Picture Book 23

A.    Author: Stephanie Spinner  

B.     Title: It’s a Miracle!

C.     Illustrator: Jill McElmurry

D.    Readability:K- 2^nd grade

E.     Genre: Diversity

F.      Subgenre: Fiction

G.    Theme: Language Culture of Hanukkah

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Owen, Grandma Karen,

I.       Award(s) date of publication: N/A

J.       Publishing company: An Ann Schwartz Book

K.    ISBN number: 978-0689844935

L.      Brief summary: Owen was the official candle liter for Hanukkah, in his home. Grandma Karen asks Owen if he is ready for a story. It is about a little girl who loved to light candles, she knew all of the blessings. Owen who was 6 only knew one blessing by heart. This girl turned into a rabbi, she enjoyed the Torah so much. On the 2^nd night, Owen at potato latkes, and they tasted so good it was a miracle. That night his grandmother told him another story, this one was about a women who was in labor, and her husband was away at war. The women was project to not make it she was so ill. The husband called all the Jewish names in the phone book asking for prayers. The following day she had gotten better. The third day Owen enjoyed chocolate, the Gelt. His grandmother told him a story of a girl who wanted to be a cowgirl, she saved all her money and one day bought a horse. She named it lucky. The fourth day, Owen’s friends Buster came over and looked for the Christmas tree. Owen tells us that there is no tree, he told them that he celebrates Hanukkah, they light the menorah together. At night she tells a story of an alien which came to earth by mistake, he had lost his memory, but the menorah reminds him where he is from. On the 5^th night Owen burnt his hand, his grandmother came to tell him a story about a boy who cried all the time. This little boy was the class clown. The 6^th night Owens cousin Molly and her parents came to dinner, she gave him a wooden deridel. Again his grandmother told the story of a dentist who loved drilling and filling. On the 7^th night he sang the blessings and got most of the words right, again at bedtime a story was told. This story was about a boy who wouldn’t go to school, he only acted like a baby. Lastly, on the 8^th night of Hanukkah the whole family got together, and Owen lit the last candle. At dinner Uncle Ralph asked what all the stories were about, then he confesses it was about each person in the family. The last story was of a boy who wanted to light the menorah,

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: I would be able to use this book for educating my students about holidays. We can have each student write about their holidays that their families observe. Then we can talk about other cultures.