What Tricia’s family does to ensure that their friends are able to celebrate their Christmas holiday and what Tricia’s best friend’s family does in return, when they are well, makes this story so special and memorable. Several of their Christian neighbors are stricken with scarlet fever, and their Christmas celebrations are threatened.
Tricia (the author Patricia!) and her family are preparing for Hanukkah. I’m tempted to put it on my non-fiction shelf. I put this on my fiction shelf, but as with (almost) all of Polacco’s books, this one is based on personal memories of her childhood. The title didn’t appeal to me but once I read the story I loved the title too. This is a superb story about inter-faith friendship and being a good neighbor. Her books are special gifts to readers of all ages. Her picture books touch my heart in a way that no other children’s picture books have ever done. It's a miracleĪfter recently reading quite a few books by her, Patricia Polacco is now one of my favorite authors. It is as though the old candles haven't burned down at all. When they light candles in the new menorah and place it next to the old one that has been burning for hours, they notice that all of the candles are the same size. A week later, as Trisha's family is sitting down to dinner on the last night of Hanukkah, their closest neighbors arrive at the door, bearing a homemade menorah. Then she and Grampa deliver them in secret. As she surveys the forest in their living room, Babushka dubs them "the trees of the dancing goats". To ensure that their neighbors don't miss out on Christmas, Trisha's family cuts down several evergreen trees and decorates them with the carved animals that Grampa always makes for Hanukkah gifts. The story is of young Trisha and her family making preparations for Hanukkah when they learn that many of their friends on neighboring farms have come down with scarlet fever and are quarantined.
The recording was produced by Rabbit Ears for their program on National Public Radio in December of 1995, and includes a musical background that adds an extra element to the story.
This special edition of Patricia Polacco's picture book that was published on our Fall 1996 list will include a compact disk recording of Patricia's reading of the story.
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