Oskar, a refugee seeking sanctuary from the horrors of Kristallnacht arrives by ship in New York City. He has only a photograph and an address for an aunt he has never met. It is both the seventh day of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, 1938. As Oskar walks the length of Manhattan, from the Battery to his new home in the north of the city, he experiences the city’s many holiday sights. He meets its various residents. Each offers Oskar a small act of kindness, welcoming him to the city and helping him on his way to a new life. 4-8 years
Gracie’s Night: A Hanukkah Story
By Lynn Taylor Gordon, Illustrated by Laurie Brown
There’s lots of love in Gracie’s and Papa’s lives, but not much money. Gracie finds a resourceful way to buy Papa some well-deserved Hanukkah gifts. But an encounter on a bitterly cold night opens her eyes and alters her plans. When we are brave enough to reach out instead of looking away, each of us can bring someone a miracle. 4-8 years
A Hanukkah with Mazel
By Joel Edward Stein, Illustrated by Elisa Vavouri
Misha, a poor artist, has no one to celebrate Hanukkah with until he discovers a hungry cat in his barn. The lucky little cat, whom Misha names Mazel, inspires him to turn each night of Hanukkah into something special. He doesn’t have money for Hanukkah candles, but he can use his artistic skills to bring light to his home as Mazel brings good luck to his life. 3-8 years
Latke, the Lucky Dog
By Ellen Fisher, Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
Rescued from an animal shelter on the first night of Hanukkah, Latke the puppy joins the family just in time for the celebrations. Although he has trouble learning the house rules, he is one lucky dog. 5-7 years
The Trees of the Dancing Goats
By Patricia Polacco
Trisha loves the eight days of Hanukkah. Her mother stays home from work, her Babushka makes delicious potato latkes, and her Grampa carves wonderful animals out of wood as gifts for Trisha and her brother. In the middle of her family’s preparations for the festival of lights, Trisha visits her closest neighbors, expecting to find them decorating their house for Christmas. Instead they are all bedridden with scarlet fever. Trisha’s family is one of the few who has been spared from the epidemic. Grampa has an inspiration: they will cut down trees, decorate them, and secretly deliver them to the neighbors. “But what can we decorate then with?” Babushka asks. Although it is a sacrifice, Trisha realizes that Grampa’s carved animals are the perfect answer. 5-8 years
Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat: A Chanukah Story
By Naomi Howland
Sadie and her four little brothers are very poor and always hungry. On the first night of Chanukah, Sadie performs a generous act, and in turn receives a frying pan that cooks up sizzling hot, golden latkes on command. Sadie tells her brothers never to use the magic pan, but when she goes out one afternoon, the mischievous boys can’t resist. They remember the words to start the pan cooking, but what were the words to make it stop? 4-7 years
The Story of Hanukkah
by David A. Adler, Illustrated by Jill Weber
No celebration of Hanukkah would be complete without recounting the events of more than two thousand years ago that the holiday commemorates. In a simple yet dramatic text and vibrant paintings, the story of the courageous Maccabees and the miracle that took place in the Temple in Jerusalem is retold. 5-8 years
All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah
By Emily Jenkins, Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky bring the beloved All-of-a-Kind Family to life in a new format. Fans along with those just meeting the five girls (“all of a kind,” as their parents say,) will join them back in 1912, on the Lower East Side of New York City, and watch as preparations for Hanukkah are made. When Gertie, the youngest, is not allowed to help prepare latkes, she throws a tantrum. Banished to the girls’ bedroom, she can still hear the sounds and smell the smells of a family getting ready to celebrate. But then Papa comes home and she is allowed out — and given the best job of all: lighting the first candle on the menorah. 3-7 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
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Young Teddy Roosevelt walked down Broadway one day near his New York City home. He spotted a seal, killed in the harbor, on a slab of wood. All at once, the seal “filled me with every possible feeling of romance and adventure,” he later said.
Teddy returned to the seal day after day. He measured it with a ruler and wrote down all his measurements and observations. Teddy hoped to be given the entire seal. Instead, he received the seal’s skull.
The very young future president
The skull inspired Teddy to create the “Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.” Teddy and two cousins placed the museum’s exhibits in Teddy’s bedroom until a chambermaid complained to his parents. Then Teddy had to move the seal skull and the animals and bird exhibits to a back hall bookcase.
Birthplace of Teddy Roosevelt, New York City
Like Teddy, his father was a founding member of a museum, the American Museum of Natural History.
Theodore Roosevelt, Senior
Teddy visited his father’s museum frequently. He studied the exhibits and explored behind the scenes. When he was twelve, Teddy contributed a collection to the museum. It included: a bat, a turtle, mice, a red squirrel’s skull, and four bird eggs.
The American Museum of Natural History
Teddy loved natural history and was especially fascinated with birds. He enjoyed spending time in the country studying nature. He drew pictures of birds and mice and described insects in his notebooks.
Teddy dreamed of becoming a naturalist. That dream changed when he studied at Harvard. He decided instead to enter politics.
As president, Teddy Roosevelt signed laws to set aside two hundred and thirty million acres of wilderness for national parks. Five national parks, eighteen national monuments, fifty-one bird reserves, and 150 national forests were established during his presidency.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
