The cycle of Jew­ish hol­i­days rep­re­sents con­ti­nu­ity. For chil­dren, fol­low­ing fam­i­ly tra­di­tions each year is espe­cial­ly impor­tant. In Joy Pre­ble and Lisa Anchin’s pic­ture book, a young boy, Nate, and his two fathers move to a new apart­ment. In the process, Nate’s favorite Hanukkah meno­rah is lost. It is dif­fi­cult enough for Nate to change schools, miss his best friend, and miss the rou­tine of going to his favorite restau­rant with­out hav­ing to kin­dle the lights of Hanukkah with a sec­ond-best replacement.

Anchin’s detailed illus­tra­tions in bright col­ors, along with Preble’s real­is­tic nar­ra­tive, cap­ture a child’s per­spec­tive. When Nate vis­its a Judaica store with Dad­dy and Abba, he rejects all the alter­na­tives to his miss­ing meno­rah, even one shaped like a stegosaurus. Pre­ble con­veys Nate’s feel­ings, which are not root­ed in obsti­na­cy, but in sad­ness: ​“I shake my head. None of these are the right fit.” Abba’s emer­ald-green coat match­es the col­ors of small items on the store’s

shelves, and Daddy’s blue jack­et picks up the deep blue of the counter where an array of beau­ti­ful items is dis­played. The illus­tra­tion is an unusu­al­ly faith­ful depic­tion of a neigh­bor­hood shop for every Jew­ish need, com­plete with kip­pot, mezu­zot, and ham­sa jew­el­ry in every shade of the rainbow.

The store’s friend­ly own­er, Amy, has a cat named Kugel. When a gust of wind bangs the door open, Kugel escapes, and Nate begins to under­stand oth­er people’s loss­es as well as his own. Soon he is active­ly engaged in search­ing for Kugel. If he has not for­got­ten about his own dis­ap­point­ment, he is no longer con­sumed by that emo­tion. Pre­ble avoids any tone of moral­ism, and Anchin’s pic­tures visu­al­ize how Nate has learned empa­thy. Mak­ing latkes with Abba and Dad­dy, he enjoys the pota­to-laden smell of his new apart­ment, but think­ing of Kugel reminds him that ​“it’s hard to be lost.”

The sight of Amy sad­ly munch­ing on a latke, and remark­ing how Kugel had loved the Hanukkah treat, inspires Nate to come up with an unusu­al res­cue plan. His family’s search around the snowy city includes mul­ti­ple pic­tures of a gor­geous green pine tree, devoid of orna­ments. Jews can admire conifers as much as any­one! When Nate resolves to accept change in the form of a new meno­rah, the two-page spread of his DIY project, with Daddy’s help, is tru­ly inspired. Safe­ty gog­gles, pli­ers, and screw­drivers plus moti­va­tion and cre­ativ­i­ty, bring back the Hanukkah that Nate thought he had lost. Amy and Kugel com­plete the picture.

Lost and Found Hanukkah includes an author’s note and a recipe for latkes.