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Summary
Summary
A heartwarming picture book with a fresh twist on a Hanukkah celebration: celebrating a ninth night with new neighbors and friends!
It's Hanukkah, and Max and Rachel are excited to light the menorah in their family's new apartment. But, unfortunately, their Hanukkah box is missing. So now they have no menorah, candles, dreidels, or, well, anything! Luckily, their neighbors are happy to help, offering thoughtful and often humorous stand-in items each night. And then, just as Hanukkah is about to end, Max and Rachel, inspired by the shamash ("helper") candle, have a brilliant idea: they're going to celebrate the Ninth Night of Hanukkah as a way to say thanks to everyone who's helped them!
This book is not only a heartwarming and fun story, it's also an invitation to join in a beautiful new Hanukkah tradition!
Author Notes
Erica S. Perl is the author of many books for children, including All Three Stooges (the 2018 National Jewish Book Award winner, and a Sydney Taylor Honor), When Life Gives You OJ ( Sydney Taylor Notable), and Goatilocks and the Three Bears . She lives in Washington, DC, with her family. Learn more about her on Twitter @ericaperl or at ericaperl.com.
Shahar Kober is a freelance illustrator and art director who lives in Israel. He graduated from Shenkar College of Design in 2005. He illustrates children's books, and contributes illustrations to newspapers, magazines, websites, and animation projects. You can find him at skober.com.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2--Two white siblings create a new tradition for celebrating Hanukkah in this paean to helping and neighborliness. Moving into a new apartment on the first night of the Hanukkah, Rachel and Max's family discovers that their box of holiday paraphernalia has not yet arrived. Without the menorah, dreidel, and lucky latke pan, the kids turn their energy to satisfying the holiday spirit with an assist from a new neighbor every night. They light a homemade menorah with borrowed birthday candles, enjoy shared french fries in place of latkes, and rustle up a ukulele for an impromptu sing-along. Traditionally, Hanukkah commemorates a military victory and the restoration of the temple, not a neighborly spirit, but a message of resourcefulness and inclusivity fits the secularized holiday just fine. Kober peoples the building with a diverse cast of uniformly accommodating neighbors (plus one inquisitive cat) and the warm brown palette conveys a cheerful hominess behind every door. After eight nights, the kids invent a "shamash night," named for the candle that lights the rest of the menorah, to bring the building together and celebrate the help they received all holiday long. Some of the kids' makeshift substitutions strain credulity (a hula hoop does not satisfy as a dreidel replacement) but Perl offers a sweetly communal experience that honors the cultural trappings, if not the history, of the holiday. Back matter includes an author's note and ideas for readers to create their own shamash night. VERDICT This cozy Hanukkah story reframes the holiday and encourages readers to bring in the whole community.--Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Lib., NY
Publisher's Weekly Review
When a family moves into a new apartment on the first night of Hanukkah, they can't find any of the things they typically use to celebrate--neither menorah nor lucky latke pan, neither dreidel nor gelt. Siblings Rachel and Max exercise ingenuity amid the piles of unpacked boxes, though, building a menorah, improvising an oversize dreidel out of an umbrella and a cardboard circle, and calling on a neighbor in search of candles. Though "it didn't feel quite like Hanukkah," Perl writes, they find a building full of people happy to help--Joe the super's freshly made French fries almost make up for the lack of latkes. When the Hanukkah items finally arrive the day after the eight-night holiday ends, Max notes that menorahs actually have nine candles, and the family invites friends over for a big celebration on night nine. Alongside matter-of-fact prose, unassuming, warm pictures by Kober make this a lovely tale of holiday-making and community-building in a multicultural world. Ages 3--up. (Sept.)
Horn Book Review
Family members unpacking their new home don't unearth their Hanukkah supplies in time -- the muted illustrations show boxes everywhere. They enlist assistance from neighbors: Mrs. Mendez provides birthday candles for their hastily homemade menorah; Joe, the super, shares his French fries, which are almost like latkes. On night nine, the family introduces a new post-Hanukkah tradition, named for the candle that helps light the others: Shamash Night, to thank their helpful new neighbors. Tales of welcoming others into holiday traditions are always welcome; this one about improvising when things are not the same might especially resonate this year. Back matter gives information about Hanukkah and advice on celebrating one's own Shamash Night. Shoshana Flax November/December 2020 p.39(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Hanukkah is celebrated with some differences and an addition. With boxes strewn about from their recent move to a new apartment house and the one labeled for Hanukkah missing, a family adjusts their holiday routines. When Mom can't find the menorah and candles, siblings Rachel and Max make a menorah, and a new neighbor supplies candles. When Dad can't find his "lucky latke pan," the super shares his French fries. When the children can't find their dreidel, the twins upstairs share a hula hoop. A package of chocolate chips replaces the gelt, and newspaper becomes wrapping paper for gifts. No jelly doughnuts? Have a peanut-butter--and-jelly sandwich offered by still another neighbor. Happy with the make-do results, the children determine to have a thank-you party for their new friends and dedicate it to the ninth candle on the menorah, the shamash, or helper candle. The arrival of their own Hanukkah box is a plus. The family presents as White while the neighbors are a multiracial assemblage. Children will enjoy watching the family's cat reacting to the various goings-on and seeing the furnishings gradually replacing boxes over the course of the story. Instructions for a DIY "Shamash Night" close the book. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 69.8% of actual size.) This pleasant tale will be as useful on a community-helper shelf as in the holiday collection. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
