Hanukkah Hamster

by Michelle Markel (Author) Andr Ceolin (Illustrator)

Hanukkah Hamster
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Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
cms Common Sense Media Review
The holiday season is a busy time, with people bustling about. And it's a busy time for Edgar, a cabdriver who conveys passengers around the city. All day long Edgar drives his cab; many people going to many different places. At the end of one busy day, Edgar is so tired he climbs into the backseat of his cab to take a nap. But he discovers he is not alone. A little hamster has somehow been left behind from one of the many fares Edgar has driven. Edgar dutifully reports the hamster to the cab company's Lost and Found department, but in the meantime the little creature needs to be taken care of. Edgar brings the hamster to his apartment, making it a bed, feeding it, and even giving it a name, Chickpea. As Edgar starts his Hanukah observance, with no family nearby to share in it, the little hamster becomes more than a casual companion to the lonely man. But what happens when Chickpea's owner is found?
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Publishers Weekly

Who left the hamster in Edgar's cab? No one has reported a missing pet to his cab company, so Edgar, a taxi driver from Israel, names the hamster Chickpea (after a beloved legume from his native land) and improvises a cozy temporary habitat for the critter in his apartment. But as the days pass--marked by the kindling of a new Hanukkah candle for each night--Edgar, who has been living a solitary and spare life, finds himself bonding with irrepressible Chickpea ("Was that a little smile? Edgar took pictures on his phone and shared them with his family in Israel") and wondering how he'll feel if the rightful owner shows up. Plainspoken storytelling by Markel (Balderdash!) offers emotional depth, as do pictures by Ceolin (Yom Kippur's Shortstop), which combine crisp shapes and velvety textures. While lightly anthropomorphized Chickpea is adorable, it's Edgar who will quickly win readers' sympathies, and the "everybody wins" ending feels just right. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Anna Olswanger, Olswanger Literary. Illustrator's agent: Mela Bolinao, MB Artists. (Sept.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Michelle Markel
Michelle Markel writes informative, enjoyable children's books at her home in Los Angeles, California. She's the author of Tyrannosaurus Math (a CCBC Choices Reading List selection), The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau (a PEN/Steven Kroll Award winner and a Parents' Choice Gold Award winner), and Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 (a Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner, a Bank Street College of Education Flora Stieglitz Straus Award winner, and an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor book). Visit her at michellemarkel.com.

Barbara McClintock has written and/or illustrated over forty books for children, including her highly acclaimed Adèle and Simon series. Her books have received five New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book awards, three ALA Notable Children's Book citations, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor, and two Golden Kite honors, as well as many other accolades, best book selections, and starred reviews. A self-taught artist, McClintock discovered the work of Randolph Caldecott when she was in her early twenties, and he became a mentor, inspiration, and kindred spirit to her. McClintock lives in Windham, Connecticut, with her partner, the illustrator David A. Johnson, and their four demonstrative cats. You can find her online at barbaramcclintockbooks.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781585363995
Lexile Measure
580
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Sleeping Bear Press
Publication date
September 15, 2018
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV039220 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Values & Virtues
JUV017110 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Hanukkah
Library of Congress categories
Immigrants
United States
Jews
Loneliness
Hanukkah
Hamsters
Israelis

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