Beni's First Chanukah (by Jane Breskin Zalben)

As it starts to snow, the children go out to play and to visit their squirrel friends, Sasha and Christopher. They invite the squirrels home with them for the evening's festivities.

Back home they light the candles, play with a dreidel, and open presents. At bedtime they agree it was the best Hanukkah ever. A recipe for latkes is given at the end.

There is certainly a need for more good picture books for young children about Hanukkah, but this isn't one of them. Both pictures and text are insipid. The author offers nothing new, either in story or language -- this is a connect-the-dots celebration of the holiday. The pictures, full of smiling, cuddly bears, are reminiscent of Beatrix Potter, but without the charm.

Oddly, the author passes up chances to add any real content: Beni and Papa recite a prayer, but the prayer isn't given. Grandpa tells the story of Hanukkah, but it's assumed that readers already know it. There are other problems as well. For example, the ornate wallpaper patterns distract from the characters, and the author says "light flakes of snow began to dust the trees," but the picture shows the world covered in deep snow.