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Summary
Summary
Trisha loves the eight days of Hanukkah, when her mother stays home from work, her Babushka makes delicious potato latkes, and her Grampa carves wonderful animals out of wood as gifts for Trisha and her brother. In the middle of her family's preparation for the festival of lights, Trisha visits her closest neighbors, expecting to find them decorating their house for Christmas. Instead they are all bedridden with scarlet fever. Trisha's family is one of the few who has been spared from the epidemic. It is difficult for them to enjoy their Hanukkah feast when they know that their neighbors won't be able to celebrate their holiday. Then Grampa has an inspiration: they will cut down trees, decorate them, and secretly deliver them to the neighbors, "But what can we decorate them with?" Babushka asks. Although it is a sacrifice, Trisha realizes that Grampa's carved animals are the perfect answer. Soon her living room is filled with trees -- but that is only the first miracle of many during an incredible holiday season.
Based on a long cherished childhood memory, this story celebrates the miracle of true friendship.
Author Notes
Patricia Polacco was born in Lansing, Michigan on July 11, 1944. She attended Oakland Tech High School in Oakland, California before heading off to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, then Laney Community College in Oakland. She then set off for Monash University, Mulgrave, Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia where she received a Ph.D in Art History, Emphasis on Iconography.
After college, she restored ancient pieces of art for museums. She didn't start writing children's books until she was 41 years old. She began writing down the stories that were in her head, and was then encouraged to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. There she learned how to put together a dummy and get a story into the form of a children's picture book. Her mother paid for a trip to New York, where the two visited 16 publishers in one week. She submitted everything she had to more than one house. By the time she returned home the following week, she had sold just about everything.
Polacco has won the 1988 Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Keeping Quilt, and the 1989 International Reading Association Award for Rechenka's Eggs. She was inducted into the Author's Hall of Fame by the Santa Clara Reading Council in 1990, and received the Commonwealth Club of California's Recognition of Excellence that same year for Babushka's Doll, and again in 1992 for Chicken Sunday. She also won the Golden Kite Award for Illustration from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for Chicken Sunday in 1992, as well as the Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility Children's Literature and Social Responsibility Award. In 1993, she won the Jane Adams Peace Assoc. and Women's Intl. League for Peace and Freedom Honor award for Mrs. Katz and Tush for its effective contribution to peace and social justice. She has won Parent's Choice Honors for Some Birthday in 1991, the video Dream Keeper in 1997 and Thank You Mr. Falker in 1998. In 1996, she won the Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children's Literature. Her titles The Art of Miss. Chew and The Blessing Cup made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3Another lovely autobiographical snippet from Polacco. The story centers around Trisha and her family as they make loving preparations for Hanukkah, especially her Grampa, who carves wooden toys for the children for each day of the Festival of Lights. When several families in their farm community come down with scarlet fever, Grampa and Babushka realize that their neighbors won't be able to celebrate their holiday properly and take Christmas trees and baskets of food to them. The blending of the two holidays is touching and heartfelt. Polacco's warmly detailed illustrations enrich this tender tale about the true nature of giving, of being good neighbors, and of celebration.Ann Cook, Winter Park Public Library, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Polacco's (Babushka's Doll) warmhearted memoir can easily be pressed into double duty for both Hanukkah and Christmas reading. On the family farm in Michigan, Trisha and Richard watch as Babushka and Grampa prepare for Hanukkah in their native Russian way, hand-dipping the candles, carving the children gifts of little wooden animals, cooking the latkes. When scarlet fever debilitates their neighbors, Trisha's whole family pitches in to make and deliver holiday dinners and Christmas trees (decorated with the children's wooden animals). Polacco's characteristically buoyant illustrations embody the joy of holiday traditions even as her robust storytelling locates the essence of that joy in sharing and friendship. While this work should have broad appeal, it is in particular an excellent choice for families seeking to mingle Jewish and Christian traditions. Ages 5-10. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When Trisha's neighbors contract scarlet fever, her Jewish family brings Christmas to them by delivering small fir trees to every house. And although Trisha is a little disappointed at first, they use the colorful wooden animals her grandfather carved for Hanukkah gifts as decorations. Trisha's family's Russian heritage and customs are smoothly integrated into the story, and the warm, colorful illustrations reinforce the strong feeling of family and holiday spirit. From HORN BOOK 1996, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A generous act in a time of need is the highlight of this unforced Hanukkah/Christmas tale from Polacco (Babushka's Mother Goose, 1995, etc.). The narrator recalls the bustle of her family's Michigan farmhouse years ago as Hanukkah approached, with women and children clustering in the kitchen and Grampa, in his workshop, busily carving and painting small animals as gifts. Their non-Jewish neighbors celebrate a different December holiday with different customs but the same spirit--until one year when all are bedridden with scarlet fever. It seems only right to make a Christmas tree for each--but what can they use for decorations? Grampa's animals, of course. Polacco's familiar medley of bright striped and floral print clothing surrounding friendly pink faces creates a perfect visual counterpart to her well-told, sentimental story. Make sure readers have their hankies ready. (Picture book. 7-9)
Booklist Review
Ages 4^-8. The cover shows a smiling girl in the snow with a menorah in one hand and a Christmas tree in the other, and this autobiographical picture-book story celebrates friendship and community across cultures. On their snowy farm in Michigan, a Jewish child and her Russian American family prepare for Hannukah. Led by Grampa and Babushka, they polish the menorah, cook the latkes, and tell stories of the holiday miracle. When a scarlet-fever epidemic hits many of their Christian neighbors, the Jewish family prepares and secretly delivers a small, decorated Christmas tree and a food basket to each home early in the morning. The drama here is the epidemic, and many kids might want to know more about that, but the focus is very much on the happy family holiday celebration. As always, Polacco's brightly colored, detailed paintings in marking pens and pencil show a child in a close, loving home that is bursting with energy and joy. --Hazel Rochman
