It’s a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook
It’s a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook
By Stephanie Spinner With Illustrations by Jill McElmurry
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
——
Owen Block is the OCL — official candle lighter — of his family, and Grandma Karen is the official storyteller. Each night, after the menorah is lit, she tucks him into bed and asks, “Ready for a story?” as she kicks off her shoes. On the first night, there’s the girl who dreams of becoming a rabbi, and does. On the fourth night, there’s the alien who is on his way to Mars, but gets off at the wrong stop and lands in New Jersey. On the sixth night, there’s the dentist who uses his pet parrot, Dreidel, to help his patients forget to be scared. By the last night of Hanukkah, with all his family gathered around, Owen realizes that all the miracles he’s heard about haven’t taken much invention (except for, maybe, the alien). That night, Grandma Karen tells one last story — about an OCL who did such a good job lighting candles that his family decided he should do it every year.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
