Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah (Sammy Spider's First Books) [Paperback]

Sylvia A. Rouss (Author), Katherine Janus Kahn (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Series: Sammy Spider's First Books

Sammy watches longingly as Josh Shapiro lights another candle and receives a brightly-colored dreidel each night of Hanukkah. "Spiders don't spin dreidels, spiders spin webs!" Sammy's mother reminds him. Then on the last night, Sammy gets his own spinning surprise. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Preschoolers love Sammy." -- Gila Wertheimer, Chicago Jewish Star

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Kar-Ben Pub (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929371461
• ISBN-13: 978-0929371467
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #530,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Celebrations > Jewish

More About the Author

Sylvia Rouss is the award-winning author and early childhood educator who created the popular Sammy Spider and The Littlest books.


Even with her success as an author, Sylvia has not given up what she loves most, teaching. She is currently a preschool teacher in Los Angeles, and says that she "is inspired by the children in my classroom".


Sylvia also received awards as an educator and she conducts seminars for parents and teachers.


Sylvia is a featured author and lecturer at book fairs throughout the United States and Israel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful introduction to Hanukkah for preschoolers, December 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah (Sammy Spider's First Books) (Paperback)

Sammy's First Hanukkah not only introduces preschoolers to Hanukkah in a way that is right on their level, it also reviews numbers and colors as well. A perfect book for the holidays.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful first book about Hanukkah, December 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah (Sammy Spider's First Books) (Paperback)

This book is an ideal choice for very young children, as it portrays a fun and interesting view of Hanukkah that is very much in keeping with a small child's own perceptions of the holiday, namely, candle lighting, dreidel playing and latke eating. The story is simply told and the illustrations are colorful and reminiscent of Eric Carle's work. It is a quick reading book that my two and half year old enjoyed a great deal.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a good source, November 14, 2007

By 

Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah (Sammy Spider's First Books) (Paperback)

Reviewed by Leslie Granier and Nicholas Lopez (age 5) for Reader Views (10/07)


Sammy Spider and his mother live on the ceiling of the Shapiro family's house. On the first night of Hanukkah, the Shapiros light one candle in the menorah and their son Josh is given a dreidel to spin. Sammy likes to warm his cold feet by the candles. He also enjoys watching the dreidel spin and asks his mother for one of his own. His mother tells him that spiders spin webs, not dreidels. Each consecutive night an additional candle is lit and Josh is given a different colored dreidel. Sammy keeps asking his mother for a dreidel but gets the same response. At the end of Hanukkah, Sammy is sad because he still has no dreidel of his own. His mother presents him with a clever gift - eight different colored socks (the same colors as the dreidels Josh received) each with a little dreidel spun on the end.

Nicholas had no trouble recognizing the colors (except rose because it appeared to be the same color as brown) and liked seeing the names of the colors so he could learn how to spell them. He thought it was funny that Sammy could wear eight socks that were all different colors and was happy his feet would not be cold anymore. He was also happy that Sammy finally got the dreidel that he wanted. He was not thrilled with the illustrations of the Shapiro family's faces. (They were a little abstract).

"Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah" is a good source for teaching young children about colors and numbers and at the same time explaining certain Jewish traditions.

Book received free of charge