My apologies if the title of my post just gave you a major earworm. You know, “Oh Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah, come light the menorah”? Classic holiday tune. Tends to get stuck in my head all day. But I adored singing this song in elementary school, so the earworm brings back only happy memories for me. But anyway.

The subject of today’s post, as you probably guessed, is Hanukkah—specifically, a wonderful offering about the holiday especially for preK–2 readers from Bumba Books.

It’s Hanukkah! (cover pictured) explains the history of the holiday, when in the year it occurs (November or December—and it starts on December 24th this year), how people celebrate, and what special foods are connected with Hanukkah. The book also includes great critical thinking questions, such as, “Why might Hanukkah be called the Festival of Lights?” and “Why might the top [the Hanukkah dreidel] have writing on it?”

But by far my favorite part of It’s Hanukkah! are the descriptions of how families enjoy spending time together during the season—plus, the cozy photos of them doing exactly that. We see a grandma, a grandpa, and their three adorable grandkids gathered for a menorah lighting. There’s a dad and his daughter playing dreidel next to a plate of sufganiyot (delicious jelly doughnuts popular at Hanukkah). There’s a little boy pulling Star of David wrapping paper off a Hanukkah gift. So sweet, so special, and so very evocative of what all of us love about the holidays, regardless of whether we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or some combination of these.

I hope you’ll consider treating a child you know to It’s Hanukkah! this year. With the holiday just eight days away, the timing couldn’t be better. Happy Holidays, everyone!