The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes

October 1, 1997
K-Gr 3-Rachel and her mother are busy preparing for their Hanukkah celebration. When eight more people are suddenly added to the guest list and there are no more potatoes in the cellar, Rachel goes next door to borrow some from Mrs. Greenberg. Every year the elderly woman is invited to join the girl's family, but she always refuses. This year, she is delighted to lend the potatoes, and then some eggs, and finally chairs-until Rachel has an idea. If Mrs. Greenberg won't come to them for Hanukkah, they'll just have to borrow her house and take the celebration to her. The lively watercolor illustrations add to the joy as smiling family members, with slightly elongated, constantly waving arms and long legs, fill the pages with motion and energy. Rachel's wide-eyed, pig-tailed innocence belies her understanding that Mrs. Greenberg is a lonely neighbor who still needs someone with whom to share the holiday. A lovely message, wrapped in a lighthearted story.

September 1, 1997
Ages 5^-8. Every year Rachel's mother invites their neighbor Mrs. Greenberg for dinner on Hanukkah, and every year she refuses, not wanting to be a bother. As Mama says, "She's got a heart of gold, but she's as stubborn as an ox." When Mama agrees at the last minute to invite eight more people to their Hanukkah dinner, she sends Rachel to borrow one ingredient after another from Mrs. Greenberg as she makes more and more potato latkes. Little by little, Rachel (showing her own good heart and streak of stubbornness) works away at Mrs. Greenberg, inviting her, urging her, and finally maneuvering her into joining their family for the feast. The bright, jovial illustrations move to a rhythm of their own, delighting with repeated lines and patterns. Even the "solid" tones are made of overlaid strokes of color that seem to lift the pictures a little off the pages. The well-told, well-illustrated, and entertaining holiday story has its own heart of gold. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)