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SHARED by: Katherine Grier, Librarian at York Avenue Preschool

“Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah” by Sylvia A. Rouss 
Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah introduces preschoolers to Hanukkah in a way that is very much in keeping with a small child’s view of the traditional Jewish holiday involving candle lighting, dreidel playing and latke eating. It is also a great book for teaching young children about colors and numbers. The fun and interesting story is told in simple text and brightly colored illustrations that are very reminiscent of Eric Carle’s work. In it, Sammy Spider and his mother live on the ceiling of the Shapiro family’s house. On the first night of Hanukkah, the Shapiros light one candle in the menorah and their son Josh is given a dreidel to spin. Sammy likes to warm his cold feet by the candles. He also enjoys watching the dreidel spin and asks his mother for one of his own. His mother tells him that spiders spin webs, not dreidels. Each consecutive night an additional candle is lit and Josh is given a different colored dreidel. Sammy keeps asking his mother for a dreidel but gets the same response. When Hanukkah is over, Sammy is sad because he still has no dreidel of his own. In the end, his mother presents him with a clever gift of eight different colored socks each of which has a little dreidel design spun into it. The socks are the same colors as the dreidels Josh received.  Sammy Is satisfied and so are his readers.

“Nutcracker” by Susan Jeffers
This is the time of year when many school children traditionally make field trips or accompany family members to see a production of the world’s most beloved holiday fairy tale The Nutcracker. Teachers who wish to preview the story for their young charges so they know what to expect will find this book invaluable. Parents and grandparents who want a perfect memento of the show should buy multiple copies to keep and give. It is a Nutcracker picture book for children unlike any I have ever seen before.  It is an exquisitely illustrated blend between the ballet and the original story that is written in succinct text perfect for young children to understand, and older children to read on their own. The rich watercolor artwork is fabulous. Each detailed illustration depicts the settings, the people and action perfectly and makes the simplistic words come alive.

The main character is named Marie (not Clara). She gets three toys from her uncle for Christmas, one of which is a wooden nutcracker. Her jealous brother Fritz knocks the Nutcracker to the floor and breaks its head. Marie cradles her broken Nutcracker like a baby doll and falls asleep under the Christmas tree with the toy in her arms. While she is asleep, Marie’s uncle casts a spell and the Nutcracker comes to life. The Nutcracker fights the evil Mouse King and his soldiers and Marie comes to the Nutcracker’s rescue by throwing her ballet slipper at the Mouse King. Marie and the Nutcracker encounter dancing fairy snowflakes and visit a really lovely Land of Sweets which is populated by all sorts of ballerina versions of candy and flowers. When Marie wakes up, she tells her Nutcracker that she loves him regardless of his looks and condition (a broken head). Love triumphs; and so does this book.

“Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I admire picture books that encourage vocabulary expansion and variety. That is why I have always enjoyed the Fancy Nancy books and look forward to new ones being published. I also am a sucker for anything written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I have reviewed many of her books here before. In “Christmas Cookies,” Ms. Rosenthal shows a variety of children and animals baking, decorating, eating and sharing cookies. As they engage in these activities, they also illustrate and define certain holiday-related “big-people” words, values and feelings. CELEBRATE means “Time to get out the sprinkles!” MODERATION means “at the party not having twenty cookies, and not having zero cookies, but having just enough cookies.” FRUSTRATED means “ I can’t believe we burned them again “  APPRECIATIVE means “Thank you so, so much for taking the time to bake with me.”  And, THOUGHTFUL means “Let’s give some cookies to our neighbor.”   The book is simple, but it also has a richness that allows the reader to experience the multiple joys of baking cookies, discovering new words, observing beautiful illustrations, and creating memories together.  The ability of a book to do this is a priceless gift.