Meet the Latkes

by Alan Silberberg

Overview

Imagine James Marshall's The Stupids celebrating Hanukkah, and you'd get the Latke family!

Lucy Latke's family is just like yours or mine. Except that they're potato pancakes. And also, they are completely clueless. After lighting the menorah and gobbling the gelt, Grandpa Latke tells everyone the Hanukkah story, complete with mighty Mega Bees who use a giant dreidel to fight against the evil alien potatoes from Planet Chhh. It's up to the Latke family dog to set the record straight. (To start with, they were Maccabees, not Mega Bees...) But he'll have to get the rest of the Latkes to listen to him first!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451479143
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/16/2018
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	179 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Alan Silberberg (www.silberbooks.com) is an award-winning author, cartoonist and children's TV creator who has worked with Nickelodeon and Disney. He's the author and illustrator of three previous middle grade novels including Milo: Sticky Notes & Brain Freeze, which won the Sid Fleishman Humor Award and is currently in development to become an animated TV series. Though he’s been eating latkes for years, this is Alan’s debut picture book.

Editorial Reviews

…a full-blown kooky comedy unpacking an ancient Talmudic tale.

The New York Times Book Review - Deborah Kolben

09/24/2018
The Latke family is celebrating the Festival of Lights. Yes, they’re actual potato pancakes; no, they’re not going to eat themselves (the menu calls for another traditional treat, jelly-filled donuts called sufganiyot). Grandpa Latke takes it upon himself to tell the story of “CHHA-nukah!” to Lucy Latke, but his narrative quickly goes off the rails: the heroes are yarmulke-wearing “mega-bees,” not Maccabees; their enemy is “alien potatoes” instead of Antiochus; a dreidel is turned into a Trojan Horse; and the tongue twister “tattered tater tyrants” makes a totally gratuitous appearance. Thank goodness the family dog, Applesauce (also a latke), is on hand to set the story straight. Readers who like their humor broad and goofy will lap this up, and Silberberg (Pond Scum) makes it extra tasty with sprawling and genially messy cartooning that looks like it was created by someone hopped up on chocolate gelt. Ages 3–5. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A full-blown kooky comedy unpacking an ancient Talmudic tale."—The New York Times Book Review

"Readers who like their humor broad and goofy will lap this up, and Silberberg...makes it extra tasty with sprawling and genially messy cartooning that looks like it was created by someone hopped up on chocolate gelt."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2018-08-14

A family of latkes prepares for Hanukkah.

The members of the Latke family are all potato pancakes, even their dog, Applesauce. As Hanukkah approaches, daughter Lucy greets readers while her parents fry jelly doughnuts, her older brother holes up in his room being a teenager, and Grandpa disrupts the holiday by offering up an alternate spelling: "CHHA-nukah!" Applesauce explains that both can be correct. The usual celebrations continue, with all participating except for the teenager. And then Grandpa commences to tell the story of the holiday with his own twist. It was not the Maccabees who fought for freedom, it was bees: "MEGA-BEES!" Applesauce tries to correct this version, but Grandpa continues. The enemy was not Antiochus: It was "ALIEN POTATOES FROM PLANET CHHHHH!" And while the Maccabees were low on oil, the Mega-Bees are low on honey. Also in this revised account is a giant dreidel that calls to mind the Trojan horse and from which the Mega-Bees emerge to "[mash] those tater tyrants into tatters." Add the usual ingredients and you have, of course, "POTATO LATKES!" Silverberg's narration brings to mind a Borscht Belt routine that may be appreciated by some adult readers but is just as likely to cause confusion among its audience. His digital illustrations depict latkes that resemble brown blobs and only add to the general muddlement.

Better stories about Hanukkah abound. (author's note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews