The Hanukkah Mice

Have 8 very young grandchildren and they love this book. They already know the story and they love to to imagine this cute little family sharing the holiday. Personally, I hope this little family is not in our home, but the pictures are sweet and the story short enough to keep the attention of all but the youngest. I also gave it to a friend (who also loves it) to share with her grandchildren.

In the walls of a house there is a family of mice. The three little mice have heard the story of Chanukkah and about the shining lights. They decide to search the house for the lights.As they set out each night they find many of the things associated with the holiday (i.e. menorah, dreidel, latkes, donuts, chocolate coins, presents, etc.). But they do not find the lights until the eighth night when their mother shows them where it is.The story is told in a rhyming sing-song much like many Dr. Seuss books. There are also flap that reveal what the mice discover each night. My daughter started out by reading this to her dolls and then had me read it to her several times in a row.While this book does not delve into the history of the holiday, it does a very nice job of dealing with many of the holiday symbols that children will run into.

I am not to sure as to why this book has such a low star rating. I bought it for my nephew and before giving it to him I had the chance to read it. It made me smile, I wish I had had a book like this when I was little. To many times we see Hanukkah storey's get to involved. This book is light hearted and fun to read, the illistrations and the little glitter highlights are wonderful.

This is a precious new Hanukkah book for young children by an author and illustrator based in Britain. As the story progresses about young Marty, Molly, and Milly Mouse, the number of candles on the menorahs grow in relation to the eight nights of the holiday. They are dressed as British country mice: Molly in pearls, Milly in a pleated dress, and Marty in a snappy vest and tri-coloured striped, knitted cap. As the cold Winter night descends, they explore the home in which they live. Each evenly numbered page has a flip out with a cutout. Each flip page as a menorah with the proper number of candles for each night, and the cutouts are of a Star of David; dreidel, moon, and other shapes. On Night 1, they find a menorah under the flipout. One Night 2, Marty finds glimmering gelt. On Night 3, their mouse noses lead them to a plate of latkes, hidden under the flipout. On Night 4, Milly finds a dreidel with shimmering Hebrew letters. Tiptoeing out on Night 5, Molly finds Hanukkah donuts, surrounded by used wrapping paper and Hanukkah colouring books left over from an earlier party. On Night 6, you flip up the page and they found some pretty, wrapped presents. On Night 7, they scurry about in search of the menorah, but find only the Hanukkah cards on the family's mantle. The final page has a four page fold out of their illuminating, shimmering discovery on the last night of Hanukkah.

We have bought 5 Hanukkah books for our 1-year old daughter this year, and this one is the best. The pages each have flaps to lift, with sparkley inlays to catch her attention. The rhymes are nice, and it touches on many of the facets of Hanukkah observance(dreydels, latkes, donuts). It doesn't cover the religeous or historical significance, but I doubt any board or pop-up book could do so in a meaningful way.