Is It Hanukkah Yet?

by Chris Barash

Overview

From snow on the ground to making applesauce and latkes to lighting the menorah, this sweet, lyrical story shows the seasonal and traditional ways we know Hanukkah is on its way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781489682420
Publisher:	Weigl Publishers Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Chris Barash is an elementary school teacher and the author of several picture books, including Is It Rosh Hashanah Yet? and Is It Hanukkah Yet? She lives in Massachusetts.

Alessandra Psacharopulo lives and works in Milan, Italy. She studied fine arts and illustration at Mimaster, where she learned painting and using color.

Read an Excerpt

Is It Hanukkah Yet?

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By Chris Barash

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company

Copyright © 2015 Chris Barash
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8075-3384-0

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CHAPTER 1

When frosty winds blow and snow's all around

And there's no sign of green on the trees or the ground ...

Hanukkah is on its way.

When all forest creatures search for a den

Where they'll snuggle and sleep till spring blossoms again ...

Hanukkah is on its way.

When we're all bundled up from our head to our toes

In layers and layers of warm winter clothes ...

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Is It Hanukkah Yet? by Chris Barash. Copyright © 2015 Chris Barash. Excerpted by permission of ALBERT WHITMAN & Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

"The sweet, charming illustrations, many in double-page spreads, depict how the family works together to celebrate with food, songs, and a game of dreidel."—Kirkus Reviews

"Barash's rhythmic rhyming text provides young children with a good sense of this holiday's customs, and the refrain, 'Hanukkah is on its way,' encourages listener participation."—Booklist

"Warm, soft-hued illustrations of smiling rosy-cheeked people and creatures resemble those on old-fashioned holiday greeting cards."—The Horn Book Magazine

"Psacharopulo's digital landscapes and doll-like characters are as sweet as can be."—Publishers Weekly

"A pleasant, visually appealing book for those focusing more on celebratory rituals than the religious aspects of the holiday."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2015-08-12
Wintry scenes form the background for anticipation of the upcoming weeklong celebration of Hanukkah. A young family enjoys the pleasures of playing in the snow then comes inside to a warm house, where the traditional preparations for Hanukkah begin, from creating and displaying decorations to the making of latkes to the counting of candles for the menorah. A celebratory eagerness is present in the simple rhyming text. "When glitter and paper are spread on the floors / And we hang decorations on windows and doors… / Hanukkah is on its way. / When cousins come over to stir, fry, and bake / The applesauce, latkes, and cookies we'll make… / Hanukkah is on its way." The sweet, charming illustrations, many in double-page spreads, depict how the family works together to celebrate with food, songs, and a game of dreidel. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the holiday's significance or the reasons for the traditions outlined, perhaps indicating an assumed secular audience. Other aspects of the depicted celebration confirm this. They prepare decorated cookies rather than doughnuts, the traditional, oil-fried sweet treat offered after latkes, and the last scene, in which the family gazes through the window on a cold winter night, does not include the all-important lit menorah as it is placed in many traditional Jewish homes (though it is present in several interior scenes). Though it is not for every Jewish household, this Hanukkah book for the very young has its place. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews