Chil­dren’s

Fes­ti­val of Lights — A Delight­ful Col­lec­tion of Hand­made Chanukiot

Pen­ny Harow
  • Review
By – January 16, 2012
This enter­tain­ing book is appro­pri­ate­ly titled, for it is filled with a delight­ful col­lec­tion of hand­made chanukiot. Author Pen­ny Harow is the cre­ative spir­it behind every orig­i­nal design pre­sent­ed in her book. The dec­o­ra­tions she uses often dou­ble as the can­dle­hold­ers them­selves, and range from minia­ture cow­bells and baby bot­tles to birth­day cake can­dle hold­ers and tiny fire­man hel­mets. Many use an assort­ment of hold­ers that have been glued either in front of or actu­al­ly on top of a vari­ety of minia­ture objects: bas­ket­balls, skate­boards, clowns, and toys, to name a few. Harow has heli­copters on chanukiot as well as pup­py dogs, Spi­der­man, lip­stick and lit­tle ponies. There is even one made of boun­cy balls, con­nect­ed to the base by mag­nets so they can be rearranged each night. She shows us cus­tomized chanukiot with teeth and tooth­brush­es for her den­tist, and sewing tools for her seam­stress. Each chanuki­ah has an accom­pa­ny­ing pho­to and a brief descrip­tion. These whim­si­cal expla­na­tions are fun to read, mak­ing the entire expe­ri­ence even more enjoy­able. Her pup­py chanuki­ah, for exam­ple, is illus­trat­ed with an adorable girl hold­ing a pooch on a leash and includes the fol­low­ing words: PAWS for a moment and check out this chanuki­ah. Dog lovers from all WALKS of life won’t be able to LEASH their excite­ment over this menagerie of canines.” This is a fun book for a par­ent or grand­par­ent to share with a young child. Rec­om­mend­ed for adults to share with chil­dren ages 4 – 8, read­ing lev­el ages 9 – 12.
Miri­am Bauer is an attor­ney and for­mer legal writ­ing direc­tor at DePaul Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege of Law. She lives in Chicago.

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