A Hanukkah story that emphasizes the importance of remembering
On the first Hanukkah since Rachel's grandpa died, Rachel is keeping her grandma company. "Where is your menorah, Grandma?" Rachel asks. When Grandma points to a plain wooden board with tin cylinders, Rachel can't help crying, "It's so ugly!" Then Rachel listens as Grandma tells the menorah's history, and Grandpa seems to fill the house again. That night, when Grandma lights the candles, the experience is intensified -- and the menorah is transformed. In gentle words and pictures that weave together past and present, Marissa Moss creates a warm family story with a timeless theme.
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About the Author:
Marissa Moss is the creator of many books for children, including Amelia's Notebook and In America. She lives with her husband and children in Berkeley, California.
Review:
"When Rachel goes to spend Hanukkah with her grandma, she feels sad since it is the first year since grandpa died. She is also a little unhappy because instead of the beautiful silver menorah her parents use, her grandmother has 'a plain wooden board with tin cylinders to hold the candles.' In a story-within-a-story format...readers hear Rachel's grandmother's story of why the menorah is so precious to her; her husband made it when they were very young and poor." --School Library Journal
"[A] warmhearted family tale." --School Library Journal
"Moss stays true to the perspective of the young Rachel with such an unerring eye that the feeling that this is a true family story is very strong." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.