Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #325559 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Rosen (Elijah's Angel) stresses multiculturalism in this bland venture. For example, on the seventh night of Hanukkah, the child narrator notices that the house of his best friend, who celebrates Christmas, is lit with lamps, "seven altogether"). The focus is so secular that the ending ("I think about... being Jewish in such a wide world of so many other lights") feels hollow. Iwai's (Night Shift Daddy) cheery acrylics contain an unannounced game: the numbers of cats per spread correspond to the successive nights. Ages 3-7.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
reS-On each of the eight nights of Chanukah, a young boy finds a matching number of lights in the world around him to remind him of the burning candles on his family's menorah. The warm, appealing acrylic illustrations and the counting element make this a good choice to share with preschoolers.-E. M.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4-7. Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, as seen through the eyes of a young boy, is the focus of this simple yet effective story. Each two-page spread highlights one candle on the menorah as the boy finds other lights--in his home, his neighborhood, his world--that mirror the festive illuminations: "On the fourth night of Chanukah, I find four lights in the kitchen: Mom fries up platters of latkes, and four flames flicker under the sizzling skillets." Iwai's art has a solid feel that mirrors the sturdy story, while the unusual perspectives add a whimsical veneer. Children who don't know much about the holiday may be a little lost; an endnote makes clear some things, but not all. What kids will respond to is the warm feeling this generates and the sheer sense of wonder that the narrator so innocently exudes. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

a candle-bright story to share!
Thank goodness, this book is NOT another retelling of the Chanukah story. Instead, the author uses the menorah's lights as a metaphor. The young speaker finds lights in his own world--lamp lights, car lights, star lights--to match the number of candles in the menorah. And the illustrator has painted just the same number of cats, too, so that the pages are utterly engaging. The PW reviewer clearly doesn't realize that preschool- and young readers want something more than a factual narrative. This beautiful book underscores community and family with its rich paintings and words that stretch a young imagination. The candle lights in this story radiate far beyond the page.

Very Nice Chanukah Book!
I chose this book for my classroom rather than other Chanukah books because it covers all nine days in a nice clear way. It is a gentle nice story that many children will enjoy and many kids will better understand how Chanukah is celebrated by Jewish people in the United States.

Lovely text, beautiful illustrations
We own just about every Chanukah book there is, and this is one of my favorites. The illustrations are warm and lovely, the text is neither juvenile (please no more rhyming books!) nor dull (retelling of the Maccabee story, anyone?), and the concept - connecting the "festival of lights" to all the many lights that brighten the holiday season (cars' headlights, houselights, Christmas lights) - is clever, meaningful and inclusive. A winner.