52 | DECEMBER 12 • 2019 

F

rom a furry friend to a fashion icon 
to a few bestsellers, here’
s a list of new 
books for everyone in the family.
After you light the candles and spin the 
dreidel, the entire family can curl up with 
a good book. For children, Chanukah 
books reinforce the holiday while a book 
on self-esteem is always a boost. For busy 
parents, best-sellers are fast reads. For 
grandparents, a fashion icon coffee-table 
book, an academic read and some humor-
ous poems make excellent additions to an 
established library. Children, parents and 
grandparents can always bond over a good 
book. 

CHILDREN
Grover’
s Hanukkah Party 
By Joni Kibort Sussman, Kar-Ben 
Publishing, $5.99
Grover and his Sesame 
Street friends think the 
number eight is great 
and count out all the 
essentials for the per-
fect Chanukah party. 
This board book is 
perfect for toddlers.

Kugel for Hanukkah
By Gretchen M. Everin, Kar-Ben Publishing, 
$7.99
A young girl is mystified by the unusual 
gifts she receives for Chanukah, while her 
grandma receives the ingredients to make 
a kugel. Each night, the mystery deepens 
for the young girl with gifts of a bowl, 
spray bottle and thermometer. On the last 
night, the doorbell rings with a special 
delivery — a pet iguana. She names her 
iguana Kugel. For ages 4-9.

Crocodile, You’
re 
Beautiful
By Dr. Ruth K. 
Westheimer and 
Dena Nuesner. 
Apples & Honey 
Press, $17.95
With tenderness and humor, Dr. Ruth 
offers advice to the all the animals with 
body image and self-esteem issues. Turtle 
is slow and does not believe he is good at 
anything, but Dr. Ruth encourages him. 
So, he swims fast for his friends. Ant feels 
tiny, but Dr. Ruth points out how hard he 
works. His strength builds an anthill. Dr. 

Ruth suggests some exercises like jumping 
and feeling your muscles or looking in 
the mirror and saying my body is perfect 
for me. The cover reads Crocodile, You’
re 
Beautiful and then underneath “Embracing 
our Strengths and Ourselves.” Dr. Ruth 
ends on a personal note saying when she 
was younger, she struggled with being 
short and was ridiculed. That’
s why she 
decided to help others feel good about 
themselves and embrace their bodies. For 
ages 5-8.

PARENTS
The New Girl
By Daniel Silva, HarperCollins, $28.99
Gabriel Allon, the protagonist spy in 
Daniel Silva’
s novels, makes his 19th 
appearance in The New Girl. When a mys-
terious student vanishes from an exclusive 
school, Allon is on the case. With interna-
tional intrigue, unlikely alliances and glob-
al politics, the plot rapidly unfolds. This 
thriller will not disappoint Silva fans.

Mrs. Everything
By Jennifer Weiner, Atria Simon & Schuster, 
$28
Two sisters with opposite 
personalities and a difficult 
mother create an interest-
ing relationship triangle. 
Author Jennifer Weiner 
dives in with humor, 
warmth and charm. Her 
characters are unforgetta-
ble, and the locale is familiar — Detroit 
and Oakland County. Weiner makes 
some mistakes, like naming the city West 
Bloomfield Hills, but overlook it because 
the book is enjoyable with a twist.

Here All Along: Finding Meaning, 
Spirituality and a Deeper Connection to 
Life — in Judaism (After Finally Choosing 
to Look There)
Sarah Hurwitz, Random House, $28
An introductory class on Judaism kindled 
a spark for author Sarah Hurwitz. At age 
36, she chronicles her journey of discov-
ering her religion and provides insights 
into Jewish beliefs. It’
s written in a breezy, 
graceful style, and you would not expect 

ISTOCK

Holiday Page Turners

New books to please every reader 
in your family this Chanukah.

CARLA SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Arts&Life

books