September 3, 2024 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Rachel, fresh from her adventures in Rachel Friedman Breaks the Rules, is determined to prove that Hannukah is the BEST holiday, especially when one of her classmates, Mason, can't understand why she doesn't celebrate Christmas. Her best friend, Maya, agrees, and the two come up with a list of seven fantastic things they can do to make Hannukah even more spectacular. The other challenge Rachel faces is the fact that her older brother, Aaron, has decided that he isn't interested in the holiday at all. Since he is the one who masterminds the Lego Mennorah, Sarah's eight days get off to a rough start. When her father forgets the potatoes for latkes, it's looking even more grim. Aaron does step up to help with spinning dreidls, but they really are not as exciting as Rachel would like. She does get a sparkly leotard for a present, which is okay, but not as good as a race car for her doll. She has to make a snow Maccabee by herself, and when the family goes skating, she pulls at Aaron to get his attention, and he falls and breaks his leg! Since this happened in front of a girl he has a crush on, it's even more devastating, but gives some insight as to why he has been distracted. Aaron tells Rachel that it's okay to be jealous of Christmas, or curious about the competing holiday, and Rachel realizes that everything in life has good points and bad points, and not everything goes smoothly. Maya and her family come over for dinner and bring jelly doughnuts, and the girls are ready for their (hopefully!) next adventure.
Strengths: I'm a big fan of holiday related books (starting with Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family's portrayal of Purim), and in December there are a lot of requests for Christmas and Hannukah books. There are very few Jewish students in my school, so I can see Rachel's interaction with Mason resonating with many students. I enjoyed that Rachel and Maya were determined to have the best holiday ever and made plans for New and Exciting Things; this is something I would definitely have done when I was in elementary school. Of course, plans often go awry. Rachel's relationship with Aaron was realistic, and it was nice to see that they got along even if they disagreed. There's a happy ending, and Rachel has a better understanding of her own feelings about Hannukah and her Jewish identity as well as more insight into how others perceive the holiday. The page illustrations will appeal to readers as well.
Weaknesses: I wonder if Aaron should see a doctor about possible brittle bones. It seemed odd that he would break a leg the way he did, but then, one of my children broke a foot running across a field!
What I really think: There is such a good selection of early chapter books about elementary characters from different cultures going about their day-to-day lives now, so Rachel is in good company with Nina Soni, Ellray Jakes, Lola Levine, Jada Jones, Alvin Ho, and Bea Garcia.
Weaknesses: I wonder if Aaron should see a doctor about possible brittle bones. It seemed odd that he would break a leg the way he did, but then, one of my children broke a foot running across a field!
What I really think: There is such a good selection of early chapter books about elementary characters from different cultures going about their day-to-day lives now, so Rachel is in good company with Nina Soni, Ellray Jakes, Lola Levine, Jada Jones, Alvin Ho, and Bea Garcia.
David Atherton's Christmas Cookbook for Kids
September 24, 2024 by Candlewick Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
I'm a huge fan of Atherton's books, and have copies of my own of David Atherton's Baking Book and David Atherton's Make, Bake, and Learn to Cook Vegetarian. This has slightly different illustrations than the other volumes, and they include a lot of red and green to go with the holiday. This is unapologetically about Christmas, and also very British. There are sausage rolls with cranberry sauce, mince pies, marzipan, scones and carrot cake with turnips or butternut squash instead of carrots. Atherton's work usually centers around healthier cooking, so there's some red and green cannelini bean hummus, and well as a Christmas tree pull apart bread that gets its color from spinach and pesto. For those who want to embrace British ways but can't stand an actual steamed pudding, there's a chocolate version, and also an iced crown cake. I'm not sure I'll buy this for my school library, but I had a lot of fun reading it!
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