cover image Eight Candles and a Tree

Eight Candles and a Tree

Simone Bloom Nathan, illus. by Brian Barber. Beaver’s Pond (www.beaverspondpress.com), $19.95 (28p) ISBN 978-1-59298-935-5

Tommy friend and neighbor Sophie has a Jewish mother and Christian father, so they celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas: there are holiday lights on Sophie’s house and a Christmas tree in her living room, but there’s also Grandma’s latkes frying in the kitchen, blessings over the menorah, and dreidel spinning. Tommy declares Sophie “lucky” to get two holidays—his family’s Christmas celebration is “great, but it’s not eight days long.” The December dilemma is very real for many families, but Barber’s innocuous marker-style drawings and Nathan’s relentlessly cheery storytelling probably won’t make anyone feel any closer to interfaith rapprochement. The treatment of Christmas strikes a particularly sour note—it’s either not enough on its own or simply an exercise in nostalgia. Interfaith families seeking more equitable treatment of the two holidays will want to look elsewhere. Ages 4–up. (BookLife)