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Levine, Arthur A.

The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol

40 pp. | Candlewick | September, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-7636-9741-9 $19.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Levine's appended note reveals the story's inspiration--"I have often wished that we could build up a bit more [Hanukkah] mythology"--and to that end, he invents Nate Gadol, a larger-than-life, Paul Bunyan-esque figure who "in answer to people's prayers...made things last as long as they needed to." We follow Nate's relationship with the Glaser family, eighteenth-century European emigres. As the Glasers struggle to make a new life in America, provide for their children, and assist their neighbors, the O'Malleys, Nate watches over them, and even helps invent the concept of Hanukkah gift-giving (Santa makes a cameo appearance; he and Nate go "way, way back"). Hawkes's painterly acrylic illustrations help deliver a setting both realistic and wondrous.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

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