Eight Nights, Eight Lights

By Author / Illustrator

Natalie Barnes, illus Andrea Stegmaier

Genre

Picture Books

Age range(s)

Publisher

Little Tiger Press Group

ISBN

9781801042918

Format

Hardback

Published

13-10-2022

Synopsis

A story celebrating Chanukah (Hanukkah), told across eight nights . . .

Chanukah, The Festival of Lights, is drawing near. It's a time for songs and prayer . . . delicious food and friendship . . . fun and family. It's a time to be together and bring light to the darkness. Celebrate each night of Chanukah with eight different families and learn about the rituals and traditions which make up this wonderful holiday.

With beautiful, rich illustrations by Andrea Stegmaier and a lyrical, rhythmic text by Natalie Barnes, Eight Nights, Eight Lights is the ideal gift to share with children at Chanukah. This comforting and cosy book is also perfect for any child who wants to learn more about The Festival of Lights. Fans of David A. Adler and Jill Weber's The Story of Hanukkah, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 8 Nights of Chanukah and Eric Kimmel's Hanukkah Bear, will love celebrating the holiday with Eight Nights, Eight Lights.

Author Natalie Barnes reads from Eight Nights, Eight Lights

Download Extract

Reviews

What an absolute delight of a book! Eight Nights, Eight Lights tells the story of a community celebrating Chanukah (Hanukkah), the Jewish Festival of Lights, and beautifully builds up the excitement of the children lighting a candle each day amongst all the other traditional observances such as sharing food, making donations to charity, welcoming family and friends, traditional games and a visit to the temple. The temple visit section shares the story of the first Chanukah and explains very simply why this beloved festival is so important to Jews.

The language is simple and readers are helped to make sense of what they are reading through the detailed illustrations. The pictures are warm and cosy and celebrate living in a diverse community - nods are made to other festivals being celebrated at the same time such as a Christmas 'Santas' garland in a shop window.

This book is obviously the perfect gift for Chanukah but would be a welcome addition to any child's bookcase. As a school resource, it will have even more of an audience as it is perfect for multi-festival displays, RE teaching and stories set in winter. I'm delighted that this is now part of our school library and can see it being a very popular book with both children and staff.

Picture book / Reviewed by Wendy Kelly, teacher