Ellie Gellman

Jeremy signs up for a special "Different Dreidels" workshop at the Jewish Center in this Hanukkah story for younger children, intent on making a braille dreidel for his blind father. Although some of his fellow participants have interesting ideas of their own - Abby wants to make an environmentally friendly dreidel out of recycled material, David decides to make a dreidel that changes color as it spins, while Orit is determined to make an Israeli sevivon, which reads "A Great Miracle show more Happened Here" (rather than the more traditional "A Great Miracle Happened There") - it is Jeremey's project that grabs the workshop's attention, raising awareness of people with visual impairments, and their needs during the holidays. When the braille dreidel is chosen for a special display at the center, Jeremy's friends assume he'll be thrilled, until he points out that a braille dreidel is of no use to anyone, if placed inside a glass case. Is there a way to highlight all the great dreidels created, without putting them on display...?

Of course there is, and Jeremy and his fellow workshop participants find it in this engaging tale of a young boy and his efforts to create a special gift for his dad at the holiday. Just reprinted this fall, with new artwork by Maria Mola, Jeremy's Dreidel was originally published in 1992 with illustrations by Judith Friedman. It is this earlier edition that I read, after finding it on the Hanukkah display at my local library this past weekend. It is an appealing tale, one which incorporates issues of disability naturally into a narrative - a child making a gift for a parent, to mark a special event - that manages to be both culturally specific and widely identifiable. The artwork is appealing, with full-page color illustrations facing each page of text, save for a few two-page spreads where the artwork stretches across both pages, with the text beneath. A different dreidel is depicted in miniature above each full-page text-block, while instructions for making some of the "different dreidels" in the story can be found in the afterword. All in all, an engaging holiday story, one I would recommend to young readers who are looking for Hanukkah tales that address issues of special needs, and inclusion. show less

I liked learning about Sukkah through this book. It is a Jewish holiday that I’ve never learned about. The story starts with a little girl in her sukkah, but she feels that there are pieces missing. Throughout the story, she finds different friends to help her complete her sukkah and find all the decorations and food needed to celebrate the holiday. The illustrations helped me understand the story, because I wouldn’t have otherwise known what a sukkah looks like. It also gives some show more cultural insight into Judaism. “He wanted to put a blessing on his poster, the one to say when you sit in the sukkah, but he couldn’t remember what came after the “Baruch” part.” There are multiple ways to relate to this book: the Jewish holiday, having a different culture, learning more about others, or finding friends and family for help. In the end, nothing is missing from the sukkah. The big idea of the story is that celebrating Sukkah requires help from friends and family, but sharing the festival with others is the most important part! show less

The strength in this book is with the content. Not only does it mention the tradition of Hanukkah and the dreidel game, but it also teaches about what blind people have to go through to navigate the world. The illustrations enhance the learning by using cool tones that do not distract from the words.

Jeremy's dreidel has an important message for kids in 3rd-6th grade, but could easily have been shortened. Jeremy makes a dreidel at his local jewish community center. This dreidel, however, is special and had brail instead of letters. Jeremy explains to the other kids about brail and his father's blindness. This story teaches kids about blind people and acceptance of them.