop as Nelly is
able to see humor in the comical
behavior of the well-meaning but
eccentric couple who hides them.
And she is able to project herself
into an imaginary world through
her remarkable watercolors,
which are part of the book. The
book ends on an optimistic note.
Nelly and her mother live, her
mother remarries, a new child is
born, and a hopeful life is begun
in America.
In a lighter vein, Charlotte Her-
man's What Happened to Heather
Hopk,owitz? (JPS) is about an ap-
pealing American teen-ager. The
title is a bit misleading because
the book deals with a serious sub-
ject in a skillfully humorous way.
The author's breezy style brings
to life Heather's world in her as-
similated home and in the Or-
thodox home she visits for a
month. Heather, who resists stay-
ing with the Greenwald family
while her parents go on a cruise,
Clockwise from top right: Harriet Feder tells Chanukah story in is quickly drawn to their Shabbat
a fresh charming way; Poetic explanation of God by Sandy Sasso; observance and synagogue
Two year olds will love "Sammy Spider;" Remarkable water life. Heather confesses her mis-
colors of the Holocaust in Nelly Toll's account of the Shoah.
givings about her parents' return,
her mother's disdain for most
is "Source of Life." To the tired "One."
are developing an empathy for things Jewish, and her father's
soldier He is "Maker of Peace."
This book is multicultural, others. A different kind of passive approach to family life.
To the sculptor he is "My Rock." non-denominational and non-sec- Chanukah story would appeal to She sticks to her new-found ideals
Only when they all come togeth- tarian. It is written for children this age group: Jeremy's Dreidel and shows herself to be a loving,
er, kneeling in perfect tranquili- • in grades kindergarten to five and by Ellie Gellman (Kar-Ben), il- non judgmental daughter whose
ty around a lake, do they see each is a moving, beautiful fable that lustrated by portrait painter Ju- sincerity and charm help her win
other's reflection in God's mirror can be a powerful and effective dith Friedman. Jeremy joins a out in the end. Twelve- to 15 year-
and realize "that all the names springboard for discussions be- Chanukah crafts class and cre- olds may not agree with her but
for God were good, and no name tween parents, teachers and chil- ates a clay dreidel, carefully mold- will be sure to cheer her final tri-
was better than another." To- dren about the nature of God.
ing tiny dots onto its sides. His umph.
gether they decide to call God
Middle readers (ages 8 to 10) classmates think it's a secret code BOOKSTORE page G4

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