Light The Lights! A Story About Celebrating Hanukkah And Christmas

by Margaret Moorman

A delightful picture book captures the warmth of family tradition as Emma and her family celebrate two holidays--Hanukkah, a time to light the menorah and play dreidl games, and Christmas, a time to sing carols and open presents. Reprint.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Jewish, Fiction, Religion

42 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Margaret Moorman is a writer and painter known for books on complex family relationships. She authored My Sister's Keeper and children's books, contributes to ARTnews and Newsday, and lives in New York with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A recent conversation about the holiday season, in which the importance of lights at this time of year was mentioned, reminded me of this charming picture book about a little girl whose family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. When winter approaches, and the world grows dark, Emma knows it will soon be time to take out the family menorah with her father, and decorate the Christmas tree with her mother...

Light the Lights! is a very secular work, and readers should not expect to find an explanation of either holiday here. This is a book about the rituals and traditions of both holidays, and how they are kept by one family. An ideal selection for young children in interfaith families, it emphasizes the warmth and sense of community evoked by both Hanukkah and Christmas, as well as the common theme of light.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice enough glimpse at a family that celebrates both Hanukkah And Christmas, but there's really nothing to the characters or story. It's just a string of traditions and decorations with no exploration of their meaning or an explanation of how the family felt into this routine beyond my inference that the father was raised Jewish and the mother Christian.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always admire children’s picture book authors who both write and illustrate their books and here’s one that the author has obviously based on her own family.

The story is about a girl and her parents who celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, and shows some of the traditional activities they do for each of those holidays.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a beautiful peaceful book about a loving family who celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. What seems to be oddly missing from the book is there is no mention of no religion. There is no mention of Christ, or anything about his life and the reason for Christmas. Neither is there any mention of the Messiah and the reason for Hanukkah. Both holidays seem celebrated completely on the secular level. Still there is love and peace in the family and in the home, and I like the book for that reason.

**Talking points - what is your favorite holiday to celebrate? Why? Do you celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas, or both or neither? What is some of your favorite things about that holiday(s)? What ways do you celebrate it(them) that you don't like? If you could go celebrate the holiday(s) anyway you want, how would you celebrate it?

[Julie Ditton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Representation is common these days, but even now, there are only6 a handful of books that show a multifaith family. At the time this was written, there were none and so the author wrote and illustrated this book for families like hers that celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. If I had known about this book, I would have bought it to share with my kids. The story is sweet and simple. There are no explanations or background on the holiday. It just shows a child enjoying both celebrations.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice story about a little girl who celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. The book is not religious at all and centers around lights associated with both holidays.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas. What a great idea! Maybe we should do it.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

On of those very meh, but I'm glad it exists books since there's very few interfaith family books.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simplistic text and amateur art. But I love that it's shown that one child can celebrate both holidays. And that both winter traditions include plenty of lights against the long nights. LFL find.

[Keegan Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Grade: K-3
A great book to look into the Jewish culture and look at Jewish Holidays Definitely a good book to have if you would like to go over this topic in your classroom!

[carrietracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

When winter comes around, Emma knows it’s the season of lights. First she celebrates Hanukkah with her family, polishing the menorah with her father, eating latkes and playing with her cousins. Then they celebrate Christmas with cookies and tree decorating.

It’s a sweet story that keeps the focus on the traditions rather than the religion. There isn’t a single mention of Judah Maccabee or of Jesus Christ. So from that perspective it’s probably not a bad bet for a classroom read aloud. Another aspect of the book that I appreciated was that even though Emma’s father is Jewish and her mother Christian, they all celebrate the holidays together as a family, with the parents supporting each other and taking part in the holiday rituals.

It’s not an amazing story or the most beautiful illustrations you’ll ever see, but it fills a need for the woefully underrepresented niche market of blended faith families.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice book to help children begin to understand about other holidays that their families may not celebrate. I wished, though, that it had explained a bit more about 'why' the holidays are celebrated. It starts with the little girl getting the candles out for Hanukkah and each day a different family member comes to visit. But for those of us that doesn't celebrate Hanukkah 'why' is she doing that and why is it 8 days long? After they finish with the candles they put it away and she and her family go after a Christmas tree. But I could see people who don't celebrate Christmas wondering why they would go get a tree and put it up? Overall it was a cute book and we'll probably read it again just wished it had a little more explanations in it.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many good things, this book arose out of a parent's desire to provide their child with a tool that didn't yet exist for understanding the world. Moorman's book depicts the traditions of one family who celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. The text does not share faith-stories, but rather focuses on holiday rituals, traditions, and the common themes of light and communal celebration. A much appreciated addition to a larger repertoire of books focused on winter holidays and celebrations.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice tale about a multi-religion family, one in which they celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. It's a simple story that does not go into the background of either religion or holiday celebration, but it does cover some of the major traditions and celebrations at this time of year. It's a fun story to read aloud in December.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book...not spectacular, but the story is cute. Art work is ok, not fabulous. Tells the story of a city dwelling family (looks like NYC?) that celebrates both Hannukah and Xmas. Story is kind of flat, but since there's not many books out there sharing this unique perspective, it'll do. Worth a look.

[Tolkiengirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a cute idea, but it lacks some depth. If you're going to write a book about Hanukkah and Christmas, I personally want to hear at least a sentence about the Old Testament and Jesus. If someone celebrates these holidays more out of tradition vs. with religious intent, they would probably enjoy having this in a home library.

[Dianne Norberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book because it talks about Christmas and Hannakuh traditions within the same family. It is great to show kids how each holiday is celebrated and that some families may celebrate both holidays using different traditions.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I don't necessarily agree with the book's premise being okay, the writing style is engaging and the art is warm and welcoming. It does everything it sets out to do quite well, keeping a politically charged topic in the simple, happy worldview of a contented child.

[eRin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice story about a family who celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. Doesn't really explain either holiday, though; just the activities the family does.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It tells kinda how people can share a family but have a diffrent religon.
just like me in my family my dad is jewish but my mom is episcapole so I celebrate christmas and Hanukah

[Cassi · Rating 2 out of 5]

a story about a family who celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas. Kind of confusing even for me...

[Rima Halig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a little girl's Hanukkah and what occurs each night of the holiday.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

almost completely devoid of the meaning of the holidays

[MaryJane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story about Hanukkah and Christmas as a time to celebrate light in the winter and to gather with friends and family. I especially enjoyed looking for the cats in each picture!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read aloud addresses families that celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas. The story is simple and focuses around the importance of lights in both celebrations.

[Nancy (Colorado) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread today in class!

[Miss Kious · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family that celebrates both holidays.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely shows how one family celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas.