Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah from Left on the Shelf

 

It is time for me to hang up my Christmas stocking for 2025.  This will be the last post from me until the New Year.

It has been a fantastic year for the blog. There has been a range of book reviews, blog tours, spotlight posts, author interviews, book extracts and guest posts.

When I consider that I started this blog in 2013 it has been a joy to see it grow from strength to strength. I only ever intended to do it for a year but here I still am, continuing to enjoy sharing my thoughts on the books I read with you.

However, it is thanks to all of you for supporting my blog. Thank you for taking time out of your busy days to stop by and read the new content which I upload most days. I so appreciate you doing that and I am very grateful.

It just remains for me to say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. Whichever way you celebrate, I wish you a wonderful time and a glorious and peaceful year ahead.

See you in 2026.

Annie xx

Hanukkah by Leslea Newman and Rotem Teplow - #bookreview

 

My name is Lior, which is a Hebrew name that means "my light."

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights and it's my very favourite holiday...

***

Discover the joy and meaning of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.

Lior and his parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents and cousins are inviting you to celebrate with them! Join in as they make latkes, light the Menorah, recite the Hanukkah blessings, play the dreidel game and share presents.

Along the way, you’ll learn how Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration marked by the daily lighting of a new candle on the Menorah. It brings the Jewish community together by commemorating the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks.

This bright and engaging picture book covers:

 The Miracle of Hanukkah

The delicious food eaten, such as latkes, noodle kugel, and sufganiyot

The fun to be had playing the dreidel game

How the Menorah is lit every night using the Shamash

The community celebrations at the Synagogue

and more!

…and this glowing gift book is further brought to life with:

 Instructions to make an edible Menorah

A guide to make a Hanukkah tzedakah box

A recipe for delicious latkes and apple sauce

In this immersive exploration of Hanukkah, young readers join a practising family as they commemorate the miracle of Hanukkah. Seen through the eyes of young children celebrating themselves, this is a simple and exciting way to introduce little ones to this important Jewish occasion.

Part of the Celebrations & Festivals series, you are invited into a family's celebrations as you explore the magic and excitement of religious and cultural festivals around the world.

***

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is one of those annual events that does not occur at the same time each year. The Christian festival of Easter is exactly the same in this respect. Hanukkah can occur just about anywhere during November and December. It is an eight day festival and in 2024 it begins on the 25th of December and coincides with Christmas Day. 

The book follows one family whilst they make preparations for the upcoming holiday - beginning with the cleaning and decorating of the home in preparation, right through to the eighth night when all nine candles are lit. Following this the decorations and menorah are put away for another year.

Along the way the book tells of the religious meaning of the holiday, the events of the celebration itself, and concludes with recipes, a quiz, crafts and so much more. The illustrations are excellent and the text is well written and presented.

This is one of the nicest books for children that explains the history and modern practices of Hanukkah that I have come across. It is part of the Celebrations and Festivals series, all of which appear equally well done. They cover Christmas, Diwali, Ramadan and more.

I'm proud that my immediate family is multi-cultural and multi-faith. We are a mixture of Christian, Jew, Muslim and Atheist. Therefore, we take great joy in celebrating a range of festivals and appreciating how we can all come together as one.

The book is released in the UK on the 3rd of October and I have already preordered two copies of this as gifts. I highly recommend this.

ISBN: 978 0711287211

Publisher:  Words and Pictures

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  48 (paperback)

About the Author:

Leslea Newman started her literary career by publishing poems in Seventeen magazine when she was a teenager and never looked back. She is the author of 85 books for readers of all ages. Lesléa’s work has been translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Serbian, Kazakh, and Chinese. Some of her best known titles are: October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; A Letter to Harvey Milk; Hachiko Waits; Sparkle Boy; and Heather Has Two Mommies. 

She has a green belt in Shuri Ryu Karate; can turn a canoe on a dime; her favorite color is leopard print; she is (mildly) obsessed with shoes; and she never met a piece of dark chocolate she didn’t like! 

About the Illustrator:

Rotem Teplow is an Israeli illustrator who lives with her husband and two sons in a small village in Israel, near the Dead Sea. She enjoys yoga, reading books, and illustrating beautiful scenery. A graduate of Shenkar College of Design, she currently illustrates for newspapers and children's books worldwide.

(author photo courtesy of Cynthis Leitich Smith)

(author media courtesy of the author's website)

(illustrator photo and media courtesy of Simon & Schuster)

(all opinions are my own)

Reading Roundup for August 2024

 

It is so nice to be back after my visit to Cheshire where I visited my son and his lovely wife. I took the above photo while I was away. It is a huge Paddington Bear which is completely made from straw. It is sited at Snugberry Farm in Cheshire where they sell the most amazing range of ice creams. It would have been rude not to sample a few while we were there! 

I managed a fair bit of reading while I was away, not all of which I have written reviews for yet.

Did you have a good reading month? What was your favourite read of August?

Books I Have Read

The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley - This is an author that I already liked and this book lived up to my expectations. Historical fiction of a lesser known queen. You can read my review by clicking here.

Rakiya: Stories of Bulgaria by Ellis Shuman - Needless to say, this is a collection of short stories which are all set in Bulgaria. I enjoyed reading them very much. You can read my review by clicking here.

The House of the Witch by Clare Marchant - This is probably my favourite read in August. A dual timeline set in the 17th century and the present. I highly recommend this one and you can read my review by clicking here.

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall & Illustrated by Yas Imamura - This picture book tells the story of how the author's grandparents, Tama and George, first met and fell in love. You can read my review by clicking here.

No Funeral for Nazia by Taha Kehar - I enjoyed this very much. Written from the persepective of a narrator who has passed away. Excellent fiction. You can read my review by clicking here.

When You Were Mine by Emma-Claire Wilson - This was an extremely enjoyable read based around two women who meet in the emergency department of a hospital in Spain when they both go into labour.

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott - This was fabulous and I really hope to get a review up soon. It features a native American woman who marries a white Canadian man. It made for riveting reading.

One Midnight With You by Shari Low - This was a nice book and my review will be up tomorrow as part of the blog tour.

Hanukkah by Leslea Newman - A wonderful picture book for children and my review will be up later this week.

One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz - A coming of age story which was beautifully written. You can read my review by clicking here.

A Class Act by Julie Houston - Quite frankly I would read anything by this author. This was another wonderful read and you can find my review by clicking here.

The Missing Family by Tim Weaver -  It is number thirteen in the David Raker series. It worked well as a stand alone and was an enjoyable read.  You can read my review by clicking here.

Ancestry by Simon Mawer - This was a very enjoyable fictionalised account of the author's ancestors. Well worth reading.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - I'm always sceptical when I approach a book which has had so much hype. However, this was fantastic and I highly recommend it.

Books I Am Partway Through

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

The Witch of the Breton Woods by Jennifer Ivy Walker

Henry V by Dan Jones

Folklore of Sussex by Jacqueline Simpson

Weyward by Emilia Hart

The Extraordinary Dreidel by Devorah Omer & Illustrated by Aviel Basil - #bookreview

 

On Hanukkah, Uncle Haim the carpenter made Gil and Nurit a wooden dreidel. This was no ordinary dreidel. It was as big as a soccer ball!

And it had a secret compartment...

***

It is Hanukkah, and brother and sister Gil and Nurit have just been given a wooden dreidel; a special one, made just for them by their uncle. The children soon discover just how special this dreidel really is when they uncover its secret, hidden compartment.

Gil and Nurit discuss which of their own things they should hide inside. Gil then decides that he will take the dreidel to his school Hanukkah party and offer a prize to the person with the best idea. But as he prepares to leave, the dreidel is nowhere to be found. When he fetches his jacket in the closet, however, he is met with a great surprise!

The Extraordinary Dreidel is a light-hearted, family-focused story for children that will educate them about the traditions of Hanukkah and their place within the holiday. Aviel Basil’s colorful, eye-catching illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to this enjoyable, meaningful tale.

***

Sundown today sees the beginning of Hanukkah for those who celebrate it, and this lovely picture book would make a perfect Hanukkah gift for pre-school/infant age children.

The book has super illustrations from Aviel Basil which support the story about a dreidel with a hidden compartment. As the children debate what they could hide in there, the family pet finds an excellent use for it herself. 

It has a delightful ending which children will love.

It would be a great addition to the infant classroom to aid teaching about Judaism and it's festivals.

Happy Hanukkah! Chag Sameach!

ISBN: 978 1784389376

Publisher:  Green Bean Books/Pen & Sword

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  24 (paperback)

About the Author:

Devorah Omer (1932–2013) was born in Kibbutz Maoz Haim in 1932. Completing her studies in 1952, she went on to become a teacher, which was when she began to write books. In her lifetime, she wrote and adapted more than 100 books for children and young people, which have been translated into many languages. 

She received a great number of awards for her work, including the Ministry of Education Prize in 1973, the Ministry of Education Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2005 and the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2006.

Her books also won her the Book Publishers Association's Gold and Platinum Awards on several occasions. She is one of the most prolific and popular children’s authors ever to come out of Israel. Devorah Omer died in Israel at the age of 80.

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(author media courtesy of ITHL and Pen & Sword Books)

(all opinions are my own)