#tbt: Hershel & the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel

Hershel & the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel. Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. unpgd. Holiday House, January, 1989. 9780823407699.

#tbt features Hershel & the Hanukkah Goblins, written by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. This original story feels like a traditional folktale. Hershel of Ostropol hopes to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah in the next village. When he arrives, he learns that the villagers are haunted by goblins and are not allowed to celebrate Hanukkah. Hershel asks how to break the goblins' spell and learns he must spend eight nights in the old synagogue, light a candle each night and on the eighth night, the King of the Goblins must light the candles himself. It was published in January of 1989 and won a Caldecott Honor.

This book became an instant favorite with my boys and we broke it out to read frequently. When I became a school librarian, my first job was in a K-8 school where I saw all the students once a week as a "special." I read Hershel each year and no student ever minded one bit.