Holiday Tales to Educate Wee Ones

The Rugrats are everywhere these days. You can find them on television, in the movies and on the comics pages. They’re in the toy stores, the bookstores and even in fast-food restaurants.

So it shouldn’t come as a shock to learn that Chuckie, Tommy, Angelica and the gang now have their own holiday tales as well. And on the surface it seems like a good idea: Use the Rugrats’ burgeoning popularity to get kids to open the books, then use the story to show them the season is about more than glitter and gift-giving.

“The Rugrats’ Book of Chanukah,” (by Sarah Wilson, illustrations by Barry Goldberg, Simon Spotlight, 30 pages, $5.99), attempts to do just that with a simple plot that moves quickly and does a good job including most of the important Hanukkah symbols. (Best line: “A menorah is like a night light for our people.”) But the book makes little effort to explain their significance, and the religious references come so fast and frequently they’re likely to turn off more young readers than they’ll enlighten.

A more appealing Hanukkah primer is Jane Breskin Zalben’s “Pearl’s Eight Days of Chanukah,” (Simon & Schuster, 40 pages, $16). In it, Zalben’s favorite character becomes so wrapped up in celebrating the holiday, she unwittingly overcomes her loathing of cousins Harry and Sophie, and discovers that the true joy of the season is simply being with loved ones.

But the real magic of the book is in its structure. The story is divided into eight chapters, each corresponding to one of the eight days of Hanukkah, and each containing instructions for making menorahs or dreidels or special holiday treats.

The book, appropriate for readers of all ages, not only evokes the warmth of the spirit of Hanukkah, but offers ways for families to celebrate that tradition.

“How I Saved Hanukkah,” (by Amy Goldman Koss, illustrated by Diane deGroat, Dial Books for Young Readers, 88 pages, $15.99) is likely to resonate with many Jewish children who see themselves reflected in Marla Feinstein, the only kid in her fourth-grade class who hasn’t gone giddy over the approach of Christmas. While her friends are decorating their trees with tinsel and candy canes, Marla is left with unwrapped presents from her mom, a big plastic dreidel and her own uncertain thoughts over the importance of Hanukkah.

Then Marla decides to find out what a dreidel is really for, a decision that not only brings the holiday alive for her, but threatens to make her celebration the biggest party in town.

Yet if Hanukkah, a tradition that has been around more than 2,100 years, can be difficult to explain, imagine how easily Kwanzaa, a festival born just 32 years ago, could be misunderstood. A celebration of the history and customs of African Americans, Kwanzaa is based upon seven principles that serve both to remind African Americans of the struggles of the past and focus on achievements and goals for the future.

Angela Shelf Medearis’ 4-year-old book, “The Seven Days of Kwanzaa” (Scholastic, 111 pages, $3.50), is among the most complete guides to the holiday and its meaning. It includes an explanation of how and why Kwanzaa was established, instructions and recipes for making special gifts and treats, and inspirational stories about such figures as Fannie Lou Hammer, Marcus Garvey and Wilma Rudolph, whose life stories embody the character of Kwanzaa.

Donna L. Washington covers much of the same territory in “The Story of Kwanzaa” (illustrated by Stephen Taylor, HarperCollins, 30 pages, $14.95). The colorful book explains the history of the celebration and the meaning behind each of its seven days, but in a more accessible way and without the inspirational stories. Both books do an exceptional job introducing one of the most intriguing--and fastest-growing--of all the holiday celebrations.