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Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama, by Selina Alko, Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99, ages 5 and up, 32 pages, 2012. Barely pausing for a breath, a girl shares all the ways her family blends their Jewish and Christian beliefs during the holidays. Every tradition Sadie lists is a charming mix of the two faiths, and makes celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas together look whimsical, fun and easy. As the family crowns their tree with a star, they leave latkes with milk on the mantel for Santa and hang candy canes from menorah branches. Sadie then cuts out blue angels, a Star of David and Santa's reindeer from paper, and hangs them from the ceiling, and her father stuffs a turkey with cranberry kugel dressing. As their extended families arrive to celebrate, Sadie feels lucky to have so many traditions; then everyone shares the tales that link them together. When the holiday is over, Sadie looks ahead and thinks of all the Jewish and Christian holidays still to come. Behind her family, a whimsical timeline extends from their tree across a two-page spread as if a mural of holidays were painted on their wall-- and the best part, the holidays are not all Jewish and Christian. Kwanzaa is there too, even Earth Day has a dateline. Alko (Every-day Dress-Up) shows how rewarding it is to incorporate different beliefs, and she gets readers excited to explore many traditions too. To get them started, she shares recipes for cranberry kugel and turkey dressing. Best part: As an uncle and aunt tell stories of how their holidays came to be, images from each story swirl around family gathered in the living room.
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