Friday's Finds - Hanukkah

Welcome to a special festive Hanukkah edition of Friday Finds. There are more wonderful Hanukkah books out there than most parents realize. There are books that even preschoolers can enjoy that actually tell the story of Hanukkah. Books about draydles and counting candles are fun and provide variety but including an explaination of why Hanukkah exists is important and difficult for many parents. And on that note - here is this week's Friday Find.

Grandma's Latkes by Malka Drucker. It is a modern story in which a young girl learns the meaning of Hanukkah with her grandmother. We read it for the first time last year. It is a good story that weaves culture aspects of celebrating the holiday for her family with the telling of the Hanukkah story. The illustrations as well as the dialog with Grandma help young readers and listeners to be attentive through out. The book is thirty-two pages with more text per page than most picture books of a similar age rating (ages 4-8)

For older children there is The Story of Hanukkah by Amy Eirlich - This is a beautiful but involved telling of the Hanukkah story for a mature audience. It is violent and graphic. The artwork is lovely but again violent. We will revisit this book in a few years probably when Froggy is 7 or 8.