Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles

When Sara sees an elderly man scrounging by her neighborhood grocery store, she leaves him small amounts of food to help. And when she realizes that he attends her synagogue (“the man eats some challah. He drinks some grape juice. We all do”) she wants to do even more. Soon the man—Mr. Morris Berger, a former circus performer—is regaling Sara, her mother, and her grandmother with his juggling skills at a joyous Shabbat and Hanukkah dinner, the first of many such dinners (and juggling lessons) to come. With straightforward prose and a repertoire of imaginative visual framings (the dinner scene is shown from a perspective high above the boisterous table), Adler and Ebbeler allow the story to unfold at a graceful, measured pace: both Sara’s awakening sense of tzedakah and Mr. Berger’s innate dignity get their full due. Ages 4–7. Author’s agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Aug.)