The Hanukkah Hop!

by Erica Silverman, Steven D'Amico (Illustrator)

Overview

Rachel’s twirling streamers
Daddy blows up blue balloons
Mommy sizzles latkes as she hums a Hanukkah tune.

It's Hanukkah! It's a time to celebrate family and enjoy festive traditions. As Rachel and her parents prepare the house, grandparents, cousins, and friends travel from near and far to sing and tell stories. Together, they will light candles, play games, and eat scrumptuous holiday foods... and, of course, dance the Hanukkah Hop. The stamping, the hopping, and the bim-bim-bopping is sure to go on all night!

Erica Silverman's lively, rollicking text is sure to inspire every member of the family in celebrating the Festival of Lights!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442435599
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	10/04/2011
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Erica Silverman is the author of several books including Big Pumpkin; When the Chickens Went on Strike, which was a Sydney Taylor Honor book; and Sholom’s Treasure, which won the Sydney Taylor Award and was a runner-up for the National Jewish Book Award. Her books have received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, the California Young Reader Medal, ABA Pick of the List, and the Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor. She lives in Los Angeles, California. Visit her at EricaSilverman.com.

Steve D'Amico is a Senior Art Director at Smashing Ideas, Inc. He and his wife co created the Ella the Elephant picture book series. He has produced illustrations that have appeared on PBS Kids, Nick Jr. and the Disney Channel. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Editorial Reviews

It may not quite be the hora, but the Hanukkah Hop swings.
—The New York Times Book Review

Pamela Paul

Silverman (Sholom’s Treasure) conjures a “bim-bom bop” of a Hanukkah party at Rachel’s house, complete with a klezmer band (the Mazel-Tones) to juke the joint after the candles are lit, the latkes and sufganiyot are eaten, and the dreidls are spun. Young Rachel is finally the last one dancing, long after the music stops. D’Amico (Ella the Elephant series) uses an urbane retro style for his illustrations, pencil sketches that have been digitally rendered and colored on a computer. Ages 3–6. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A fresh and festive choice for the Festival of Lights.
—SLJ, October 2011

From the Publisher

K-Gr 2—Evoking a joyous refrain found in traditional Hasidic music, this celebration of Hanukkah brings a family together for a jubilant night of dancing. A chant of "Biddy-biddy bim-bom bim-bom bop" sets both the tone and the beat of the energetic rhyming text, building from a jazzy syncopation to a whirling, rollicking climax reminiscent of a piece of Klezmer music. "Spin! Swing! Sway!/Dive! Jump! Pop!/The party's going wild/at the Hanukkah Hop!" Charmingly retro, digitally rendered illustrations, reminiscent of '60s-era cartoons, are animated and joyful. One should probably read through the text a few times before reading aloud to be sure to catch the syncopated beat. A fresh and festive choice for the Festival of Lights.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

The arrival of some special guests transforms the traditional family Hanukkah gathering into a dance fest that has everyone moving to the rhythm of a bopping, hopping beat.

Excitement mounts while Rachel and her parents get ready to host the extended family. Streamers, blue balloons and shiny menorahs are all arranged while latkes fry and the family listens to a "jazzy bim-bom beat." Unlike Lisa Wheeler's sprightly, zesty jitterbug verse inJazz Baby(illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, 2007), Silverman's forced, uneven rhymes are only marginally successful at achieving that bebop syncopation. She seems to struggle with her verse framework to include all the conventional elements (dreidels, menorahs, latkes) and a very brief summary of the origin of the holiday along with the description of a joyous celebration. Her inclusion of a Klezmer band (the Mazel-Tones) injects much-needed energy into the party with its version of the ever-changing refrain. "Biddy-biddy bim-bom / bim-bom bop. / Spin! Swing! Sway! / Dive! Jump Pop! / The party's going wild / at the Hanukkah Hop!" While the text falls short and is difficult to read aloud with an appropriately fluid musical swing, the digitally rendered cartoon-style art provides retro-cool images of a raucous, frenzied shindig.

An unsuccessful blending of the holiday's history and rituals with a boogie-woogie theme leaves this Hanukkah addition on the sidelines. (glossary)(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews