5 Books About Hanukkah + Free Display Poster

This Thursday is the first day of Hanukkah! Share the magic of the Festival of Lights with these five books about Hanukkah, plus a free book display poster!

You can click here to download the PDF directly, or go to my Shared Google Drive. In the Google Drive, click on Librarians – Posters and Signs – Hanukkah. You can go to FILE-MAKE A COPY to edit the sign in your own Google Drive.

The dates of Hanukkah vary each year because they are based on Hebrew month of Kislev. These dates are usually sometime in November or December in the Gregorian calendar. This year (2023), Hanukkah’s eight nights will be celebrated from Dec. 7 through Dec. 15.

I really hunted for books for middle schoolers. They do minimally exist, but I have strict criteria that all books I recommend have at least two positive reviews on Titlewave. Some school libraries cannot purchase books that do not have at least two positive professional reviews. I also generally do not recommend books that are currently out of print or older than about 2015.

If you know of great Hanukkah titles for Grades 4-8 that meet these two criteria, I’d love to hear from you! Please send me an email (leigh[at]readerpants[dot]net), and I am happy to add them!

FIVE BOOKS ABOUT HANUKKAH FOR KIDS AND TEENS

All five of these books about Hanukkah received at least two positive professional reviews on Titlewave.

Eight Nights of Lights: A Celebration of Hanukkah by Leslie Kimmelman

Recommended for: PreS-Grade 5
©2023
72 pages

Each night, open a candle-shaped book and follow a young Jewish girl and her family as they decorate their home, say blessings, enjoy traditional foods and games, and gather to hear about the brave Maccabees and their victory that brought light to all Jews.

Flip the book over to “light” the candle and place it back in the menorah to commemorate each night of the Festival of Lights!

Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story by Fran Manushkin

Genre: picture book
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
©2022
32 pages

The Menashes love latkes and applesauce during Hanukkah.

But a blizzard begins and erases any hope that they’ll harvest potatoes and apples in time.

When a stray cat and dog show up, there’s not a lot of food to offer them, but kindness prevails, and they’re invited in. It turns out that the dog—Latke—and the cat—Applesauce—save the day.

Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind

Genre: picture book
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 5
©2021
32 pages

It’s a holiday season that both Isaac, whose family is Jewish, and Teresa, whose family is Christian, have looked forward to for months! They’ve been counting the days, playing in the snow, making cookies, drawing (Teresa) and writing poems (Isaac).

They enjoy all the things they share, as well as the things that make them different.

But when Isaac’s window is smashed in the middle of the night, it seems like maybe not everyone appreciates “difference.”

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom’s Subaru.

Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani’s plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break.

It could be going better.

But when a dog-walking gig puts her back in May’s path, the fossils she’s meant to be diligently studying are pushed to the side—along with the breakup.

Then they’re snowed in together on Christmas Eve. As things start to feel more serious, though, Shani’s hurt over her ex-girlfriend’s rejection comes rushing back. Is she ready to try a committed relationship again, or is she okay with this just being a passing winter fling?

Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds

Shira Barbanel has a plan: this Hanukkah, she’s going to get a boyfriend. And she has the perfect candidate in mind—her great-uncle’s assistant, Isaac. He’s reliable, brilliant, and of course, super hot. The only problem? Shira’s an absolute disaster when it comes to flirting.

Enter Tyler Nelson, Shira’s nemesis-slash-former-crush. As much as she hates to admit it, Tyler is the most charming and popular guy she knows. Which means he’s the perfect person to teach her how to win Isaac over.

When Shira and Tyler get snowed in together at Golden Doors, they strike a deal—flirting lessons for Shira in exchange for career connections for Tyler. But as Shira starts to see the sweet, funny boy beneath Tyler’s playboy exterior, she realizes she actually likes hanging out with him. And that wasn’t part of the plan.

Amidst a whirl of snowy adventures, hot chocolate, and candlelight, Shira must learn to trust her heart to discover if the romance she planned is really the one that will make her happiest.