A Story for Chanukah and Christmas
Michael and Elijah are an unlikely pair—Michael, a nine-year-old Jewish boy, and Elijah, a black barber and woodcarver, a Christian man in his eighties. Yet they are friends, sharing time together, just as Chanukah and Christmas sometimes do. When Elijah shows his affection for Michael by giving him a carved angel for Christmas, Michael things that he is bringing a “graven image” into his Jewish home and fears he is disobeying God.But Michaels’ parents help him see that the angel is a gift of friendship, and Michael reciprocates by giving Elijah a menorah he made at Hebrew school. A path of understanding is created between the old woodcarver’s barbershop and Michael’s family home—and between their religions.
Winner, National Jewish Book Award
A best book of the year as chosen by Essence, Parents’, Horn Book, Hungry Mind Review, American Booksellers, and Miami Herald, which wrote: “…a heart-warming, beautifully written story, with a message for children of all religions…a book that ought to endure.”
“The book is so finely done that the drawings and the story line compete for attention.”
—New York Times
“I can’t remember another children’s book that even tried to deal with the two religious holidays at the same time. And Elijah’s Angel isn’t just an attempt, it’s a howling success.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
A best book of the year as chosen by Essence, Parents’, Horn Book, Hungry Mind Review, American Booksellers, and Miami Herald, which wrote: “…a heart-warming, beautifully written story, with a message for children of all religions…a book that ought to endure.”
“The book is so finely done that the drawings and the story line compete for attention.”
—New York Times
“I can’t remember another children’s book that even tried to deal with the two religious holidays at the same time. And Elijah’s Angel isn’t just an attempt, it’s a howling success.” —Philadelphia Inquirer