“Meet the Latkes”
by Alan Silberberg
Lucy Latke’s family
is just like any
other family, except
that they’re potato
pancakes. And they
are completely
clueless. After lighting the menorah
and gobbling the gelt, Grandpa Latke
tells everyone the Hanukkah story,
complete with mighty “Mega Bees”
who use a giant dreidel to fi ght against
the evil alien potatoes from Planet
Chhh. It’s up to the Latke family dog
to set the record straight … starting
fi rst with lett ing them know that they
were “Maccabees,” not “Mega Bees.”
AGES 6-8
“Tough Cookie:
A Christmas Story”
by Edward Hemingway
Once upon a time,
while Fox was
visiting the land of
Holiday Treats, a
freshly baked litt le
cookie burst out the
front door looking
sweet and ready to be devoured. But,
Cookie is not as fast as he thinks. When
Fox fi nally catches him, they’re both in
for a big surprise: Sugar Cookie does
not taste delicious—and he’s certainly
not fi t to be eaten. What’s an unsavory
cookie to do? This story celebrates the
joy of being accepted for who we are.

“Pippa’s Passover Plate”
by Vivian Kirkfi eld
An enchanting
mouse scours her
cozy, miniature
home for her
Passover Seder
plate with no luck.

Sundown is near
and the Passover celebration will begin
soon. Pippa Mouse must venture out
and be brave to ask a cat, a snake and
an owl for help. To her surprise, not
only are the animals helpful in tracing
her plate to the pond, they become her
Passover Seder guests.

“Merry Christmas,
Little Elliot”
by Mike Curato
Elliot isn’t quite
sure what Christmas
spirit is, but he
suspects he doesn’t
have it. Not even
a visit with Santa
Claus can put Elliot in the right mood.

But when chance blows a lett er for
Santa into Elliot and Mouse’s path, the
two friends discover what Christmas is
all about—and make a new friend, too.

“The Best Four Questions”
by Rachelle Burk
Marcy is fi nally old
enough to ask The
Four Questions
at her family’s
Passover Seder.

She’s sure when it’s
her time to shine, her
questions will be the best ever. Though
her four (funny) questions are not the
ones in Haggadah, her family gently
humors her with the answers before she
and her brother go on to read the real
Four Questions.

AGES 9-12
“The Christmasaurus”
by Tom Fletcher
Back when dinosaurs
roamed the Earth,
an egg rolled away
from its mother
and landed in the
ocean, where it froze
solid and stayed
peacefully for thousands of years.

But then, one day, Santa and his elves
discover the frozen egg. After gett ing it
to hatch, they are shocked to discover
it’s a dinosaur! Meanwhile, a young boy
named William has only ever wished
for one thing for Christmas: a dinosaur,
of course. So when Santa accidentally
gives William the real Christmasaurus
instead of a stuff ed replica, it’s the best
Christmas ever … until an evil man
known as Hunter wants the dinosaur
for himself.

“Bah! Humbug!”
by Michael Rosen
Harry Gruber gets
to play the role
of Scrooge in his
school’s production
of “A Christmas
Carol,” but he is
extra nervous about
tonight’s performance because his
smartphone-obsessed father is in the
audience—not away for business,
as usual. Will the story’s message of
Christmas cheer and the redemptive
power of love reach his father’s
distracted Scrooge heart?
“Race Up Mount Ram:
A Hanukkah Story”
by Melissa Berg
Meet Rimon, the
most popular and
confi dent boy in
school. Then meet
Chaim, a small and
lonely boy with few
friends and even less
confi dence. At Hanukkah, these two
unlikely competitors must face off in a
race up the cliff s of Mount Ram for the
title of Champion of the Maccabees,
and everyone is certain of the outcome.

But the contestants soon learn this is no
standard race! The boys are confronted
by extreme obstacles that end up testing
more than their speed—but the strength
of their inner character.

washingtonFAMILY.com December 2018
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