A luminous collection of brief free verse poems follows a pale-skinned family of five through their Hanukkah celebration. Two spreads are devoted to each night: digital artwork in rich colors and hand-painted textures portrays the reassuring warmth of both an unconditional family connection and the menorah’s cumulative candlelight. The pages also include callouts on observance: “a thought for the third night” notes that “unlike Shabbat candles, which should be lit before sundown, you can light Hanukkah candles late into the night, so long as everyone is awake to see them burn.” Snyder and Hatch depict a lovely range of holiday moments: on one night, the family gets a flat tire and improvises a candle-lighting with a banana menorah; on another, the youngest child and family cat watch in wide-eyed wonder as the candles “fight their endings,” as “one by one,/ they flit and flame,/ dance and jump,/ then fszzzzz, all in a row.” Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/25/2025 | Details & Permalink

Having moved to a new town, young Eva believes that “Hanukkah’s going to be quiet this year,” and even her dragon companion Spark, whom not everyone can see, “shone a little dimmer.” But Mom notes that Hanukkah is “the season for miracles,” and when Eva’s family places their hanukkiah in the window, it creates an opportunity to connect with next-door neighbor Charlie. After promising to keep attempting to see the small dragon, Charlie introduces Eva to other children eager to hear about Spark, and shows them how to conjure dragons of their own. Beautyman blends a tender cartoon realism with gentle fantasy as the dragons, each a different hue, fly through the air in swirls of soft color. On the holiday’s last night, Eva’s new sense of belonging feels complete as her family hosts a party for the new friends where “Eight candles flickered and danced. Eight dragons raced the room, weaving trails of starlight”—a fanciful take on how Hanukkah’s message of light illuminates hope and new possibilities. The family is portrayed with pale skin and dark hair; background characters are shown with various skin tones. More about Hanukkah concludes. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/25/2025 | Details & Permalink

Though a tropical vacation seems to suit Daddy and Papa, Wind’s young narrator feels overwhelmed by being so far from everything “tried and true” during Hanukkah, especially when it turns out that a menorah has been left behind. Necessity becomes invention as, over the next few nights, the protagonist transforms first a banana, then other items into makeshift menorahs, becoming a full, problem-solving participant of the holiday. And when the family returns home, the narrator’s newly awakened creative confidence inspires additional menorahs made from latkes, cookies, and even snow. On the eighth night, West’s openhearted cartooning shows a party in sweetly goofy swing, as multiple generations dance around a table filled with menorahs of all kinds, suggesting that traditions can be flexible and inventive. Or, as the narrator puts it: there’s room for “everything I was used to... and new too.” The family is shown with pale skin; background characters have various skin tones. Back matter includes an author’s note. Ages 3–5. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 07/25/2025 | Details & Permalink

When CJ (short for Colby Jack) learns that a family named Katz is moving into the apartment whose walls he inhabits, the little mouse goes into full panic mode (“Cats are no friends of mine!”). Following a delicious beckoning aroma, though, CJ finds Hanukkah preparations, including jelly doughnuts and chocolate coins, irresistible—even when Nelkin Wieder reveals that the family are, indeed, anthropomorphized cats. It helps when the family kitten, Kitty Katz, reassures him that the menorah isn’t a “ginormous mousetrap”; he first cautiously, and then joyfully, joins their celebration of latkes and candle lighting. And as the book’s punch line explains, CJ was never truly in danger anyway, because mice aren’t kosher. Watercolor- and ink-style illustrations lend a homespun, coloring-book warmth to a congenial cat-and-mouse picture book that honors Judaism’s tradition of holiday hospitality. Activities and a glossary conclude. Ages 2–8. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/25/2025 | Details & Permalink

A cocky bird realizes the value of hard work in Hudson’s fable-like account of a wintry woodland competition. Accustomed to being at the top of the food chain (as noted by several pennants in her tree house), Owl assumes she’ll sweep the “Big Snowdown.” During events including igloo building, icicle playing, snow angel making, and downhill skiing, however, the avian protagonist repeatedly sees other forest creatures come out on top through their steady and deliberate effort (“and rightfully so,” a refrain concludes)—a contrast with her own untrained showings. Dusky painterly renderings adeptly convey sporting action and Owl’s wide-eyed disappointment. In the competition’s aftermath, the overconfident fowl realizes that “her friends deserved to win,” and the book rushes to a close with scenes of Owl being coached by the others in prep for next year’s competition. It’s a work that emphasizes themes of community support, hard work, and earning one’s place. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/18/2025 | Details & Permalink

In the middle of a blizzard blackout, in a home deep in the northern woods of Wisconsin, a doctor delivers a baby by matchlight—one of many storied incidents in the life of Kate Pelham Newcomb (1885–1956). Dubbed the “Angel on Snowshoes” (one spread shows her literally flying over a snowy landscape), “Dr. Kate” would overcome nearly any obstacle to reach patients. This same determination helped her to defy societal expectations and weather personal setbacks. But Dr. Kate knew that the remote community needed more than what one determined doctor could provide, and her work inspires local schoolchildren to gather a million pennies for a hospital’s construction—a campaign that captures the hearts and the pocket change of the entire nation. Preus and Zollars excel at anchoring both human and numerical stories, conveying via first-person prose and crisp, digitally colored graphite images the expansive impact of both one doctor and all those pennies. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Creators’ notes conclude. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/18/2025 | Details & Permalink

Sharff’s second-person rhymes give voice to a lonesome robot who escapes the factory floor for an afternoon of seasonal fun and friendship in this snow-day outing. With human workers nowhere in sight, Robot’s curiosity about the falling fluffy stuff leads first to tentative exploration (“You step into a bank of white./ UNKNOWN SURFACE!/ WARNING LIGHT!”) and then to snowy construction of a “whole big/ snowbot town.” The protagonist’s loneliness is palpable amid pale scenes of solitary play until the bot spies “humans pushing big snowball.” The spotting of people in need rallies fellow bots, and the eventual group meet-up yields the protagonist’s longed-for experience of warm camaraderie. Occasionally foregoing articles, text apes computer-ese for a suitably robotic effect (“Robot, Robot, help them build/ big snow-human on the hill”). Partnering with clean lines and industrial hues, Abbo’s digital renderings have a crisp mechanical precision. Human characters are shown with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/18/2025 | Details & Permalink

Purdie Salas’s incantatory rhyming verse conveys meteorological basics in a science-led account of a snowstorm’s emergence. After a “polar freeze” from the north mingles with a “humid breeze” from the south, couplets marvel at the consequences: “Cold and damp/ work/ hand in hand/ to grow a/ speck/ to something/ GRAND!” Ensuing lines draw on the titular refrain to articulate the wondrous qualities of overnight flurries that develop when “stars and columns fill the sky/ with dreams to/ flurry, float, and fly.” Employing watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and digital techniques, Fedele washes soothing landscapes in luminous layers of blue as humans, portrayed with various skin tones, and critters anticipate and then rejoice in the weather via “snowballs, snow forts, sledding hills.” The creators successfully balance art, information, and poetry for a result that captures the fleeting magic of snowflake-filled skies as well as their power to generate community activity. Back matter discusses a snowfall’s ingredients and more. Ages 4–7. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 07/18/2025 | Details & Permalink

Kindness and communal collaboration are on full display in Kerbel and Modeweg-Hansen’s ebullient picture book, which wordlessly unfolds through loosely inked sketches and comics-style panels. Gleeful scenes open as a brown-skinned child awakens to a window view of a snow-covered city. Having donned warm layers, the youth and a pink-skinned caregiver rush outside to frolic. Attempting to build a snowperson, the child gets swift support from an increasing number of passersby, who readily assist in rolling and lifting the components as well as comedically ornamenting the figure with a dill pickle nose, bagel ears, and a flower arrangement coif. After the crowd, depicted with varying skin tones, cheerfully congratulate one another on successful teamwork, the story shifts focus as the main characters dismantle parts of the snow sculpture for the benefit of a pale-skinned figure who appears underdressed for cold weather, making for an idyllic vision of community care. Ages 3–7. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/18/2025 | Details & Permalink

Snowfall presents human child Mei and enormous feline pal Tiger with an ideal opportunity for exploration in Ma’s frolicsome picture book. Dialogue-driven text shared from Mei’s first-person perspective toggles between descriptions of Tiger’s eagerness to experience snow (“Tiger catches a snowflake. ‘Mmmmm.’ Tiger grins. ‘Snow tastes cold, like ice cream’ ”) and Mei’s increasing discomfort (“Brrrrr! It’s very cold. ‘Let’s stay inside and keep warm,’ I say”). Employing bold shapes, spongy naif-style artwork captures the high-spirited energy of the pair’s wintry exploits as they make foot- and paw-prints, then marvel at the beauty of their frost-covered village, cast in pale blues and teals. In this companionable read, the duo, nearly always side by side, roll down a hill, have the “snowiest snowball fight,” and make snow angels until Mei’s wild shivering finally captures the attention of Tiger, who at last carries the child, depicted with brown skin and hair, home for a comfortable wind-down routine. Ages 3–5. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/18/2025 | Details & Permalink