D Is for Dreidel [Paperback]

Tanya Lee Stone (Author), Dawn Apperley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2002 | Age Level: 2 and up

D is for Dreidel
Just twist it and spin
If it stops on gimel
Shout "hooray," you win!

Children will love learning about Hanukkah in this dreidel-shaped alphabet book! Every page contains a letter of the alphabet along with sweet, rhyming text and words that correspond with that letter. And as an added bonus, at the end of the book is the complete story of Hanukkah! This is a fantastic introduction to the holiday!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-"A is for afternoon/Sundown is near/Hanukkah's starting/The family's all here!/B is for bracha/The blessing we sing-." A different aspect of the holiday is celebrated in brief rhymes for each letter. Some are obviously a stretch (Q is for quilt and X is for xylophone, two of the gifts received by children in the book), and prior knowledge of the holiday and the culture is assumed ("G is for gelt/The chocolatey kind./Peel back gold foil/A treasure to find"). At one point, the author suggests that readers sing "the great dreidel song" but doesn't give the words or music. A one-page retelling of the Hanukkah story is appended. There is no guide to pronunciation and most of the Hebrew words are not fully defined. The simple format and appealing art may appeal to young children, but this book is not the best choice to hand to youngsters who know nothing about the holiday.-M. A.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Price Stern Sloan (August 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843145765
• ISBN-13: 978-0843145762
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,237,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tanya Lee Stone is an award-winning author of books for kids and teens. Stone went to performing arts high school in New Haven, CT and went on to major in English at Oberlin College (and study Voice at Oberlin Conservatory). After graduation she moved to New York and became an editor. Stone was an editor for more than a dozen years and has a Masters Degree in Science Education. She teaches Writing for Children at Champlain College.

After moving to Vermont, Stone became a full-time writer and has published more than 90 books for young readers. She writes picture books, nonfiction, and Young Adult fiction. Her newest nonfiction books have garnered some major awards. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream (Candlewick 09), received a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, Jane Addams Honor, YALSA Nonfiction Finalist, Orbis Pictus Honor, and was awarded ALA's Sibert Medal for the best nonfiction book for young readers of 2010. The Good the Bad, and the Barbie won SCBWI's Golden Kite Award for the best nonfiction book of the year for 2011.

Her Young Adult novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (Wendy Lamb/Random House) was an IRA Young Adult Choice, an ALA Quick Picks, an NYPL Book for the Teen Age, and SLJ Book of the Month. Her newest nonfiction picture books, Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote and Sandy's Circus: A Story About Alexander Calder received starred reviews and were put on several state award lists. Elizabeth Leads the Way is also an ALA Notable, an Amelia Bloomer Award title, and a CBC Notable Social Studies Book.

Forthcoming titles include picture books about Elizabeth Blackwell and Jane Addams, as well as a YA nonfiction book about the first black paratroopers in WWII called Courage Has No Color.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All kinds of families will love this!, October 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: D Is for Dreidel (Paperback)

This is a wonderful introduction to the holiday for all kinds of families that celebrate Hanukkah. Our family includes non-Jewish members and they really got the spirit of the holiday from this little gem. Sweet, cozy, and funny, the littlest of kids will love it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and appealing!, December 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: D Is for Dreidel (Paperback)

This is a delightful book! A must-buy for the Hanukkah season. The rhyme is clever and the vocabulary simple enough for small children. The book introduces kids to this special holiday and to the alphabet at the same time. There is a real need for a book like this that conveys the warmth of Hanukkah to pre-school children.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gender Neutral Pictures, HOORAY!, November 21, 2005

By 

R is for reader (Lincoln, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: D Is for Dreidel (Paperback)

What I love about this book is that it's not girls in the kitchen cooking and Daddy praying. Both men and women in the book (sometimes) wear kippot. Oddly the rabbi seems to be wearing his tallis to dinner, but I'll trade that for the usual gender-biased books.