Malka Penn

Tante Golda made the most wonderful latkes in all of Russia, as her neighbors could attest, and she always generously shared what she had with those who came to her door. Then one terrible year, when a drought had decimated the crops, she found that she had only one potato left in her barrel—hardly enough to make latkes for her friends and neighbors, or to throw her annual Hanukkah party. Just when it seemed that the holiday would be ruined however, Tante Golda, who always believed that God would provide, was visited by a hungry beggar. Sharing her meager one potato with this stranger, she found that subsequently her store of potatoes began to increase, growing larger as each day of Hanukkah passed...

Published in 1994, The Miracle of the Potato Latkes: A Hanukkah Story appears to be author Malka Penn's only picture-book, although she also penned the time-slip children's novel, The Hanukkah Ghosts, as well as a collection of Jewish ghost stories. Illustrator Giora Carmi, on the other hand, has been more prolific in this form, and I am familiar with his artwork from other Hanukkah picture-books, such as The Chanukkah Guest and The Chanukkah Tree. I enjoyed Carmi's expressive artwork here and appreciated Penn's story of the latke miracle, which parallels the miracle of the Hanukkah story itself. In Tante Golda's case, she found that her one potato stretched to feed her village for an entire season, whereas in the Hanukkah story, the Maccabees found that oil sufficient to light the Temple's menorah for one night instead lasted eight. The theme of God providing, particularly in difficult times, feels entirely appropriate to the season, given the nature of the events that Hannukh celebrates. The inclusion of a recipe for latkes at the rear of the book was a nice additional touch—I always like picture-books that include recipes, even when I have no intention of using them. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for entertaining and meaningful Hanukkah stories.… (mehr)

The Hanukkah Ghosts is a wonderful lower-intermediate level time slip novel about World War II and the wonder of miracles. Susan has come to visit her father's aunt in Yorkshire for a week. She is homesick, but won't admit it. Then she discovers that the veil between the past and the present at her great-aunt's estate is thin and meets Hanni, a Jewish refugee from Vienna who is staying at the same house during World War II. Hanni is missing her parents and having to put up with abuse for being Jewish from Alex, Susan's great-aunt's step-son. Susan wants to help Hanni, but doesn't know what to do. However, during Hanukkah, anything is possible.

A short, but well plotted book. Highly recommended for those who enjoy time slip novels and original stories.… (mehr)

A typical Elijah story---a kind but poor woman shares her last, small potato with a beggar who appears at her door immediately after she asks for a miracle on the first night of Hanukkah. On each of the following nights of the holiday, she finds X potatoes for the Xth night. The idea of mixing an Elijah story with the Hanukkah concepts of a miracle of stuff increasing when it should decrease and eating latkes is clever. I just wish the whole had been greater than the sum of its parts: It's a nice enough story, teaches valuable lessons about sharing and kindness and friendship and faith and shtetl life and women as everyday heroes and how to make latkes, but it left me hungry for something more. The pictures are detailed and colorful, but seem gray, perhaps because the paper is not bright white.… (mehr)