The Ninth Night of Hanukkah

Product Description

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!
 

From School Library Journal

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., NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

“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.”—Publishers Weekly “This cozy Hanukkah story reframes the holiday and encourages readers to bring in the whole community.”—School Library Journal “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 pleasant tale will be as useful on a community-helper shelf as in the holiday collection.”—Kirkus “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.”—The Horn Book Magazine “This amusing fast paced story combines religious observance with the value of reaching out to help others, the unexpected ways strangers can become friends and the joy of Jewish celebration even if it is more creative than kosher.”—The Association of Jewish Libraries

“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.” —
Kirkus

Abo