The Chanukkah Guest

An old woman mistakes a bear for a rabbi on Chanukah and feeds him all the latkes she had made for a party and gives him the scarf she had made for the rabbi. A must read so that when Purim comes---in many ways a similar holiday---you can read The Mystery Bear, in which a cub wanders into a Purim

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seudah and is thought to be a person in costume by everyone but a young boy.

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I've read this with classes for a couple of years and they always seem to enjoy it. The irony of a woman who serves someone she believes is a rabbi but that happens to be a bear up for food in the middle of his winter hibernation is never lost on any of them. It's a fun story.

In my opinion, this is a delightful book to teach young children about what happens on Chanukkah. I like this book because the characters are a good fit for the plot of the story. Bubba Brayna is a ninety-seven year old woman who prepares potato latkes for her guest, the rabbi. A bear appears at

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Bubba Brayna’s door and she mistakes him for the rabbi, letting him eat all the delicious latkes and even play a dreidel game with her. I like that the author made the character that Bubba Brayna mistakes for the rabbi, a bear because children love animals in stories, and bears are relevant to the season in which Chanukkah is celebrated. I also liked the author’s writing because it is engaging. Children will enjoy roaring along with the bear’s continuous load roars throughout the book. I also liked how in the beginning of the book, before the story begins, the author defines key words such as, Bubba, dreidel, latke, and menorah. However, it would be more beneficial if the author were to also write the proper pronunciation of each word in parenthesis beside the word. The big idea of this book is to inform readers about Chanukkah through a fun story about a grandma celebrating the first night of Chanukkah with a bear who she thinks is the rabbi.

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When his hibernation is interrupted by a deliciously enticing smell, a bear leaves his cave and heads to the home of Bubba Brayna, the best latke-maker in the village. This elderly lady, almost blind and deaf, welcomes the bear into her home, thinking he is the rabbi come to visit, and the two have

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a pleasant time together. When the mixup is discovered afterward, neither regrets their unusual holiday adventure...

Originally published in 1988 as The Chanukkah Guest, with artwork by Giora Carmi, who also illustrated Eric A. Kimmel's The Chanukkah Tree, The Old Woman and Her Pig and The Greatest of All: A Japanese Folktale, this story was republished in 2013 as Hanukkah Bear, with new illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka. I have that later version on request at my library, but in the meantime I enjoyed this original edition, which combines a humorous heartwarming holiday tale with expressive illustrations. Children will enjoy being "in the know," when it comes to Bubba Brayna's visitor, and will appreciate the happy ending for all. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for Hanukkah stories.

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lovely story