Diane Levin Rauchwerger

This book is about a young boy who has a dinosaur knock on his door during Hanukkah. The dinosaur ended up making a huge mess in the boy's home while he was celebrating the holiday. I was expecting this book to be descriptive about the traditions that take place during the holiday of Hanukkah, however, the book discussed more how the dinosaur participated in the traditions with the boy, but it did not describe them in detail. The book included great rhythm and rhyme and was still fun to read. The moral of this modern fantasy book was to teach the traditions of Hanukkah in a fun and engaging way!… (meer)

Summary: Dino the dinosaur takes a plane to travel to Israel to enjoy all that the country has to offer. He enjoys delicacies like falafel, places a message in the Western Wall and even befriends a camel to go snorkeling in the city of Eilat.

Personal connection: This is another book I used in my inquiry project. This shows a fun way for children to learn about the historical sights in Israel, and made me realize what great places the country has to offer.

Class use: This story incorporates an interesting visitor, and dinosaurs are especially easy to love with children. This could entertain the students while also having them learn important information about the country. They could put together their own itinerary of fun places for Dino to visit.… (meer)

I enjoyed this story because it is fun to read, but also discusses the Hanukkah traditions. I do not know much about Hanukkah, but after reading this book I know much more. For example they talk about presents, chocolate gelt, latkes, lighting the Shamash, and playing the dreidel game. The language the author uses made the story more enjoyable and easy flowing as well. Every other line in the story has a word at the end that rhymes. For example, “He helps me wrap some presents with ribbons and with bows. I have a special gift for him. I’m pretty sure he knows.” The story is about a dinosaur in the house enjoying Hanukkah traditions with the boy, so the rhyming words added to the silliness of the story. I felt having rhyming was appropriate and only enhanced the story. The other thing I enjoyed about the story was the illustrations. Every page is colorful and exciting to look at. I noticed that the boy has a yam mica on in every picture, which shows he is Jewish and enjoys his culture. Also, the dinosaur has a smile on his face in every picture, which tells you that this dinosaur is friendly and shows that the boy and him are friends. This made me enjoy the book more because I knew that it was two friends playing and having fun, which added to the upbeat mood as I was reading. The big idea of this story was to give people a dose of what Hanukkah is about in a friendly and fun way. It made learning about the holiday exciting and interesting in a playful way.… (meer)