Arthur A. LevineBesprekingen

"The hardest part of going to work is being apart from you.
Let's count the days till we're both at home with a special thing to do."

A loving rhyme from working parents to their children. Illustrations show many families and households during the work week as well as the wonderful weekend, when all the families pictured throughout (including a brown-skinned family, a family with two dads, and a single-parent family) all enjoy Sunday at the park.

See also: Saturday by Oge Mora

Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates a miracle from the second century BCE. King Antiochus, ruler of Judea (in present-day Israel) forbade the people there from practicing Judaism. He tried to force the Jews to follow Greek beliefs and to assimilate into Greek culture. When they resisted, he ordered his troops to destroy their holiest site, the Temple of Jerusalem.

The Jews, forming a ragtag band led by Judah the Maccabee, battled for some three years for independence and the freedom to practice their own religion. Finally in 164 B.C. the Maccabees defeated King Antiochus and his troops.

When the Maccabees returned to the ransacked temple, they found only one jar of oil - enough to light the temple’s lampstand for one day. (The lampstand, now called a menorah, had six branches and seven lamps as mandated by God in Exodus 25:31-40.) Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days, enough time for the Maccabees to find and consecrate more oil.

(That is why the Hanukkah menorah differs from the original lampstand in that it has nine candles: one for each of the eight days of the miracle, and one to light the rest.)

The holiday celebrates the military triumph, the restored freedom to worship, and the miracle of the oil lasting for so much longer than expected, helping Jewish tradition to survive.

One of the games children play during Hanukkah is spinning the dreidel, a simple game of chance. The story is that the dreidel game was developed during the period of the reign of King Antiochus. Jews continued to study the Bible and their laws in secret, but brought along a dreidel so if the authorities came, they could make it seem as if they were gathering to play this gambling game, not engaging in illegal Bible study.

The driedel is a top now showing letters on each of its four faces. The letters, Nun-Gimel-Hay-Shin, were placed there as an abbreviation of the sentence “nes gadol haya sham,” meaning “a great miracle happened there.”

This phrase is the source of the name “Nate Gadol” given to Levine’s hero, and of the nature of his magic, which is to make things last longer than they were intended, just like the oil for the lamp in the synagogue.

And there’s even more to the “pour-quoi” aspect of this story. (A pourquoi story is a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is; for example, why a tiger has stripes.) Levine wanted to offer a more appealing explanation for why Jews started to give presents on Hanukkah, rather than that of merchants just taking advantage of another marketing opportunity.

In Levine’s tale, the gifts are part of Nate's strategy to stretch resources, just like the miracle of the oil, to help people in need. Sometimes he even partners with Santa; Levine explains, “The two knew each other from way, way back.” In this story, both the Irish O’Malley family and the Jewish Glaser family have better holidays thanks to the collaboration of Nate Gadol and Santa.

Illustrations by Kevin Hawkes play with perspective, with lots of gold dust to accentuate the idea of miracles.

Evaluation: This book aimed at readers 4-8 doesn’t give much background on the holiday of Hanukkah, but, according to the Author’s Note, aims to address “the challenge of being a Jewish child during Christmas.” While Hanukkah celebrations have their own rituals, great stories, lights, festivities, and even gifts, Levine apparently thought a Santa-like figure would help Jewish kids feel more equivalency during the Christmas season.

More importantly, however, Levine includes a message about helping each other out with empathy and generosity, emphasizing the best gift of all - human kindness.

Genre
Picture books for children
Stories in rhyme
Subject
Children of working parents
Counting
Days
Parent and child
Week
Working parents
Character
LGBTQIA

Pearl sees many changes to Gingko Street as new families and new cultures move in, but she’s sad to see the trees planted upon her own mother’s request slowly get chopped down. Pearl takes a stand, literally chaining herself to the last tree, not allowing the electric company to cut it down. The book gives mention to many cultures including Jewish, Spanish, and Asian as they immigrated to the region.

This picture book thoughtfully presents a difficult topic for young students. Noah is confused when his grandfather begins to lose his memory of their special traditions. The powerful illustrations help to tell this important story.

"Nate Gadol was a great big spirit who had eyes as shiny as golden coins and a smile that was lantern-bright. In answer to people's prayers, he made things last as long as they needed to..."

Nate obeys the laws of physics (somewhat): he can't make something out of nothing. When Santa lands on the roof of a home where Nate has been helping, they make a trade: Nate boosts Santa's sleigh magic, and Santa gives Nate a little bit of chocolate that he can expand for the family below.

Kevin Hawkes' (Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen) art is lush with shining gold touches throughout, not just on the cover. An Author's Note explains a bit about the "Hanukkah industry" and the "supplementary mythology" around Christmas.

This story follows a magical creature along with the family he follows. It shows how kindness will always come around and how two families that follow different traditions can still live next to each other. Along with this, it can show that if there is hope, happiness will still be there or "stretched".

A larger-than-life holiday hero who brings Hanukkah wonder and generosity to anyone in need!

The journey of two boys escaping is mesmerizing. This book keeps you engaged with every turn of the page. I only wish it would have informed us if the young boys made it safely to their destination. K-7

Pearl Moscowitz takes a stand when the city government tries to chop down the last ginko tree on her street.

In this fable, the fate of the boy illustrates the mysterious power of nature to save or destroy human life. This young artist has devoted himself to cats, and in drawing them, he wholeheartedly worships the genius, or spirit, of cats within himself.

With each day of the week comes something new to do and new ways to play, share and enjoy family. This books goes through learning days of the week as well as what it's like to enjoy being with our family everyday.
age 3-5
resource: pierce college library

This was a cute story about a young bear cub loosing his first tooth, and being scared of the tooth fairy. Not know whether the tooth fairy was a bear or not made him nervous because him mom always told him to stay away from humans. I think this is a cute book for kids to read when they have their first loose tooth.

This story is about Noah and his relationship with his grandpa. His grandpa seems to be forgetting how to do certain things that they have always done together. It is a great story to share with second grade or younger to teach the importance of love and family.

Young boy leans to cope with his grandfather's dementia by looking for the small things that still bring joy to Grandpa. Large format picture book.

A lovely, touching book about a boy who spends summers with his grandparents, and what happens when his grandfather starts to forget things, Noah was sad.

a little bear is out looking for the toothfairy. finally he finds where his tooth went and is excited to loose another tooth
1 book

This book, which is based on the Grimm's tale, is about two orphans, Myron and Sadie, who are very talented dressmakers. The two siblings live with an evil, old witch who uses their gift for her own benefit. The witch makes the two siblings work night and day so that she could use the clothing they make to sell in her sweatshop. When the siblings try to escape, the witch turns Myron into a mouse. He remains a mouse until the witch tries to do similar mischief to his sister, Sadie, on the day of her wedding to a real estate tycoon. Even the evil witch's powers and potions aren't enough to spoil this fairy tale's happy ending. I really liked this story and the humor in it. The illustrations also help bring the story to life.

Genre- Fantasy because this book really talks about unrealistic things on top of their is also talking bears in it.
Age- Primary
Summary- This book is about a bear that over hears a conversation from humans about the kids tooth being lose and that they better not lose their tooth because they are going to need it to put under their pillow for the tooth fairy. The little bear began to wonder if the tooth fairy was a bear tooth fairy because his tooth was lose. He waited to see if the tooth fairy was a bear like him or not.
Critique- I like this book and I feel like it has an alright moral story to it talking about how its okay to meet people that are different from you, but I'm not sure if it is a book I would read aloud to my kids because I don't know if all my kid grow up with the tooth fairy or Santa.
Illustrations- The art in this book was done using watercolor and graphite

A Very Beary Tooth Fairy is about Zach the bear who has a loose tooth. His mom told him to stay away from humans because they are dangerous. He overhears a human boy say that his tooth is loose and Zach the bear is confused. Next he looses his tooth and the tooth fairy pays him a visit. This book is a fun and silly read for children.This book would fall into the fantasy category because it includes animals that talk and complete human like tasks.

I did not really care for this book; however, I do think that kids (grades 3-5) would like it. It was about two orphans, Myron and Sadie, who were taken in by an evil witch. She worked them very hard to make clothing and would sell the clothes to make a lot of money. Myron and Sadie were tired of being worked so hard, so they decided to run away. The evil witch followed them and created obstacles for them to get through; she eventually turned Myron into a mouse. While Sadie and Myron (still a mouse) were hiding out in a tent they had built, a "tall, handsome man" noticed them. The handsome man was a Real Estate Tycoon. He invited Sadie and Myron to live with him in his mansion. Years later, the Tycoon helped Sadie to become a famous clothing designer. The two fell in love and were going to be married. Wedding announcements were sent out and reached the evil witch. The night before the wedding, Sadie's maid had become ill, so the evil witch disguised herself to take her place. Sadie realized who she was and tried to run away, but the witch had her by the arms and was dragging her to a potion full bath tub. Myron, still a mouse, jumped into the tub and Sadie threw the witch in, too. After an explosion of suds, Myron came out the tub as a real man! The witch was gone. Sadie and the Tycoon were off to be married, with Myron as the best man!½

“A bear can be anyone and anyone can be a bear”, Zach the bear’s mom tells him when he asks her what can be a bear. He was afraid that the tooth fairy would be a person (and Zach was afraid of people) and with a loose tooth he had very little time to figure out if she was a bear or not.

The book is beautifully illustrated, I love the detail of each page. The story is inspiring and I think kids will enjoy reading about Zach. It’s also a cute little story to empower children to be whatever they want to be—though very little ones might come out wanting to be a bear! :)

The Boardwalk Princess is a rags to riches tale that features sibling orphans (Sadie and Myron) who are taken in by a witch. The witch uses the Sadie and Myron for their special abilities and talents with clothing. When the orphans run away, the witch casts a spell on Myron and he is cursed. Later, Sadie falls in love with a real estate tycoon and they open up a clothing store. The witch is then jealous and tries to also cast a spell on Sadie. The witch's plan backfires and lifts the curse from Myron. This story gives the revenge that people seek in fairy tales. I thought it was confusing naming the book Boardwalk Princess because in the beginning, I got the feeling both the siblings were the main characters.

The Very Beary Tooth Fairy is a great book for young readers. The book talks about the tooth fairy and the fears one might have when losing their first tooth. I would say this book is best for second graders because that is about the time they are losing their teeth. The book is extremely colorful and the pictures make everything come to life.

This is a counting book that counts the days of the week Monday through Sunday. The book also is very diverse by having many different family members represented in the book. It has many colors that can be incorporated in the book. I love at the end of the book how all of the family members come together on Saturday and Sunday to represent unison.