Review by New York Times Review
A wordless picture book about seeing "The Nutcracker" is an inspired idea, and with utterly enchanting diorama art, McKay makes it feel like an event. (You might want to put on fancy holiday clothes just to read it.) A girl and her mother, drawn in sepia tones, are leaving for the theater on a rainy night. Once they arrive, scenes from the ballet are in color; in the audience, a boy and his father are also absorbed in the magic. Look closely at the illuminating details, like the high-top sneakers the girl wears with her dress. QUEEN OF THE HANUKKAH DOSAS By Pamela Ehrenberg. Illustrated byAnjan Sarkar. 36 pp. Farrar Straus & Giroux. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) The boy who narrates this lighthearted holiday mash-up has an Indian mom and a Jewish dad. At Hanukkah that's a "lucky combination," he says: Instead of latkes, the family makes Indian dosas. His only complaint is his wild toddler sister, who's slowing down the dosa-making process. When she runs amok in the supermarket, he sings to her, to the tune of the dreidel song: "I had a little dosa. I made it out of dal." But after a mishap her high jinks come in handy. Improvisation, we're reminded, is at the heart of any winter holiday. THE NUTCRACKER IN HARLEM By T. E. McMorrow. Illustrated by James Ransome. 32 pp. HarperCollins. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) This inventive book embeds the classic holiday ballet in the elegant Harlem Renaissance world of the 1920s. Marie's large family is hosting a musical Christmas Eve party, but she's too shy to sing. Her Uncle Cab gives her a nutcracker as a gift, and once the guests leave the night brings all kinds of remarkable goings-on. The nutcracker come to life, of course, but perhaps even better, Marie finds a way to sing. Ransome's rich jewel-toned art makes both indoor scenes and the New York City night vibrate with life and holiday wonder. LOVE, SANTA By Martha Brockenbrough. Illustrated by Lee White. 32 pp. Scholastic. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 6 and up) To tell or not to tell? As parental dilemmas go, the "Is Santa Claus real?" conundrum can be a source of genuine agonizing. Based on the beans-spilling letter to her daughter Brockenbrough published in The Times and elsewhere, this earnest book about the end of a child's Santa era channels the sense of loss into a message about generosity and kindness. Told largely via letters to and from Santa tucked inside envelopes in the book, Lucy's growth into knowledge, and her mother's navigation of her role in that, are equally moving. THE GIRL WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS By Matt Haig. Illustrated by Chris Mould. 320 pp. Knopf. $17.99. (Ages 7 and up) If somewhere in the afterlife Roald Dahl met Charles Dickens and they cooked up a new Christmas tale, it couldn't have much on this fleet, verbally rambunctious, heart-stealing follow-up to "A Boy Called Christmas," set in Victorian London (with cameos by Dickens himself). Amelia Wishart, the first child to have gotten a gift from Father Christmas, is orphaned and sent to a workhouse. At the North Pole, magic levels plummet. Christmas is in jeopardy, and Father Christmas is in custody. Amelia to the rescue? We'd all better believe it. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 3, 2017]
Review by Booklist Review
Hanukkah is approaching, and our biracial, unnamed narrator and his family are preparing to make Indian dosas for the celebration. There's just one problem: his little sister, Sadie, won't stop climbing everything! At Little India Market, Sadie climbs up a pyramid of coconut milk cans and won't come down. But they've been learning The Dreidel Song in Hebrew school, and her brother changes the words, singing, I had a little dosa; I made it out of dal, and Sadie is so delighted, she climbs down. This variation of the song works wonders, and the boy uses it every time they need to calm Sadie down. But when the first night of Hanukkah arrives and the family accidentally gets locked outside the house, Sadie's climbing skills may be just the thing to save the day. Playful cartoonlike illustrations capture the bustle of this half Jewish, half Indian family as they prepare for their holidays. It's a nice portrayal of a blended family; that the focus remains on a very natural sibling relationship is even better.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Instead of frying latkes on Hanukkah, the family in Ehrenberg and Sarkar's sweet cross-cultural story makes dosas (a savory pancake served with condiments and side dishes) to honor Mom's heritage. "Making Indian food that my mom ate as kid for a Jewish holiday that my dad grew up with-that was a lucky combination," says the boy who candidly narrates. But he is also being sorely tested by his younger sister's mischievousness: if she won't behave will they ever get the dosas made-and get to eat them? Ehrenberg's storytelling leaves little to readers' imaginations, but there's something comforting about the steady step-by-step trajectory of the text and Sarkar's stylish cartooning. Readers will also appreciate how the narrator turns a customized version of "I Have a Little Dreidel" ("I have a little dosa...") into a sister-wrangling tool. Ages 4-7. Author's agent: Carrie Howland, Empire Literary. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Cultures merge in this holiday story about a boy with an Indian mother, a Jewish father, and a mischievous little sister named Sadie. Instead of traditional potato pancakes, this family celebrates Hanukkah by making dosas, a fried Indian pancake of rice and beans. From buying ingredients at the Indian market, to grinding the dal and rice and frying the batter in coconut oil, the process feels both different and familiar, and creates an opportunity for the author to explore the mingling of traditions. Unfortunately, the first-person narrative is bogged down by a contrived plot focusing on Sadie's penchant for climbing on things and her brother's random discovery that he can make her get down by singing a modified version of "I had a little dreidel," which comes in handy when the family gets locked out of the house during their Hanukkah party. The colorful illustrations are festive and bright, including wonderful endpapers that highlight common ingredients used in Indian food, yet the visual appeal of this book does not compensate for the weakness of the text. Furthermore, references to the holiday itself at times seem offhanded: "Just like the Maccabees, my mom rubbed oil in a pan called a tawa, where we cook the dosas." VERDICT An additional selection for large holiday collections.-Teri Markson, Los -Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Its almost Hanukkah, and Sadies bicultural family is preparing its traditional dosas. The storys narrator, Sadies older brother, explains that his sisters habit of constantly climbing might be less than helpful to family members making dosas. But when the family gets locked out of the house, Sadies climbing skills save the day (and the dosas). Sarkars vibrant illustrations focus on the entire family--mom, dad, kids, amma-amma--and work with Ehrenbergs accessible text to highlight Jewish and Indian cultures. Though the prose is slightly awkward in spots, it inventively blends elements of two traditions (e.g., I had a little dosa; I made it out of dal). Recipes for dosas and sambar are appended. emily day (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hanukkah can be celebrated in many different and delicious ways. As Hanukkah approaches, a young boy is reluctant to let his little sister, who loves to climb, help make dosas, a fried Indian delicacy. The boy attends Hebrew schoolhis father is Jewishand shops for Indian food with his Indian mother and grandmother. The only way to get his little sister, Sadie, down from chairs at home and stacks of canned food in the market is to sing a variation of the dreidel song: "I had a little dosa; I made it out of dal." He is happy in his blended family, happy to help with the food preparations, and happy to keep singing the song to Sadie. A warm-spirited double-page spread of the family unfolds with the many pots and pans needed to fry the dosas sitting on the stove and little Sadie wearing her dreidel costume. When the family goes outside to greet guests, the door locks behind them, and only one small girl can get inside to open the door. The illustrations are bright and cheerful with endpapers that are a mouthwatering display of ingredients for Indian food. A delightful culinary adventure celebrates traditional Indian food as part of a Jewish holiday. (recipes) (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
