Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/912649
46 December 7 • 2017 jn e Missing Letters: A Dreidel Story RENEE LONDNER ILLUSTRATED BY IRYNA BODNARUK (KAR-BEN PUBLISHING; 2017) The dreidel letters Nun, Hey and Shin come alive in this fanciful picture book. Jealous of the Gimels, which always win, the others propose to get rid of the Gimels in the dreidel maker's shop. The dreidel maker is overheard saying that all the dreidel letters are important and special, explaining the importance of the dreidel during the time of the Maccabees when Jews were not allowed to study Torah and the game of dreidel was their cover. The dreidel letters realize just in time that they need to return the Gimels so the dreidel maker can complete the dreidels. The dreidel game is explained on the back page. Ages: 4-9. » g i f t g u i d e 2 0 1 7 Delicious Knishes A new children's book tells of the historic knish. ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS O nce upon a time in New York City's Lower East Side, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe sold knishes from push- carts and little knisheries. That was more than 100 years ago, but still today, those round dumplings filled with cheese, kasha or potatoes are a staple in deli- catessens. Author Joanne Oppenheim was fascinated with the pop- ularity of those delicious noshes from way back then and wanted kids today to know about them. So she wrote The Knish War on Rivington Street (Albert Whitman), which was just published in August. The story, which is based on true events that happened in 1916, tells about Benny and his family, who have a successful baked knish business on Rivington Street. People waited in line to buy Benny's family knishes — and at 5 cents a knish, it was a real bargain. Then, the Tisch family opens a store across the street and start selling square, fried knishes. A knish war ensues and prices drop, signs are made, raffles are created, street music is played — anything to sway customers to buy from them. The mayor comes for a visit, and he couldn't decide which kind he liked better — round or square? Baked or fried? Eventually the rivals had a truce and Rivington Street was called the Knish Capital of the World. Oppenheim, who was born and raised in New York's Catskill Mountains in the Borsch Belt, lives in New York City — she got the idea to write the book after she heard a lecture about the history of knishes. "I was at an event at the Brooklyn Historical Society and a woman called 'The Knish Lady' was talking about the knish war on Rivington Street," she says. "I went to the archives and read about it in a New York Times article written in January 1916." Although her book is very enter- taining, her hope is to convey the mes- sage that competition is OK, and you don't have to be the best as there is always more than one way of doing something. She also wanted to capture pictures of what life was like at another time — which Jon Davis' illustrations charmingly achieve. At the end of her book, Oppenheim added a recipe for knishes. "I mentioned to the editor it would be great to include a recipe — so I had to learn how to make them at home," she says. "I had to look up recipes and adapt them and make them my own. With begin- ner's luck, I think they turned out to be delicious." Oppenheim has written more than 50 books for and about kids, including The Prince's Bedtime and The Prince's Breakfast. She co- founded, along with her daughter, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio (toyportfolio.com), where they review children's products and became contributors on NBC's Today Show. According to Oppenheim, when she began writing the book she knew that kids are more familiar with bagels, but she wanted her book to be about a Jewish food perhaps not so widely known. "I wanted kids to understand what a knish was," she says. "And who knows — maybe knishes will have a rebirth." • fried? E and Ri Capita Opp in Ne Bors got t hea kni " Hi 'T kn s a w tain sage that competition Chanukah Eight Books A librarian in the know shares her favorite kids' books for Chanukah — both new and classic. FRANCINE MENKEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas PAMELA EHRENBERG ILLUSTRATED BY ANJAN SARKAR (FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX; 2017) Children will learn what a fried dosa is by reading this delightful Chanukah story about a family who blends their Indian culture with the holiday traditions (Mom's Indian; Dad's Jewish). Sadie's older brother — who thinks she climbs too much — attends Hebrew school and learns the dreidel song, changing the words to lure Sadie from climbing everywhere. When the family is invited to a Chanukah celebration, everyone gets locked out — but Sadie saves the day using her climbing skills. Bright end papers show unique Indian ingredients used to make the food. Ages: 4-7. continued on page 48