The strength in this book is with the content. Not only does it mention the tradition of Hanukkah and the dreidel game, but it also teaches about what blind people have to go through to navigate the world. The illustrations enhance the learning by using cool tones that do not distract from the words. ( )

Jeremy's dreidel has an important message for kids in 3rd-6th grade, but could easily have been shortened. Jeremy makes a dreidel at his local jewish community center. This dreidel, however, is special and had brail instead of letters. Jeremy explains to the other kids about brail and his father's blindness. This story teaches kids about blind people and acceptance of them. ( )

The main idea behind this story is different types of people and families. Jeremy makes a dreidel for his father who is blind while the other children make their own unique dreidels. This book has a section at the back with instructions for creating your own dreidels which is helpful for teachers who may want to use this as a classroom activity. The book teaches children about Hanukkah and about individuals who are blind. The images in the story help depict the text so that children can understand the story even if they do not understand some of the words.

Jeremy signs up for a special "Different Dreidels" workshop at the Jewish Center in this Hanukkah story for younger children, intent on making a braille dreidel for his blind father. Although some of his fellow participants have interesting ideas of their own - Abby wants to make an environmentally friendly dreidel out of recycled material, David decides to make a dreidel that changes color as it spins, while Orit is determined to make an Israeli sevivon, which reads "A Great Miracle Happened Here" (rather than the more traditional "A Great Miracle Happened There") - it is Jeremey's project that grabs the workshop's attention, raising awareness of people with visual impairments, and their needs during the holidays. When the braille dreidel is chosen for a special display at the center, Jeremy's friends assume he'll be thrilled, until he points out that a braille dreidel is of no use to anyone, if placed inside a glass case. Is there a way to highlight all the great dreidels created, without putting them on display...?

Of course there is, and Jeremy and his fellow workshop participants find it in this engaging tale of a young boy and his efforts to create a special gift for his dad at the holiday. Just reprinted this fall, with new artwork by Maria Mola, Jeremy's Dreidel was originally published in 1992 with illustrations by Judith Friedman. It is this earlier edition that I read, after finding it on the Hanukkah display at my local library this past weekend. It is an appealing tale, one which incorporates issues of disability naturally into a narrative - a child making a gift for a parent, to mark a special event - that manages to be both culturally specific and widely identifiable. The artwork is appealing, with full-page color illustrations facing each page of text, save for a few two-page spreads where the artwork stretches across both pages, with the text beneath. A different dreidel is depicted in miniature above each full-page text-block, while instructions for making some of the "different dreidels" in the story can be found in the afterword. All in all, an engaging holiday story, one I would recommend to young readers who are looking for Hanukkah tales that address issues of special needs, and inclusion. ( )

Jeremy signs up for a Hanukkah workshop to make unusual dreidels and creates a cly dreidel with braille dots for his dad, who is blind (from the summary).