(2) K-3 Illustrated by Michelle Laurentia Agatha. Gottesfeld (Twenty-One Steps, rev. 3/21) tells the story of real-life mensch Al Rosen, a "Jewish man who loved Christmas." Rosen became locally famous in Milwaukee, beginning in 1969 and for several decades, by ­covering celebrants' Christmastime work shifts. Per the straightforward text, Al ran a newsstand, pumped gas, sorted mail, shined shoes, and much more. Cheerful digital illustrations show him gamely going about the tasks; a colorful bartending scene, complete with rainbow-hued spillage, reads, "Some jobs he did better than others." Near the end of his life, and at the end of the book, everyone whom Al had helped--"all the folks easy to dismiss in a world that mistakes wealth for worth"--gratifyingly comes together to celebrate Hanukkah with his family.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021