The 7 Best Hanukkah Books for Kids

It’s important to connect with your kids over your religious background, and sometimes it’s challenging to find the right book. We reviewed dozens and dozens of books and picked the 7 best Hanukkah books for kids that we’d recommend for your home, with toddlers and early readers in mind.

These seven books cover a range of themes, but they all focus on one thing: Hanukkah.

For more ideas through the season, see our holiday and seasonal ideas for families and our guide to bedtime stories and reading with little kids.

How we picked

We judged every book on three things. How well it explains Hanukkah, will this be a book that will be part of the nightly routine for multiple nights, and who else vouches for it.

The Menashes love latkes and applesauce during Hanukkah. But a blizzard begins and erases any hope that they’ll harvest potatoes and apples in time. When a stray cat and dog show up, there’s not a lot of food to offer them, but kindness prevails, and they’re invited in. It turns out that the dog—Latke—and the cat—Applesauce—save the day.

An original tale featuring a traditional Jewish folk hero, this clever story, which received a Sydney Taylor Honor, has been a family favorite for decades.

On the first night of Hanukkah, a weary traveler named Hershel of Ostropol eagerly approaches a village, where plenty of latkes and merriment should warm him.

But when he arrives not a single candle is lit. A band of frightful goblins has taken over the synagogue, and the villagers cannot celebrate at all! Hershel vows to help them. Using his wits, the clever trickster faces down one goblin after the next, night after night. But can one man alone save Hanukkah and live to tell the tale?

The beloved characters from Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family return in a heartwarming picture book from the acclaimed author and Caldecott Award-winning artist. A Kirkus Reviews best book of the year that is perfect for Hanukkah gift-giving!

In this award-winning, delightfully upside-down picture book holiday story, cousins from opposite sides of the globe debate who can celebrate the best Hanukkah. Eight chances to prove it—may the best cousin win!

From their homes in New York and New Zealand, cousins Noah and Nora decide to have a competition. Winter versus summer: Who can have the world’s best Hanukkah?

But as the eight nights of Hanukkah go on, the contest proves tougher than they imagined. Even as each cousin celebrates the holiday with their own unique traditions, they realize they have more in common than they thought.

A warm, witty holiday story from acclaimed award-winning creators Elissa Brent Weissman and Omer Hoffmann, Hanukkah Upside Down shows that while there are countless ways to celebrate Hanukkah, family is what matters most.

A heartwarming picture book with a fresh twist on a Hanukkah celebrating a ninth night with new neighbors and friends!

It’s Hanukkah, and Max and Rachel are excited to light the menorah in their family’s new apartment. But, unfortunately, their Hanukkah box is missing. So now they have no menorah, candles, dreidels, or, well, anything! Luckily, their neighbors are happy to help, offering thoughtful and often humorous stand-in items each night. And then, just as Hanukkah is about to end, Max and Rachel, inspired by the shamash (“helper”) candle, have a brilliant they’re going to celebrate the Ninth Night of Hanukkah as a way to say thanks to everyone who’s helped them!

A young immigrant from Nazi Germany recieves small acts of kindness while exploring New York City in this heartwarming, timeless picture book, Oskar and the Eight Blessings.

A refugee seeking sanctuary from the horrors of Kristallnacht, Oskar arrives by ship in New York City with only a photograph and an address for an aunt he has never met. It is both the seventh day of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, 1938. As Oskar walks the length of Manhattan, from the Battery to his new home in the north of the city, he passes experiences the city's many holiday sights, and encounters it various residents. Each offers Oskar a small act of kindness, welcoming him to the city and helping him on his way to a new life in the new world.

A Hanukkah holiday laugh-out-loud hit with a lovable klutz and loads of heart.

Mendel is always messing up. So, no one is more surprised than he, when the rabbi asks him to drive the Mitzvah Mobile through the streets of New York and invite everyone to the Hanukkah bash. What if he messes up again? As Mendel begins to spread the joy of the holiday, he learns that mistakes can happen and sometimes the results can be miraculous.

Mendel's Hanukkah Mess-Up recieved a starred review from School Library Journal and was an Association of Jewish Libraries Holiday Highlights Book. A free downloadable activity guide that highlights the themes in this book is available on the Kalaniot Books website.