Hanukkah Moon (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Hanukkah Moon Elizabeth Bush da Costa, Deborah Hanukkah Moon; illus. by Gosia Mosz. Kar-Ben, 2007 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-58013-244-2$17.95 Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-58013-245-9$7.95 Reviewed from galleys R 5-8 yrs Little Isobel is to spend the first nights of Hanukkah with Aunt Louisa, whom she scarcely knows, and she's especially unsure if Louisa, newly arrived from Mexico, will even know how to celebrate the holiday properly. The familiar hanukkiah, or menorah (here decorated with myriad birds), and a dreidel-shaped piñata are comforting sights, and Aunt Louisa seems to follow the familiar rites, but she graces them with a Latin twist. When Isobel sings the dreidel song, Aunt Louisa sings along in Spanish; there is a daily gift exchange and a special dinner and blessing shared with friends. The highlight for Isobel, though, is her introduction to Rosh Hadesh, the observance of the new moon that marks the beginning of a new lunar month and celebrates the ancient Israelite women's refusal to help cast a golden idol during their wanderings in the desert. The aunt/niece visit is pretty much a disposable plot; what's useful is the introduction of several rituals and terms from the Sephardic tradition. That's a valuable contribution to the canon of holiday literature, and the focus on the feminist aspect of the new moon celebration is a welcome one. Mosz's mixed-media pictures, in which Isobel's dream vision and Exodus imagery settle gracefully into scenes of contemporary observances, feature a cast of doe-eyed, stylized characters golden as Hanukkah lights against the deep purple of moonless night. A glossary of holiday terms and a pronunciation guide for Spanish words (alas, no pronunciations for the general glossary and no definitions for the Spanish terms) are appended. Copyright © 2007 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois