This entry in the Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations series introduces the Jewish Festival of Lights. Trueit offers a brief history of this holiday, which commemorates the rededication of the Jewish temple after the Maccabees' defeat of the Greek army. She explains the significance of menorahs, dreidels, and traditional holiday foods such as latkes and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). She also mentions other customs that families may observe, such as charity to others and exchanging gifts. Poems, songs, crafts, and a recipe round out the text. Thornburgh's colorful artwork appears on every page, adding to the book's appeal. Although no music is included for the songs, and latkes aren't usually made with sweet potatoes, as in the recipe provided here, this will be useful where demand is high.

TRUEIT, Trudi Strain . Hanukkah . ISBN 978-0-7614-4884-6 . LC 2009019068. TRUEIT, Trudi Strain . Kwanzaa . ISBN 978-0-7614-4887-7 . LC 2009019098. ea vol: 24p. (Benchmark Rebus: Holiday Fun Series). photos. further reading. glossary. Web sites. CIP. Marshall Cavendish / Benchmark . 2010. PLB $15.95. PreS-Gr 1 Each book begins with a list of "Picture Words" related to the holiday, followed by a simple text combined with pictures to describe how people celebrate. Repetition of action words makes these books somewhat useful for beginning readers, e.g., "We hang the [lights]. We hang the [stockings]." However, as with many books for this audience, there is very little explanation of what these holidays are about aside from a minimal definition in the glossary. It is also notable that in Hanukkah , no mention is made of the oil that is central to the holiday. Large, clear photographs face each page of text. Aside from the appeal of the rebus format, these titles are merely additional. Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library