Eight Winter Nights {Review and Giveaway}

I received Eight Winter Nights by Laura Krauss Melmed as a review copy, it arrived in yesterday's mail. My kids were very excited to get a new Chanukah book, and I was too! This book is lovely for many reasons.

The illustrations are sweet and beautiful. When I read it to Sam, he was able to count the candles on each page and there were lots of little things to look for in each page's illustration.

Each page had a number of whimsical poems and rhymes that were fun to read and elicited giggles not only from my 5-year-old but also from the 9-year-old who was studiously NOT paying attention to the reading that was going on. Our favorite was this one (pictured above, and you can see the sweet illustrations by Elizabeth Schlossberg):

Dreidel Chase

I had a little dreidel

I made it out of clay,

But Baby grabbed my dreidel,

And now I cannot play.

Let's catch that naughty baby -

OOPS! Baby got away!

For some reason, this tickled their fancy, and I thought it was adorable as well.

The book follows each night of the holiday, and what I liked the very best about it was that there was not a single mention of the "g" word (gifts) until the 7th night. Yes, on the 5th night, there is mention of chocolate coins, but no presents. And, to make it even better, the 7th night has a poem about "Opening Presents" accompanied by a poem entitled "Tzedakah" - how awesome is that?

The last night also explains how all the candles that we light add up to 36 (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36) and while this didn't quite click with the 5-year-old, it did click with the not-listening 9-year-old who thought it was "cool." And I'd imagine it will click with parents who don't know this "cool" fact about the Chanukah candles!

So...if you're looking for a book to add to your family's Chanukah reading collection (we keep all the Chanukah books in our Chanukah box and pull them out each year to read during candle-lighting), may I recommend Eight Winter Nights.

We are going to keep this delightful review copy, since the publisher has been gracious enough to offer one for giveaway as well! (shipping only in the US or Canada, please)


How to win this book:
1. Leave a comment here with your favorite Chanukah story or book. (one entry)
2. Tweet this giveaway (one entry)
3. Facebook this giveaway (one entry, please tag me in the post)

Leave a separate comment for each way you enter.
*Make sure I have a way to contact you - do not post anonymously if you hope to win!*
Giveaway will close on Wednesday, December 1st sometime before first candle lighting!

And don't forget that I'm giving away $25 to Oh Nuts over here. Also ends Wednesday.