Latkes and Brisket: There Was A Young Rabbi--A Hannukah Tale by Suzanne Wolfe

THERE WAS A YOUNG RABBI WHO READ THE TORAH.

SHE READ THE TORAH AND LIT THE MENORAH.

But this young rabbi has another vocation, and as all mothers know, it's no vacation!

Yes, this young rabbi is an energetic woman with a husband and two children, and in addition to her duties to her congregation, she also has the job of celebrating the joys of Hanukkah at home! She lights the candles, one each night, on her home menorah, until all eight glow in memory of the little bit of oil which lit the lights for the first Hanukkah. But that's not all...

She fries up the latkes, enough so everyone in the family can have some. And that's not all that the young rabbi cooks up at home.

THERE WAS A YOUNG RABBI WHO MADE A NICE BRISKET.

IT'S KOSHER, OF COURSE, OR SHE WOULDN'T HAVE RISKED IT!

She plays dreidel with the kids, and wins a game, too! So she eats a chocolate gelt; that's what winners get to do!

And when all eight candles shine on the eighth and last night, they all open their gifts by the bright candlelight!

In Suzanne Wolfe's rhyming story, There Was a Young Rabbi: A Hanukkah Tale (/Lerner/Kar-Ben Publishing, 2020), illustrated with zest by artist Jeffery Ebbeler, the energetic young female rabbi presides over the professional holiday practices and the festive family fun as well, in a jolly story about the holiday season. It won't take more than a few lines for savvy primary graders to identify the rhyme scheme of this story as the famous format of the folksong "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly," used so prolifically by author Lucille Colandro's and artist Jared Lee's holiday and seasonal series, such as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover! (see reviews here). With an unusually early Hanukkah coming up this year, be sure to make room in the holiday readings for this different and clever story.

Says Booklist, "The strong rhyme scheme and repetition in this Hanukkah tale will soon have young listeners chanting along!"