Maccabee Jamboree: A Hanukkah Countdown Book

A counting book describing how the Maccabees have fun during the eight nights of Hanukkah, making cards, exchanging gifts, chanting blessings, and singing songs.

School Library Journal

PreS--In this slight counting book, eight Maccabees (depicted as multiethnic children in vaguely historical garb) celebrate Hanukkah by playing the dreidel game, making cards, and having a party. One by one, they disappear ("5 Maccabees cooked latkes. But only 4 gobbled them up"). With only one sentence per page, there isn't much here to hang a book on, and children will come away with little understanding of the meaning and joy of Hanukkah (although an explanatory paragraph about its origins appears on the verso of the title page). The sweet cartoon artwork does nothing to rescue the text.--EM