Read­ers will enjoy Codor’sdigitally col­ored, humor­ous car­toon pic­tures of the Small fam­i­ly, in this­newest addi­tion to the ever-grow­ing num­ber of Hanukkah books. It is the­first night of Hanukkah and because Dad is broke, he can’t pur­chase dec­o­ra­tionsor gifts for his fam­i­ly. As he is leav­ing his job as Eras­er Super­vi­sor atthe Tip-Top Pen­cil Com­pa­ny, he meets a strange lit­tle old man who gives him amag­ic pota­to, which he says will reveal the true mean­ing of Hanukkah. This one pota­to mirac­u­lous­ly yields enough latkes for their din­ner. Then, as they are sleep­ing, the one remain­ing pota­to latke in the fry­ing­pan cre­ates a moun­tain of latkes that ris­es to the sky like Jack’s beanstalk. The kids sleep through it all, not hear­ing the efforts of the policechief and the fire depart­ment as they try to bring them down from the latke­moun­tain. The lit­tle old man returns to save the day. He invite­sev­ery­one to eat and all enjoy a city-wide all-you-can-eat latke par­ty that­fi­nal­ly reduces the moun­tain, let­ting the kids wake up with their beds back onthe ground. The man col­lects gelt from every­one so the Smalls can cleanup the mess. At the end, they open the Small Bak­ery in their house where they­sell every­thing except latkes! This book should be read after anex­pla­na­tion of the his­to­ry and mean­ing of the Hanukkah hol­i­day and is a fun­read for chil­dren ages 5 – 8.

Read Richard Codor­’s Posts for the Vis­it­ing Scribe

A Car­toon Education

Too Many Latkes!: Twen­ty Years in the Mak­ing 

Adven­tures in the Car­toon Trade: Israel, US, and Every­where Else