A Dreidel in Time: A New Spin on an Old Tale

by Marcia Berneger, Beatriz Castro (Illustrator)

Overview

Devorah and Benjamin are excited to open their Hanukkah present from Bubbe and Zayde, which turns out to be an ugly old dreidel. It's a big disappointment—until the dreidel transports them out of modern Los Angeles to join the ancient Maccabees! Once they convince a suspicious Judah Maccabee and their new friends that they've arrived to help, they use what they know about the Hanukkah story from Hebrew school to aid the Maccabees in their battle against Antiochus. The kids know that the miracle of Hanukkah relies on finding the special oil for the Temple menorah, but where can it be?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541546721
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/01/2019
Pages:	88
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.41(d)
Age Range:	10 - 11 Years

About the Author

Marcia Berneger is a retired teacher who lives with her husband and three crazy dogs. She currently teaches Torah school in addition to volunteering in classrooms, libraries and with various fundraisers. She loves the way books teach children how to navigate their world and soar. She lives in San Diego.

Beatriz Castro was born in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain. As a little girl, she was always drawing and writing stories. A graduate of the School of Arts of Logroño, her illustrations have appeared on covers and in books produced by a variety of international publishers.

Editorial Reviews

10/07/2019

Devorah and her brother Benjamin are eagerly anticipating their Hanukkah gift haul. Instead, Bubbe gives them an odd and very old dreidel (“Devorah’s disappointment kept her from thanking her grandparents as she knew she should”), which the kids begrudgingly spin—then suddenly find themselves transported back to the time of the Maccabees, when Hanukkah “hasn’t become a holiday yet.” They realize they have considerable reserves of ingenuity and courage, and use their advance knowledge of history to help the Maccabees save the day. Berneger and Castro’s time-traveling chapter book is Hebrew school earnest, with much declaiming on the part of the ancient Jews (“It seems, Judah, that our strange friends have done us a great service”). The only flash of humor is when Benjamin shouts “Hey, you stupid jerks!” to Antiochus’s soldiers while perched atop an elephant. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Fans of “Magic Tree House” will love “A Dreidel in Time” by Marcia Berneger with illustrations by Beatriz Castro (ages 7+), which transports readers via a magical dreidel to when Hanukkah began.
When the grandparents of 9-year-old Benjamin and his 12-yearold sister, Devorah, visit on Hanukkah, the siblings hope to receive gifts. Instead, they’re offered a large, lopsided dreidel speckled red and gray with fancy Hebrew letters. Mom, Bubbe and Zayde encourage the disappointed kids to try out this strange dreidel. Respectful of family tradition, the siblings agree. The dreidel spins wildly, vanishes, and the children realize they’ve traveled back to the land of their ancestors.
There, Benjamin and Devorah meet siblings Simon and Shoshana, who help them escape the cruel soldiers arresting everyone observing Jewish traditions. Unfortunately, Judah Maccabee (the Jewish priest who led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire from 167–160 BCE) believes the time travelers are spies. Benjamin, knowing from Hebrew school how the Hanukkah story and history play out, warns the Maccabees that Antiochus will be sending soldiers to find and fight them. Still, the siblings are sent to a guarded cave. Inside, they again discover and spin the dreidel, which sends them forward in time two years before it disappears again.
This time, Maccabee adopts a battle strategy that Benjamin suggests, but the plan only partially works and Benjamin is captured by the enemy. Simon and Shoshana convince Maccabee to ambush the enemies. Devorah boldly rescues her brother and just barely escapes a commander’s spear, thanks to another spin of the dreidel. The siblings arrive at the Temple rededication, where their search for an unbroken jar of oil ultimately leads to a final dreidel spin and their return home – complete with a newfound appreciation of Hanukkah’s significance.

From the Publisher

2019-06-10
Devorah and her younger brother, Benjamin, anxiously await their Hanukkah presents.

They are disappointed when their grandparents give them only a very old, misshapen dreidel to share, but Mom knows that this dreidel has magical properties that once helped her reach a true understanding of Hanukkah. The children's first spin lands on Shin, meaning they have lost something. They have also somehow landed (with the dreidel) in ancient Modi'in, where Jews are in conflict with the Syrian king. The children find that they are speaking and understanding Hebrew and quickly become caught up in the fight between the Maccabees and the Syrian army. After the next spin, Nun, meaning neither gain nor loss, two years have passed and the battles continue. Hey, or halfway, leads to "a great miracle happened here": one night's oil burning for eight nights. Finally they spin Gimmel, or everything, and at last return home with a better understanding of their holiday traditions. These modern children are not only witnesses; they use historical information to guide the Maccabees' leaders and to participate bravely in the events—to the extent that the author seems to imply that these ancients might not have been able to succeed without them. Castro's black-and-white cartoon illustrations provide readers with visual context, depicting both historical and modern characters with pale skin.

This exciting retelling of the Hanukkah story should appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish children. (Historical fiction/fantasy. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews

09/01/2019

Gr 2–4—This accessible chapter book tells the story of the events that led to the first Hanukkah. Devorah and Benjamin are disappointed when they receive an old dreidel from their Bubbe as a Hanukkah present. However, when they spin the dreidel, they are shocked to find themselves in ancient Modi'in with the Maccabees. Devorah and Benjamin land in the middle of the action as the Maccabees fight the soldiers of King Antiochus and try to reclaim their right to practice their religion. The two children have such an impact that it is implied that the Maccabees wouldn't have succeeded without them. The miracle oil that lasted eight nights is briefly introduced at the end of the story. There are a couple of time jumps that break up the flow of the plot. The black-and-white illustrations enhance the action. All the characters are depicted as white. VERDICT A fun introduction to the story of Hanukkah. Recommended for libraries seeking Jewish stories for their early chapter book sections.—V. Lynn Christiansen, Wiley International Studies Magnet Elementary School, Raleigh, NC

School Library Journal