I haven’t done any book round-ups since I lost everything on the blog and had to start from scratch, but I want to start doing them again, and when I found these pictures and pulled out our Hanukkah box this year, this seemed like a good time to do my first one.


Hanukkah decor

We have a small box for each of the holidays we celebrate – the 7 Biblical feasts, Hanukkah, Purim, and American Thanksgiving. Each box contains a few decorations, tablecloths, items used specifically for that holiday, leftover scripts to be reused (unless I make changes), and children’s books related to that holiday. I keep our holidays simple now, so each box contains just enough to mark the time as special and to remember our previous celebrations because I think memories are important.

Books in our Hanukkah Box:

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1. Hanukkah is Coming! by Tracy Newman, illustrated by Viviana Garofoli

A simple board book to read with little ones in the days before Hanukkah starts to help them know what’s coming. We’re past this stage now, but my youngest will still pull it out for the nostalgic value.

2. A Chanukah Present for: Me! by Scholastic Inc.

Another simple board book that also has nostalgic value. We grabbed this one at a thrift store, and sadly, it’s not cheap on Amazon, but if you ever see a used copy somewhere, it’s worth picking up for the littlest ones.

3. Engineer Ari and the Hanukkah Mishap by Deborah Bodin Cohen, illustrated by Shahar Kober

The Engineer Ari books are so fun, and we love the whole series of them! My favorite part is how they show kindness and friendships between Jews, Arabs, and other groups in modern Israel and how we can share our traditions and honor one another. They do a good job of explaining the Jewish traditions behind each holiday. (We don’t personally do all the Jewish traditions, but we still enjoy learning about them!)

4. The Hanukkah Mice by Ronne Randall, illustrated by Maggie Kneen

This one is cute and fun for little ones who love opening flaps. There’s a different Hanukkah tradition behind each flap.

These last three are my favorites, as they go a little deeper and really dig into the meaning of Hanukkah.

5. The Ninth Night of Hanukkah by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Shahar Kober

I absolutely love this book, and I look forward to reading it every year! I love how it focuses on friendship across religious and ethnic boundaries, the importance of the heart rather than the rituals of Hanukkah, and love shown to neighbors.

6. Battle for Torah by Kay Kindall

This book does a brilliant job explaining the history of Hanukkah, how it points to Yeshua/Jesus, and how it is relevant to our lives today, all in simple rhyming verse! We return to this one year after year!

7. Alexandra’s Scroll: The Story of the First Hanukkah by Miriam Chaikin and Stephen Fieser

This is a nice Biblical fiction chapter book for kids about a young girl living during the time of the Maccabees. We’ve read it aloud together several years when we’ve spent Hanukkah with friends. It’s always fun for the children and teens to gather round each day of Hanukkah to hear the next chapter.

And since we don’t want to leave the adults out, here is a bonus recommendation for you:

Judah’s Wife by Angela Hunt

If you are looking for a “novel” way to learn about the history behind the celebration of Hanukkah, I enjoyed and learned much from this book. It inspired me to go and read the books of Maccabees for myself!