When an old lady swindles him out of his magic dreidels, Jacob tries to get them back in time for the family's Hanukkah celebration.
While everyone else in the house prepares for Hanukkah, Jacob wants nothing but to play with his new brass dreidel. When he is sent to fetch water, he accidentally sends his dreidel into the well. Little does Jacob know that a good-willed, if mischievous, goblin lives at the bottom of the well, and that he will then receive a few special gifts. This re-telling of the old tale "The Tablecloth, the Donkey, and the Stick" in a Hanukkah setting shows that sometimes honest boys don't need magic dreidels to spin some magic of their own!
Katya Krenina's illustrations evoke the liveliness of the holiday as well as the rustic settings of Jacob and his family. She brings subtle warmth into the winter season, even stripping a fantastical goblin of any eeriness that might be associated with it. Eric Kimmel's clean, clear writing makes The Magic Dreidels a wonderful selection for bedtime stories as the days get shorter.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Hanukkah magic:
Jacob refused to help prepare for Hanukkah, preferring instead to play with his new brass dreidel. He was sent for water and by accident, droped his dreidel into the well. Like the boy in Freya Littledale's Peter and the North Wind, another rendition of "The Tablecloth, the Donkey, and the Stick," Jacob met a magician, in this case a mischievous goblin who lived in the well and gave him a magic dreidel that spun out potato latkes.
Like Peter, Jacob also met a jealous old thief--here, the archetypal Fruma... more info
Why isn't Jacob doing his job and playing with dreidels?:
All of Jacob's family is getting ready for Hanukkah. But Jacob is not. When his family asks him to go and get some water from the well, he brought his dreidel and he lost it. He forgot to get the water. He got magic dreidels but he was tricked and somebody else ended up with them. But then he got a magic dreidel and the person who stole them gave them back because the magic dreidel had bad stuff in it. Then when he got the magic dreidels, they spun gelt and latkes. The family had to share with other... more info
Delightful:
Eric Kimmel has done it again! The author of the now-classic "Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins" adds another feather to his multi-plumed hat with this delightful adaptation of the old folktale "The Table, the Donkey, and the Stick." Marvelous for storytelling--the jewel-like illustrations are worth the price of admission--, this lovely tale is pure delight for children of all backgrounds and traditions
