By Eric A. Kimmel
The spooky-funny one, where a clever traveler outwits a synagogue full of goblins to win Hanukkah back, one candle at a time.
Hershel of Ostropol walks into a village on the first night of Hanukkah and finds it dark and silent. Goblins have taken over the old synagogue on the hill, and every night they snuff out the candles and spoil the holiday. So Hershel makes a deal: he'll spend all eight nights up there alone, and if he can light the candles each night and trick the goblins into it too, their power breaks. What follows is eight nights of him outsmarting one goblin after another, each bigger and nastier than the last, right up to the terrifying King of the Goblins on the final night.
This is the Hanukkah book a lot of families reach for first, and it makes a wonderful gift for a child who's a bit past the cuddly picture books and ready for a story with some teeth. It's a real folktale with real suspense, but every scare is defused by Hershel being cleverer than the monster, which is deeply satisfying to a five-to-nine-year-old. Trina Schart Hyman's paintings are dark and gorgeous and earned a Caldecott Honor. And underneath the fun it carries the actual heart of Hanukkah: keeping the light going when something is trying to put it out.