A Dragon for Hanukkah by Sarah Mlynowski with illustrations by Ariel Landry; New York: Orchard Books of Scholastic, Inc.; © 2024; ISBN 9781338-897524; 32 pages; $18.99.
SAN DIEGO – This book is an ode to a child’s imagination. On each of the first seven nights of Hanukkah, a young girl gets a present from her parents. She imagines them to be a dragon that she names Nerry; a rainbow; a treasure chest filled with gold coins and rubies; a merry-go-round, a time-travel machine; rocket boots, and three unicorns. Then on the eighth night, it is her turn to give a present to her family. She makes latkes.
But first, she has to clean up her room. She puts away the dragon (a stuffed toy); the rainbow (crayons); the merry-go-round (dreidel); the treasure chest (a bag of chocolate gelt); the time machine (a history book about the Maccabees); the rocket boots (brightly designed socks), and the unicorns (drawings of the fictional beast). She places some of the treasures in a tzedakah box so other children can enjoy them.
Later, on the eighth night, she dreams of having a conversation with Nerry, the dragon. She tells him his name is derived from Ner, Hebrew for light. He asks her about Hanukkah, and she tells him about the oil that burned for eight days. She teaches him to play dreidel. And she indulges his appetite for latkes.
The imaginative story by Mlynowski is enhanced by Landry’s illustrations. I particularly enjoyed the image of the extended family and friends gathered around the table on the last night of Chanukah. There is a hanukkiah in the window; plates of latkes and sufganiyot (fried donuts); two children playing dreidel; a boy putting a teddy bear into the tzedakah box, and another child surreptitiously feeding a latke to the family’s dog.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.