Synopses & Reviews
When Grandpa was a boy growing up in Europe, he celebrated Hanukkah in much the way children do today. He sang songs, played dreidel, and ate potato pancakes. Yet Hanukkah was very different. His family could not share the joy of Hanukkah with the world. They were forced to observe the holiday behind locked doors and drawn curtains. In those days, a man came with soldiers to persecute the Jews--just as a foreign king had done centuries earlier in Jerusalem. Sheldon Oberman's beautiful story explores the meaning of Hanukkah in a way that enlightens and inspires. Neil Waldman's radiant illustrations capture the message of joy and courage that is the Festival of Lights.
Review
"Oberman has masterfully capsulized the history of Hanukkah, then overlaid the ancient events with veiled references to the Holocaust persecutions, showing how the bond of intergenerational traditions transcend the terrors that have afflicted the Jewish people."--Booklist, starred review
About the Author
Sheldon Oberman wrote two Sydney Taylor Honor Award-winning books--The Wisdom Bird and The Always Prayer Shawl, which also won a National Jewish Book Award. He taught at Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate, Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the Sheldon Oberman Writing Award has been established in his honor. Oberman died in 2004.Neil Waldman has written and illustrated more than fifty books. He is the recipient of the Christopher Award and the National Jewish Book Award. He lives in White Plains, New York.