Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah begins today at sundown. I'm planning a nice quiet evening with my family. We will light the menorrah, eat yummy potato latkes for dinner, play dreidel and open the first gift.

There were quite a few different Hanukkah books to choose from at our library. I chose A Picture Book of Hanukkah by David A. Adler because of the wonderful illustrations.

Most of this book is like a history lesson. It tells a very accurate story behind the holiday, about the thousands of people who were killed before and after the Maccabeen war. It celebrates the small band of Jewish soldiers who fought and won the right to worship freely. Because of the war, death and detail, I think it's best read to the 5 and over age group. The last three pages tell more about the holiday traditions; the lighting of the candles, potato latkes, gelt and dreidel games.

When I first saw these illustrations by Linda Heller, I immediately thought this was a vintage 60's era book, mostly because of the sepia tones, but it was actually published in 1982 by Holiday House. Linda's illustrations fill more than half of the book and her beautiful shapes and fine pointilist ink detail have me wondering if she is also a printmaker. I wish I could find a website for her so I could gaze at more of her work. Click on the library book image for a closer look.