LATimes review - wahoo!
Dec. 18th, 2007 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellenkushnerJust when you thought it was safe to put the menorah away -- A wonderful surprise today to find my new Chanukah book in a really good roundup review of holiday books in that most glorious of papers, the Los Angeles Times. Sonja Bolle writes the monthly "Word Play" column, and you should check this one out if you're looking for kids' books. She's no dummy. I was getting depressed about the interpretation that even good reviews were throwing at my Dreydl - but she nails it in just a few well-chosen words. Thank you, Sonja B.!
To read the whole thing, you have to log into the LATimes website. So here's a digest from the whole column:
There's something about the holidays that allows us to air the sentimentality we suppress at other times of the year. People hum Christmas carols as they fork over money to Salvation Army collectors. Tough, cynical people suddenly turn up in reindeer sweaters. My family gave a holiday party one year to which we asked everyone to bring their favorite holiday story to read aloud; our friends complained we had gone soft in the head, but a number of them -- even some over the age of 12 -- joined in a reading of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," our all-time favorite.
Every year sees the publication of new holiday stories, mostly variations on tried-and-true themes: the warmth of family, more comforting than any luxury; the eternal search for the perfect gift for someone you love; the stranger taken in; the secret life of Santa. This year is particularly rich, with a number of well-known authors offering holiday tales. [. . . . ]
Hanukkah has passed, but we always keep a stock of good Hanukkah books on hand, because we know we'll need them every year as presents. We have often given "Zigazak: A Magical Hanukkah Night" by Eric Kimmel and Jon Goodell . . . .
Now, for slightly older readers, we will keep on hand copies of "The Golden Dreydl" by Ellen Kushner, illustrated by Ilene Winn-Lederer (Charlesbridge: $15.95, ages 8 to 11), a story that begins with a child "too old" for the annual family gathering. The adventure she falls into incorporates many elements of Jewish folklore and celebrates the return to the bosom of the family, and isn't this what the holidays are always about?
To read the whole thing, you have to log into the LATimes website. So here's a digest from the whole column:
There's something about the holidays that allows us to air the sentimentality we suppress at other times of the year. People hum Christmas carols as they fork over money to Salvation Army collectors. Tough, cynical people suddenly turn up in reindeer sweaters. My family gave a holiday party one year to which we asked everyone to bring their favorite holiday story to read aloud; our friends complained we had gone soft in the head, but a number of them -- even some over the age of 12 -- joined in a reading of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," our all-time favorite.
Every year sees the publication of new holiday stories, mostly variations on tried-and-true themes: the warmth of family, more comforting than any luxury; the eternal search for the perfect gift for someone you love; the stranger taken in; the secret life of Santa. This year is particularly rich, with a number of well-known authors offering holiday tales. [. . . . ]
Hanukkah has passed, but we always keep a stock of good Hanukkah books on hand, because we know we'll need them every year as presents. We have often given "Zigazak: A Magical Hanukkah Night" by Eric Kimmel and Jon Goodell . . . .
Now, for slightly older readers, we will keep on hand copies of "The Golden Dreydl" by Ellen Kushner, illustrated by Ilene Winn-Lederer (Charlesbridge: $15.95, ages 8 to 11), a story that begins with a child "too old" for the annual family gathering. The adventure she falls into incorporates many elements of Jewish folklore and celebrates the return to the bosom of the family, and isn't this what the holidays are always about?