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Meet the Latkes
Imagine James Marshall's The Stupids celebrating Hanukkah, and you'd get the Latke family!
Lucy Latke's family is just like yours or mine. Except that they're potato pancakes. And also, they are completely clueless. After lighting the menorah and gobbling the gelt, Grandpa Latke tells everyone the Hanukkah story, complete with mighty Mega Bees who use a giant dreidel to fight against the evil alien potatoes from Planet Chhh. It's up to the Latke family dog to set the record straight. (To start with, they were Maccabees, not Mega Bees...) But he'll have to get the rest of the Latkes to listen to him first!
Lucy Latke's family is just like yours or mine. Except that they're potato pancakes. And also, they are completely clueless. After lighting the menorah and gobbling the gelt, Grandpa Latke tells everyone the Hanukkah story, complete with mighty Mega Bees who use a giant dreidel to fight against the evil alien potatoes from Planet Chhh. It's up to the Latke family dog to set the record straight. (To start with, they were Maccabees, not Mega Bees...) But he'll have to get the rest of the Latkes to listen to him first!
36 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 23, 2018
The working formula to get someone to open up and learn about something unfamiliar reads like this:
HA HA
AAHH
AH HA
In MEET THE LATKES, Alan Silberberg has the reading laughing before they have even had an opportunity to stop and think, "Wait, what's a latke?" The working magic of this new picture book seems to be in the ability to get the reader to look at another reader and say, "Wait, you don't know either?" Now, those who know will be on the reference, and this is where Alan Silberberg shows us what's up the other sleeve by making these Jewish potato-based delights into characters who a part of a family.
Genius. Absolute picture book genius.
Those who don't know are invited in and those who don't are invited to be the residential expert and in on the joke. Both have something to glean from this new book.
The end papers serve as the family portrait "wall" where the reader is first introduced to what (who) they will come to know as the Latke Family.
Readers join the story in media res. It is the first night of Hanukkah. Mama and Papa are in the kitchen making friend jelly donuts. I am working on the pronunciation of these. Despite the author/illustrator's help, I am hopelessly tongue-tied (the proper term is Sufganiyot as seen in Papa's speech bubble). Teenage brother, Lex, the ironically-detached teen in the family reads comic books while the cooking is happening.
When Lucy announces the first night of Hanukkah, it is Grandpa who corrects the punctuation as "Chanukah." And this where my confusion set in. And perhaps yours too if you are invited into this book. But, lucky for the us (and the reader), the family dog, Applesauce is here to clarify the terms for us.
As Grandpa begins his story of Hanukkah (Chanukah--which the computer wants to keep underlining in red), the reader can tell that Grandpa is not quite getting the whole story entirely correct. The running gag of the book is Applesauce's frustrations, interruptions, and clarifications.
And the reader should be thankful if there is a wanting to learn about Hanukkah from the book as Grandpa's story begins with "bees" and culimates in "alien potatoes from Planet Chhhhhhh." And one begins to sense right away that Alan Silberberg is having a lot of fun embodying the character of Grandpa Latke and his long-suffering dog, Applesauce.
Honey, oil, trojan dreidels carry the reader into a tongue-twisting moment involving tyrannical taters.
All is cleared up by the end of the book with Applesauce's explanation of the celebration of Hanukkah that brings together a new knowing in company with residential expertise. This is what a picture book can do by way of bringing in a subject for which we might be a little "closed off" for our own sense of mythology and expression to take in the story from another side. And find that the shared side is in the picture book and the text from which the picture book draws its characters, settings, and scenarios from.
As a side-by-side or "laddered" book with other titles that feature the origins and the celebrations of Hanukkah, Silberberg's MEET THE LATKES provides an example of using humor to share information and to instill new knowledge into the reader who finds the book (of with whom the book is shared now by an adult reader).
The back matter of the picture book includes a one paragraph retelling of the Hanukah story without illustration or interruption from the characters. In this light, the book becomes two texts in one. One sharing the original story and the other serving as a means of how we share our stories with others through familiar characters and humor. A glossary of terms accompanies the story and provides information about the principle figures in the Hanukkah story.
HA HA
AAHH
AH HA
In MEET THE LATKES, Alan Silberberg has the reading laughing before they have even had an opportunity to stop and think, "Wait, what's a latke?" The working magic of this new picture book seems to be in the ability to get the reader to look at another reader and say, "Wait, you don't know either?" Now, those who know will be on the reference, and this is where Alan Silberberg shows us what's up the other sleeve by making these Jewish potato-based delights into characters who a part of a family.
Genius. Absolute picture book genius.
Those who don't know are invited in and those who don't are invited to be the residential expert and in on the joke. Both have something to glean from this new book.
The end papers serve as the family portrait "wall" where the reader is first introduced to what (who) they will come to know as the Latke Family.
Readers join the story in media res. It is the first night of Hanukkah. Mama and Papa are in the kitchen making friend jelly donuts. I am working on the pronunciation of these. Despite the author/illustrator's help, I am hopelessly tongue-tied (the proper term is Sufganiyot as seen in Papa's speech bubble). Teenage brother, Lex, the ironically-detached teen in the family reads comic books while the cooking is happening.
When Lucy announces the first night of Hanukkah, it is Grandpa who corrects the punctuation as "Chanukah." And this where my confusion set in. And perhaps yours too if you are invited into this book. But, lucky for the us (and the reader), the family dog, Applesauce is here to clarify the terms for us.
As Grandpa begins his story of Hanukkah (Chanukah--which the computer wants to keep underlining in red), the reader can tell that Grandpa is not quite getting the whole story entirely correct. The running gag of the book is Applesauce's frustrations, interruptions, and clarifications.
And the reader should be thankful if there is a wanting to learn about Hanukkah from the book as Grandpa's story begins with "bees" and culimates in "alien potatoes from Planet Chhhhhhh." And one begins to sense right away that Alan Silberberg is having a lot of fun embodying the character of Grandpa Latke and his long-suffering dog, Applesauce.
Honey, oil, trojan dreidels carry the reader into a tongue-twisting moment involving tyrannical taters.
All is cleared up by the end of the book with Applesauce's explanation of the celebration of Hanukkah that brings together a new knowing in company with residential expertise. This is what a picture book can do by way of bringing in a subject for which we might be a little "closed off" for our own sense of mythology and expression to take in the story from another side. And find that the shared side is in the picture book and the text from which the picture book draws its characters, settings, and scenarios from.
As a side-by-side or "laddered" book with other titles that feature the origins and the celebrations of Hanukkah, Silberberg's MEET THE LATKES provides an example of using humor to share information and to instill new knowledge into the reader who finds the book (of with whom the book is shared now by an adult reader).
The back matter of the picture book includes a one paragraph retelling of the Hanukah story without illustration or interruption from the characters. In this light, the book becomes two texts in one. One sharing the original story and the other serving as a means of how we share our stories with others through familiar characters and humor. A glossary of terms accompanies the story and provides information about the principle figures in the Hanukkah story.
November 21, 2018
The Hanukkah story meets Star Trek in this hilarious new picture-book from author/artist Alan Silberberg, with a little bit of the Trojan War thrown in for good measure. As the clueless Latke Family celebrates the Festival of Lights, Grandpa Latke proceeds to tell little Lucy the tale of how Judah and the Mega-Bees fought off the Alien Potatoes from Planet Chhhhh, who were determined to destroy the Jewish people and their temple. Lucy's dog Applesauce struggles to tell the real story, but Grandpa carries on with his crazy tale, which comes complete with warrior-bees hidden inside a massive wooden dreidel, and the invention of the first latkes (made from splattered aliens). Will Applesauce ever manage to set the record straight...?
I picked up Meet the Latkes with fairly low expectations, if I'm being honest. Sometimes these "funny" picture-books are hit or miss with me - my funny-bone is notoriously difficult to tickle - and I tend to prefer sweeter and/or more poignant holiday stories, rather than the more lighthearted ones. That said, I quickly found myself laughing aloud at Grandpa Latke's over-the-top narrative here, and Applesauce's resultant indignant sputtering. The artwork is colorful and accentuates the humor of the story, with Applesauce's interjections in increasingly dramatic speech bubbles. I think the humor here works best if you know the real story of Hanukkah, but with that proviso, this is one I'd recommend to readers looking for humorous holiday tales for their celebration of the Festival of Lights.
I picked up Meet the Latkes with fairly low expectations, if I'm being honest. Sometimes these "funny" picture-books are hit or miss with me - my funny-bone is notoriously difficult to tickle - and I tend to prefer sweeter and/or more poignant holiday stories, rather than the more lighthearted ones. That said, I quickly found myself laughing aloud at Grandpa Latke's over-the-top narrative here, and Applesauce's resultant indignant sputtering. The artwork is colorful and accentuates the humor of the story, with Applesauce's interjections in increasingly dramatic speech bubbles. I think the humor here works best if you know the real story of Hanukkah, but with that proviso, this is one I'd recommend to readers looking for humorous holiday tales for their celebration of the Festival of Lights.
December 7, 2021
I truly loved this book. It's a funny twist on the story of Hannukah (sorry Grandpa Latke: I meant CHAnukah) told by the Latke family! I have no doubt that you will fall in love with this silly family, and the stories they tell. Happy Reading!
November 15, 2018
This may be a better Hanukkah book than we deserve right now: it is clever, lively, whimsical, and engaging. Since receiving my copy about 2 weeks ago, I have read it approximately twenty times with my two-year-old. His older brother, who knows the story of Hanukkah quite well, often happens along and enjoys the book too. Kids love it when adults get things "wrong," and this wacky, counterfactual, comic-book inflected retelling of the Hanukkah story is a great chance for kids to set the record straight--in cahoots of course with the Latke family's dog, Applesauce, who also knows the score. For adults bored of reading yet another straightforward presentation of the oil and the candles and the dreidels and the Maccabees, Silberberg's text is delightfully meta: as much as another retelling of the Hanukkah story, "Meet the Latkes" is a deceptively simple meditation on HOW we tell our stories and transmit Jewish heritage to our children.
November 23, 2018
I wish I'd had this book when I was a kid. It's the story of Chanukah -- as told by a hilarious family of LATKES! It's not only the funniest book I've ever read about Chanukah it's one of the funniest books I've ever read period. My daughter, who is 5, was in hysterics and immediately wanted to read it again and again. When I asked her what she thought she said "It's so funny! And it teaches you about the miracle of Chanukah." And bonus, the drawings are every bit as hilarious as the story. Again, it's about a family of latkes! (And their dog, Applesauce). This book is such a delight on every level. An instant Chanukah classic!
November 5, 2018
I liked the illustrations but I felt it was too long for preschoolers, maybe for older kindergarteners it would be ok.
December 18, 2018
This is probably the best Hanukkah (or CHHHHHHA-nukah) book I've ever read. A family of latkas (and their dog) are getting ready for the holiday -- playing dreidel, making sufganiyot and putting up decorations. Then grandpa decides to tell lil' Lucy Latka about the story behind the holiday, and his version goes a bit off the rails.
It ends with grandpa promising to tell the story of Passover next, and I genuinely do hope that Silberberg is actually planning a Passover sequel. Or, ooo, Purim. That could be amazing. Something to think about.
It ends with grandpa promising to tell the story of Passover next, and I genuinely do hope that Silberberg is actually planning a Passover sequel. Or, ooo, Purim. That could be amazing. Something to think about.
Read
October 27, 2018I'm curious what a Jewish reader thinks of a picture book that pokes so much fun at Chanukah...
December 12, 2018
A very humorous look at Hanukkah, but I did learn more about the observance! (Library)
December 13, 2025
Do children’s books count?? Cause I read so many of them every week?? And this one I picked up and read on my own without a child to read with me?? Good reads god?? Maddie??
October 3, 2018
I think I just found my new favorite Hanukkah story!! Absolutely hilarious. It will be funnier if you already have a basic understanding of Hanukkah. Recommended for grades K and up.
December 11, 2020
In my family, we tell the story of Chanuka every night of the holiday before lighting the candles, a holdover from when my sisters and I were little and our parents wanted us to know what we were celebrating. Last night, the first night of Chanuka 5781 (2020), my mother read this instead. (Possibly this was an attempt to scale back my father's and my attempts to outdo each other with historical accuracy in the retelling. We've been told we may no longer go further back in time than Philip of Macedon.) That's a lot of context for me to say that this is a cute, fun way to get the history of the holiday across, complete with the sort of misunderstandings that a kid hearing unfamiliar words would have, i.e. Maccabees become Mega Bees. I don't love that the characters are talking latkes (for the same reason I find Arnie the Doughnut unsettling), but this is a good way to introduce the history of Chanuka, complete with the argument on how to say and spell it. (CH all the way!)
September 11, 2018
Totally absurd, totally fun, and very educational! A great book to share with all kids (and adults like me!) interested in learning more about Hanukkah, whether they are Jewish or not. A helpful list in the back of the book helps readers keep track of all the key terms.
December 18, 2018
I am so torn with this book. It's a really funny and silly explanation of Chanukah. Or do you say Hanukkah? But it is also reminiscent of the stories from Chelm, so it feels really fitting. The mis-heard words crack me up. I think lots of kids who celebrate Hanukkah, will love the humor. Maybe I'm on the fence because my Hanukkah history is limited so I have to untwist the humor for the history to get it. Maybe I need to ask a kid to explain. It all to me. Worth the read, still laughing about the bees.
December 3, 2018
Cute, though more amusing than informative for those who are looking for a book for little ones to learn about Hanukkah. I think that this would be best enjoyed by an audience already at least a bit familiar with the story of Hanukkah.
Thanks to Penguin Young Readers for the review copy.
Thanks to Penguin Young Readers for the review copy.
December 1, 2018
If you are looking for something a little more lighthearted for your younger readers, this book might be of interest. A family of latkes - mom, dad, brother Lex, younger sister Lucy and her dog Applesauce - are all ready to celebrate Hanukkah. Well, not teenager Lex, he just wants to stay in his room and read comic books. After the menorah is lit, there's dreidels to be spun, and gelt to be eaten, and the Hanukkah story to be told - with alien digressions, of course. This feels like the world's most frenetic Hanukkah ever but in the end, young readers have a few good laughs while they learn the Hanukkah story. It helps to know that author Alan Silberberg is a former writer for Nickelodeon. His colorful illustrations have a definite cartoon feeling, but how could they not, after all, the characters are fried potato pancakes. On a serious side, Silberberg includes a more straightforward version of the Hanukkah story in the back matter along with an glossary of people and unfamiliar works. Interestingly, this is one of the few books that addresses why there are different ways of spelling Hanukkah. Gelt means money in Yiddish and Hanukkah Gelt is usually foil covered chocolate coins given as a gift. We used to find Hanukkah Gelt in our Christmas stockings along withe the traditional orange, a gift from our Jewish relatives.
December 6, 2018
Meet the Latkes is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Alan Silberberg. It is a Hanukkah or Chanukkah story about a family of Latkes.
The text is simplistic, straightforward, and rather hilarious. It is a story about a family of Latkes – potato pancakes celebrating the first night of Hanukkah by making jelly doughnuts – they are Latkes after all. The illustrations are wonderfully depicted, a tad too cartoonish for my taste, but what should I expected about a family of Latkes? Regardless, the illustrations were rather apropos to the text.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is a family of Latkes about to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah or Chanukkaha as Grandpa Latke would like to say. While Mom and Dad Latke are busy in the kitchen frying up jelly donuts, not latkes – they are latkes after all. Grandpa tells Lucy his uproarious, inaccurate version of the Hanukkah story, while the dog Applesauce tells the real version in contrast.
All in all, Meet the Latkes is a wonderfully written children's book about how a typical Jewish family celebrates Hanukkah – it's just one that is made out of Latkes.
The text is simplistic, straightforward, and rather hilarious. It is a story about a family of Latkes – potato pancakes celebrating the first night of Hanukkah by making jelly doughnuts – they are Latkes after all. The illustrations are wonderfully depicted, a tad too cartoonish for my taste, but what should I expected about a family of Latkes? Regardless, the illustrations were rather apropos to the text.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is a family of Latkes about to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah or Chanukkaha as Grandpa Latke would like to say. While Mom and Dad Latke are busy in the kitchen frying up jelly donuts, not latkes – they are latkes after all. Grandpa tells Lucy his uproarious, inaccurate version of the Hanukkah story, while the dog Applesauce tells the real version in contrast.
All in all, Meet the Latkes is a wonderfully written children's book about how a typical Jewish family celebrates Hanukkah – it's just one that is made out of Latkes.
December 3, 2024
Meet the Latkes is one of our favorite Hanukkah books to read this year! My son's God Mother purchased this book for him last year. (He's 3 now) We read it a couple times during December, but it soon got rotated out of the lineup so I put it away for the year. Since getting out the holiday books again for the season it has quickly become one of my son's favorite books to read at night.
He knows the flow of the book, and seems to understand the story telling part of the alien potatoes. Since, by the end of the book he is talking about the candles to light on the Menorah. I would say that the writing of the book is fun, yet slightly chaotic. If you like to do voices or get animated while reading then this is a great book for you and your kid.
Great book to help your kid understand why you celebrate Hanukkah. Being a Shiksa myself, I can't complain about how much I have also learned!
He knows the flow of the book, and seems to understand the story telling part of the alien potatoes. Since, by the end of the book he is talking about the candles to light on the Menorah. I would say that the writing of the book is fun, yet slightly chaotic. If you like to do voices or get animated while reading then this is a great book for you and your kid.
Great book to help your kid understand why you celebrate Hanukkah. Being a Shiksa myself, I can't complain about how much I have also learned!
December 19, 2018
The Latke family is preparing to celebrate Hanukkah (or Chanukah) ... well almost the whole family. Lex, the older brother, is reading comic books. “I don’t care!” Lucy and her dog, Applesauce, are excited though. Grandpa Latke is anxious to tell Lucy the story of Chanukah ... but he gets a few things wrong along the way. And while Applesauce tries to correct him, Grandpa forges ahead with his story of Mega Bees and Alien Potatoes from Planet CHHHHH. But in the end, the biggest Chanukah miracle is that Lex joins the family.
There is a glossary in the back as well as a synopsis of the real Chanukah story. A lively read aloud to help with diversity during the holiday season.
There is a glossary in the back as well as a synopsis of the real Chanukah story. A lively read aloud to help with diversity during the holiday season.
December 30, 2018
I won this book through a Twitter Giveaway and I decided to include it in our Lit Review Crew. It is a new book, just released in October, and comes at a perfect time. It is a hilarious story of Hanukkah with enough humor to make it entertaining, but not too much so that it takes away from the seriousness of this holiday. I believe that those who celebrate Hanukkah would enjoy reading this story with the silly grandpa and moody teenager. Also, those that are not familiar with Hanukkah would learn about it in an entertaining format.
December 3, 2020
I love this book - but I am not Jewish and the pronunciations of Hebrew vocabulary was hard. I needed a cheat sheet - I used YouTube and could not find how the two spellings of Hanukkah were different. Was it an age thing? What was grandpa trying to say? Maybe someone can explain this to me.
I recorded myself reading it - along with my mangled Hebrew and my students will start watching it the first night of Hanukkah this year. I hope to hear about how tasty latkes are after that.
I recorded myself reading it - along with my mangled Hebrew and my students will start watching it the first night of Hanukkah this year. I hope to hear about how tasty latkes are after that.
April 29, 2021
Ever wondered about the different pronunciations of (C)hanukah? This funny spin on the origins of the holiday will answer that conundrum and more. The cast of characters are just what the title says: a family of Latkes! Grandpa Latke gives his slightly off-kilter version of the Jewish holiday, but don't worry the family dog sets him straight in the end. Great picture book for kids K-3. It will make a wonderful Chhhhhaunkah gift!
December 2, 2018
Alan Silberberg does a great job explaining Hanukkah is a fun loving story with a family anyone can connect with. I am excited to share this book with my kids as we talk about different holidays that are celebrated in the month of December. I love how Grandpa Latka gets Applesauce all worked up but keeps Lucy entertained as he goes. Wonderful book for all ages!
December 21, 2023
Listening to an audio version of this clearly means I’m missing out on the illustrations that come with what is clearly a book aimed at younger children.
But for an introduction to the origin of Hanukkah this works as I learned something at least. So if it can teach a non religious 29 year old something, it should help young Jewish kids easily.
But for an introduction to the origin of Hanukkah this works as I learned something at least. So if it can teach a non religious 29 year old something, it should help young Jewish kids easily.
November 30, 2018
I like this book because this kid is BORED and he never does anything but eat dinner (I think) and maybe has dinner at this school (like we do on special occasions) and the grandpa says CHanukah instead of Hanukkah.
December 3, 2018
Hilarious, original, clever take on the Hanukkah story. May be confusing to students who don't have a firm grasp on the actual facts of Hanukkah, but for those that know the story well, this is a riot of a book!
December 14, 2018
This book was at my book fair so I decided to take a look. It's very cute. A silly story with some facts and history mixed in (shared by the dog, no less). I was a bit turned off by the stereotypical teen, but otherwise a fun read if you're looking for a Hanukkah book.
December 24, 2018
Potatoes are the characters who in some ways are contemporary (the "I'm not interested" teen) and traditional (Grandpa who keeps the story accurate). Colorful cartoon illustrations in bold colors and strokes add humor as the reader learns the traditions of Hanukkah.
January 1, 2019
This is a funny book that explains the background of Hanukkah. I read it to my first graders, and they thought it was pretty funny, although I think some of the flow of the narrative was a little confusing for them because of the almost-comic style of some of the pages.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews