A lovely choice.
When Rachel’s special, new menorah is accidentally left on the plane, her resourceful Italian grandmother finds a way for the family to light candles and celebrate Hanukkah.
Though Nonna and the cousins celebrate Christmas, Rachel and her family take a trip to visit and bring Hanukkah with them. Rachel carefully packs her carry-on bag with decorations, dreidels, chocolate gelt, candles for the eight nights, and a special hanukkiah on which each branch is shaped like a female Maccabee fighter. Sleepy after the long flight, Rachel forgets her bag when they get off the plane. Nonna is eager to help in the preparations for Hanukkah when Rachel realizes she doesn’t have the menorah. Through tears of disappointment, Rachel teaches Nonna about the menorah. Nonna then surprises her with a clever and beautifully homemade menorah created from her treasured empty perfume bottles. This well-crafted story of an interfaith family focuses on the Hanukkah celebration, lightly blending Italian food—panettone and lasagna—with latkes at a dinner on the first night. Fisman adroitly incorporates the historical significance of Hanukkah into Rachel’s discussion of the menorah, easily working it into a believable story. Pastel-colored drawings successfully extend the story’s action, providing some foreshadowing and flashback scenes when Rachel leaves and remembers her forgotten bag.
A lovely choice. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-3476-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area.
A pair of cardinals is separated and then reunited when their tree home is moved to New York City to serve as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
The male cardinal, Red, and his female partner, Lulu, enjoy their home in a huge evergreen tree located in the front yard of a small house in a pleasant neighborhood. When the tree is cut down and hauled away on a truck, Lulu is still inside the tree. Red follows the truck into the city but loses sight of it and gets lost. The birds are reunited when Red finds the tree transformed with colored lights and serving as the Christmas tree in a complex of city buildings. When the tree is removed after Christmas, the birds find a new home in a nearby park. Each following Christmas, the pair visit the new tree erected in the same location. Attractive illustrations effectively handle some difficult challenges of dimension and perspective and create a glowing, magical atmosphere for the snowy Christmas trees. The original owners of the tree are a multiracial family with two children; the father is African-American and the mother is white. The family is in the background in the early pages, reappearing again skating on the rink at Rockefeller Center with their tree in the background.
A touching, beautifully illustrated story of greatest interest to those in the New York City area. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7733-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Thoughtful and joyful.
A child of Vietnamese descent fantasizes about the perfect outfit for Tết.
One night, Mai dreams about being a big “STAAAAAAR” and fielding questions on the red carpet. Mai’s literal dream dress is a sparkly silver ballroom gown with a sweetheart cut. After waking up, the child is eager to tell Ba all about it, but first it’s time to get ready. It’s the first day of Tết, or Lunar New Year, and the family plans to celebrate at Mai’s grandmother’s house. Though Mai loves visiting Bà Nội, the child balks at donning the áo dài, a Vietnamese outfit consisting of a tunic worn over trousers. “Stars wear dresses and gowns,” Mai tells Ba. But Ba shows Mai the family photo album, explaining that Bà Nội had her own sewing school in Vietnam and that her students lovingly dubbed her the “Queen of Áo Dài.” To keep their traditions alive when the family emigrated, Bà Nội continued to make áo dài for her loved ones, and the children learned to sew them as an expression of love. Finally, with a newfound appreciation for the garment, Mai greets Bà Nội with a hug, clad in a customized áo dài made by Ba. Told entirely through naturally expressed and well-paced dialogue and accompanied by vividly textured illustrations, this is a loving tale of a family finding a creative way to reshape a beloved tradition.
Thoughtful and joyful. (glossary, “let’s design our own áo dài” activity) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665917346
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: tomorrow
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