by Esmé Raji Codell & illustrated by LeUyen Pham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005
Codell borrows the plot of A Christmas Carol for this version set in the tenements and factories of New York City in the early 20th century. Scroogemacher is the transported Scrooge character, with his own waistcoat factory and a beholden nephew named Moshe, and the time is the last night of Hanukkah. Instead of three ghosts, Scroogemacher is visited by the Rabbi of Hanukkah Past, who explains the history of the celebration; the Rabbi of Hanukkah Present, who forces Scroogemacher to relive his own journey from Europe to New York; and the Rabbi of Hanukkah Future, a woman who shows Scroogemacher what today’s society will be like. Lots of history, Jewish customs, Yiddish expressions and the entire plot of A Christmas Carol are all squeezed in along with full-page and spot illustrations that give the characters even more personality. Dickens purists may wince, but many others will find this effort quite an acceptable way to introduce or review the history behind the holiday. (glossary, bibliography, author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Fiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-5179-1
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2005
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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by Patricia Polacco & illustrated by Patricia Polacco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002
This longer Christmas story centers on an embroidered tapestry purchased to hang in a church for the Christmas Eve service. As with many of her works, Polacco (When Lightning Comes in a Jar, p. 665, etc.) sets her story in Michigan, this time in wintry Detroit. Young Jonathan resents his family’s recent move from Tennessee to where his minister father has been reassigned to renovate an old church and revive its congregation. Through a series of Dickensian trials and coincidences, the tapestry is purchased to cover some water damage to a church wall, and an elderly Jewish woman (and Holocaust survivor) whom the family has befriended recognizes the tapestry as the one she made in pre-WWII Germany for her wedding ceremony. In an ending worthy of O. Henry, the repairman who arrives on Christmas Eve to inspect the water damage turns out to be the woman’s long-lost husband (each thought the other had died in the Holocaust), and the devoted couple is reunited. Polacco succeeds as always with her watercolor-and-pencil illustrations in creating unique, expressive characters who seem to have real lives in their snowy city streets, cozy living rooms, and busy church. The gentle, reassuring message, suggested to Jonathan by his kindly father, is that “the universe unfolds as it should,” even when we don’t understand the pattern of the tapestry. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-399-23955-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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by Jan Brett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999
In a snowbound Swiss village, Matti figures it’s a good day to make a gingerbread man. He and his mother mix a batch of gingerbread and tuck it in the oven, but Matti is too impatient to wait ten minutes without peeking. When he opens the door, out pops a gingerbread baby, taunting the familiar refrain, “Catch me if you can.” The brash imp races all over the village, teasing animals and tweaking the noses of the citizenry, until there is a fair crowd on his heels intent on giving him a drubbing. Always he remains just out of reach as he races over the winterscape, beautifully rendered with elegant countryside and architectural details by Brett. All the while, Matti is busy back home, building a gingerbread house to entice the nervy cookie to safe harbor. It works, too, and Matti is able to spirit the gingerbread baby away from the mob. The mischief-maker may be a brat, but the gingerbread cookie is also the agent of good cheer, and Brett allows that spirit to run free on these pages. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23444-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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