Every December brings a bounty of wonderful holiday books. Here are titles to brighten your holiday sharing.
I was surprised at the variety of this year's Christmas settings. Tony Johnston's A Kenya Christmas (Holiday House, $16.95; ages 5-8) finds Juma wishing that Father Christmas would come to his remote village. His rich aunt Aida from Nairobi swirls up the village path with her pet cheetahs and she and Juma get Ole Tunai to dress for the part. His appearance and gifts delight the villagers. But when Juma learns it was not Tunai, he knows his village has witnessed a Christmas miracle.
Gloria's Christmas takes place in a luxury hotel in Carolyn Marsden's Mama Had to Work on Christmas (Viking, $14.99; ages 8-11) . The gigantic, glittering Christmas tree and elegant buffet make Gloria sad, thinking of all she doesn't have. When her night ends with family warmth at Nana's, she sees the riches she has. The message is dominant in this short, simple novella which shows a side of Christmas many children don't see.
Ten-year-old Rosa lives in Mexico and she has waited three years for her hard-working mother to return from America in Harriet Ziefert's Home for Navidad (Houghton, $15.00; ages 6-8) . Rosa's mother finally arrives on Navidad, "a day for miracles", and announces she's back to stay. Spanish words are threaded through the story and translated at the end.
There's a contemporary setting in Bill Luttrell's Redheaded Robbie's Christmas Story (Sleeping Bear Press, $16.95; ages 5-8) . Mrs. Wallace announces that one lucky second grader will make up a Christmas story for the school assembly. The whole class is excited, except Robbie whose speech gets garbled in front of crowds. Of course,Robbie is chosen. His speech might be mixed-up, but his ideas about Christmas are on target. He sees it as a time to be giving, kind, forgiving and he changes all his friend's perspectives. When Robbie's speech fails him on stage, his friends surround him with tales woven from what he's taught them.
There's nothing like a Christmas classic! The story of the first Christmas is eloquently told by John Herman and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon in One Winter's Night (Philomel, $16.99, ages ). While Martha, a young pregnant cow, struggles to find warmth and safety, facing pages show smaller pictures of Joseph and Mary's journey. At book's end, all travelers find comfort, peace, and new beginnings in a small stall.
O. Henry's Gift of the Magi inspired Lauren Thompson's A Christmas Gift for Mama. (Scholastic, $16.95; ages 6-9) . During the Depression, young Grace trades her treasured doll to buy a figurine, but her mother has sold the match to buy a dress for Grace's doll. They discover the true gift is being together in this sentimental story with impressive oils by Jim Burke.
Mary Engelbreit's brilliant colors make a jolly family treasure in her version of Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas (HarperCollins, $16.99; all ages) .
Karen Hesse tells "eight stories of Hanukkah through history" in a series of free verse poems in The Stone Lamp (Hyperion, $18.00; ages 9 and up) . A swirling vivid palate by Brian Pinkney and short contextual summaries by Hesse set the scene for readers of all ages to share powerful stories like that of a child escaped from the Spanish Inquisition, or another from the Russian pogroms. The tales are linked by family love and the lighting of the lamp and are perfect for family sharing.
Stories are also the center of Stephanie Spinner's It's A Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook (Atheneum, $16.95; ages 5-8) Owen is the O.C.L, the Official Candle Lighter, and savors his new job as much as hearing nightly stories from his grandmother. He loves all traditions, but the nightly family stories help him see his relatives in a whole new light when they come together for a holiday dinner.
When they began publishing children's books about Hanukkah, they were didactic and dull. Every year the offerings grow more diverse and exciting. Here are new books to light up the holiday.
Eric Kimmel's best known for his contribution to wonderfully playful Hanukkah stories, but he takes a more encompassing, wide-angle view of the holiday as he edits A Hanukkah Treasury (Henry Holt, $19.95, for the whole family) in which he does much of the actual writing. Kimmel includes playful traditional songs such as " Hanukkah, O Hanukkah!" to lyrics adapted from Zechariah 4:6 in "Not by Might, Not by Power". He tells the holiday's history with the traditional story of the Maccabees and explains the symbolism of lights, lamps and more, describing how their meaning has changed and grown through time. The scope of literary offerings are thorough and varied. They include a retelling of a story of Hasidic teacher Rabbi Nachman, the legend of Judith, a poem with a chorus by J. Patrick Lewis, and an Alaskan Hanukkah story. In addition you'll find holiday recipes, rules for dreidel games, and ideas for making your own menorah. This book is a true treasure of a treasury.
Several new books use story to show the meaning of holiday. Amy Goldman Koss's novella How I Saved Hanukkah (Dial, $15.99; ages 7-9) is the story of how a young girl brings Hanukkah alive in her family. Heroine Marla Feinstein has always resented being the girl who celebrates Hanukkah instead of Christmas. She envies her best friend Lucy whose family celebrates Christmas with zest. Marla tries to explain how Hanukkah is not really comparable to Christmas, especially in her home as her father travels constantly and her casual, cooking-impaired mother is uninvolved. When Lucy's family must go away to a family emergency, Marla invites her friend to celebrate the holiday Feinstein style. Before she knows it, Marla is launched into exploring the meanings and fun of the holiday. By the end she discovers her mom can make a fantastic latkes, dancing the Hora is spectacular fun, she throws a wonderful party, and learns how living with a best friend deepens bonds.
Jane Breskin Zalben's books are always warm and celebratory. She welcomes us into a lamb family in Pearl's Eight Days of Chanukah (Simon and Schuster, $16.00; ages 4-8). Pearl is distraught that Cousin Sophie and Harry will be spending the eight holiday nights with them. Sophie once put a latke on Pearl's seat and she's overheard Harry called a vilde chaya--wild animal. Pearl imagines all kinds of horrific ways the visitors might ruin the fun, but though there are moments of difficult feelings, each night turns out to hold a special joy. Those joys reveal traditions which are further explained in a few short pages which act as non-fiction interludes. Between the story Zalben offers recipes, blessings and dreidl making directions. The story itself is filled with familiar traditions, foods, and expressions. Words like tzedakah, rugelach, and dreykup spice up the text as engaging ingredients of celebration like family stories, plays, and treasure hunts flavor the story . By the book's end, it's easy to understand why Pearl's love for the holiday and her cousin Sophie grows.
If you're captured by Zalben's warm detailed illustrations and stories, there's more good news. She's also collected five previous stories in Beni's Family Treasury: Stories for the Jewish Holidays (Henry Holt, $18.95; ages 4-8). In the collection, stories show a closely-knit bear family celebrating Rosh Hashanah, Sukkah, Hanukkah, Purim, and Passover.
New in paperback is Aliana Brodmann's The Gift: A Hanukkah Story (Aladdin, $5.99; ages 5-9). When a young German girl is given a five-mark piece by her father for Hanukkah, she feels she has a fortune to spend. She goes shopping in all her favorite stores, delighting in constant discoveries. The stationery store has " a gold-tipped pen as blue as the winter sky", gingerbread men at the bakery hold clay bubble pipes. She finds possible purchases as she visits apothecary, hat store and toy store. Finally, however, at day's end she throws her money into the hat of a street musician who plays in the darkening lonely street. He acknowledges the gift by teaching her how to play his accordion and finally she can play tune after tune. People around them, enchanted by the sounds, throw more money into the man's hat. The young girl spent her money on a night she will never forget!