The Magic Dreidels: A Hanukkah Story [Paperback]

Eric A. Kimmel (Author), Katya Krenina (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997 | Age Level: 4 and up

When an old lady swindles him out of his magic dreidels, Jacob tries to get them back in time for the family's Hanukkah celebration.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

While everyone else in the house prepares for Hanukkah, Jacob wants nothing but to play with his new brass dreidel. When he is sent to fetch water, he accidentally sends his dreidel into the well. Little does Jacob know that a good-willed, if mischievous, goblin lives at the bottom of the well, and that he will then receive a few special gifts. This re-telling of the old tale "The Tablecloth, the Donkey, and the Stick" in a Hanukkah setting shows that sometimes honest boys don't need magic dreidels to spin some magic of their own!

Katya Krenina's illustrations evoke the liveliness of the holiday as well as the rustic settings of Jacob and his family. She brings subtle warmth into the winter season, even stripping a fantastical goblin of any eeriness that might be associated with it. Eric Kimmel's clean, clear writing makes The Magic Dreidels a wonderful selection for bedtime stories as the days get shorter.

From Publishers Weekly

Kimmel transplants the folktale "The Tablecloth, the Donkey and the Stick" to an old-world shtetl, depicted by first-time illustrator Krenina in skewed planes of indigos and violets with a few nods to Chagall. The story involves a boy, a brass dreidel dropped down a well, a goblin who procures magic dreidels that spin out latkes and gelt, and a thieving neighbor. The internal logic, unfortunately, goes haywire?this is more like a sketch for a story than a fully evoked tale. Kimmel fans should stick with his Hanukkah title Asher and the Capmakers (1993). Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 30 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823412741
• ISBN-13: 978-0823412747
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,431,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hanukkah magic, April 27, 2002

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Magic Dreidels: A Hanukkah Story (Paperback)

Jacob refused to help prepare for Hanukkah, preferring instead to play with his new brass dreidel. He was sent for water and by accident, droped his dreidel into the well. Like the boy in Freya Littledale's Peter and the North Wind, another rendition of "The Tablecloth, the Donkey, and the Stick," Jacob met a magician, in this case a mischievous goblin who lived in the well and gave him a magic dreidel that spun out potato latkes.

Like Peter, Jacob also met a jealous old thief--here, the archetypal Fruma Sarah--who tricked him into giving her the dreidel. When he got home and told his mother the wonderful tale, his dreidel naturally no longer spun magic. Jacob returned to the well three times, each time receiving magic gifts from the friendly goblin. How he finally dealt with Fruma Sarah I cannot tell. But readers large and small will finish this book as joyfully as all the characters in it, including Fruma Sarah.

The illustrations, including a goat and various other floating creatures and objects, spin magic evocative of Chagall's eastern European blue.

--- Alyssa A. Lappen

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Hanukkah story, January 11, 2012

By 

Nana - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Magic Dreidels: A Hanukkah Story (Hardcover)

Read this book to my grand kids this year at our family Hanukkah party. They loved it. I loved it too. It was a nice precurser to playing the dreidle game.

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, September 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Magic Dreidels: A Hanukkah Story (Hardcover)

Eric Kimmel has done it again! The author of the now-classic "Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins" adds another feather to his multi-plumed hat with this delightful adaptation of the old folktale "The Table, the Donkey, and the Stick." Marvelous for storytelling--the jewel-like illustrations are worth the price of admission--, this lovely tale is pure delight for children of all backgrounds and traditions