The Eight Knights of Hanukkah

After a dragon causes damage that puts a crimp in preparations for a kingdom-wide Hanukkah party, Lady Sadie charges her ethnically diverse children, the Eight Knights of Hanukkah, with engaging in “deeds of awesome kindness and stupendous bravery” to undo it. Sir Gabriel peels a mound of potatoes for latkes, Sir Lily steps in to make a huge batch of sufganiyot, and Sir Henry cleans the entire castle and brings his mother a cup of tea. Sir Isabella and Sir Rugelach, on the hunt throughout, finally encounter the dragon, who turns out to be a cute and unfairly labeled critter named Rosie—and an ace menorah lighter. Party on! Kimmelman and Bernstein’s gentle spoof employs just enough amusing medieval jokes (Sir Gabriel dons an apron that reads “Kisseth the cook” in Gothic type) to make the core idea fun to grasp: it takes good deeds of all shapes and sizes to make the world go ’round. Ages 4–8. [em](Sept.) [/em]