It’s about time that someone attempted to write a picture book recalling the characters from the classic Sydney Taylor “All-of-a-Kind Family” series. The books about a Jewish immigrant family in the early decades of the 20th century have been beloved by generations of middle-grade readers since 1951. (The back flap states that author Emily Jenkins read aloud the books to her children for years.) Lovingly illustrated by famed Caldecott Medal-winning artist Paul O. Zelinsky, the plot highlights the family’s busy Hanukkah preparations for the first night of festivities. We meet the girls as they prepare latkes and Hanukkah dinner in their Lower East Side tenement: Ella is twelve. Henny is ten. Sarah is eight. Charlotte is six. Gertie, who is four, thinks it is nice being all girls — “all of a kind,” Papa and Mama like to say.” Unfortunately for little Gertie, most of what looks like fun kitchen preparation involves peelers, knives, graters and hot oil, so it is too dangerous for her to take part. A mini-meltdown follows, and she is sent to her room until candle lighting. When Papa comes home, he saves the day with charming, good-parenting wisdom.
Zelinksy’s large, exuberant paintings depicting cramped but joyous tenement life reflect the spirit of the beloved source material well. The choice of an orange-red-brown palette with bold black outlines recalls the early 20th century and the many full double-paged spreads encourage full engagement by the youngest readers. Zelinsky states that he purposely used this style instead of a more delicate “lace and frills” style that would have been more popular in 1910 because he wanted to reflect Gertie’s passionate nature and imitate children’s art “where the laws of perspective don’t apply.” The endnotes pay homage to the original Sydney Taylor books, stating that Taylor was the “first writer to publish books about Jewish children that reached readers from other religions.” Also included is a list of resources that the author used to authenticate the narrative. This is a wonderful beginning to what will hopefully be a new picture book series featuring these wonderful characters. (Jewish Journal, November 28, 2018, retrieved from https://jewishjournal.com/culture/books/242749/new-hanukkah-picture-books-feature-hamsters-talking-latkes/).