This adap­ta­tion of the drei­del song is paired with a rhyming sto­ry about a fam­i­ly and their rel­a­tives cel­e­brat­ing Hanukkah. They pre­pare and eat latkes, light eight can­dles (in the meno­rah, which is shown but not iden­ti­fied) and play the drei­del game. The sto­ry is on the left side of the book, and the refrain of the drei­del song appears on each fac­ing page, framed in love­ly blue and white paint­ed bor­ders. The bor­ders look like paper­cuts, com­plete with Jew­ish stars and drei­dels. The rol­lick­ing col­or­ful gouache illus­tra­tions add to the child appeal, and will make this fun for fam­i­lies or teach­ers to read aloud. 

This was reviewed from a proof, which indi­cates that the com­plet­ed book will include the music for the song, as well as direc­tions for mak­ing latkes. Hope­ful­ly, it will also include direc­tions for play­ing the drei­del game. The text says ​“some take pen­nies out and put pen­nies in, and it drops and then I win,” but it doesn’t tell what the Hebrew let­ters stand for, nor does it give their numer­ic val­ue or clear direc­tions for play­ing the game. 

Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 3 – 6, based on what the com­plet­ed book will contain.