Review: Yitzi and the Giant Menorah

Yitzi and the Giant Menorah by Richard Ungar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Yitzi and the Giant Menorah” is an absolutely gorgeous book. It is Illustrated with watercolor monoprints, both color and black and white. The pages could be framed and placed on the wall, they are so eye catching. If you look carefully at the coloured illustrations, you can find animals and objects hidden within them. The story is also beautiful and engaging.

In this story, the Mayor of Lublin gives a giant Menorah to the village of Chelm. It is beautiful and each night they light another candle. When the people of Chelm try to come up with ideas of how to thank the Mayor of Lublin, they keep getting diverted and none of their gifts make it. On the final night of Hannukah, Yitzi comes up with a meaningful, appropriate, and perfect way to give thanks. This is the lesson of the book: that saying “thank you” doesn’t always require material goods or fancy gestures.

This is a beautiful book that can add to children’s knowledge of other cultures as well as learning about heartfelt thank-yous. The author included a short history of how Hanukkah came to be and why it is celebrated. Throughout the story we learn some of the traditions of this holiday such as dreidels, the menorah and latkes.

This book would be a welcome addition to holiday libraries in homes, schools, public libraries and houses of worship.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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