Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama
Written and illustrated by: Selina Alko
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012
* In our house this book would be titled Hanukkah Daddy & Christmas Mommy, being that my husband is part Jewish. I thought the kids would enjoy this book because like Sadie, the main character, they celebrate both holidays.
In Sadie's house though Daddy makes latkes and they leave them on the mantel with some milk for Santa. I think some of the "mixing" of holidays is a bit much when Mama puts gelt under the tree and Daddy hangs candy canes from the menorah. Although I like to celebrate each holiday on its own I think it was nice that this family was able to create their own traditions combining the two. The pictures were interesting, looking like they were painted and then bits of papers and pictures "collaged" (can that be used as a verb?!) on. I found it both cool and distracting. Mom is wearing "real" jeans but the steam coming from the latkes and turkey are cut from pages of text from either a book or newspaper. And is dad's tattoo and scruffy beard really necessary? But then I read the author's bio and discovered that she lives in Brooklyn. And I'm almost positive that there are dads in Brooklyn that look like the dad in this book does. So some kids out there will be able to relate to ow he looks. The author provides a recipe for Cranberry Kugel Dressing at the back of the book which looks interesting. We enjoyed this book and I thought that it was a good book transition to Christmas, which is quickly approaching.
I know that there is still one more night of Hanukkah but this is the last Hanukkah book review for the year. My daughter and I are in the middle of reading a chapter book, Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake by Rebecca O'Connell and unfortunately won't have it finished in time to review.
This book was borrowed from the library.
Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.
This post is shared at:
Read Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word
The Children's Bookshelf @ What Do We Do All Day?
We also celebrate both holidays, but don't mix them up. The book sounds really interesting, thanks for sharing it with The Children's Bookshelf!
ReplyDeleteWe celebrate both holidays and I loved this book. The author is from our neighborhood, too. Thanks for linking up with The Children's Bookshelf.
ReplyDelete