Hanukkah in Alaska, by Barbara Brown

Specifics
Hanukkah in Alaska, by Barbara Brown, Illustrated by Stacey Schuett
Published by Henry Holt and Co., 2013
http://www.storylineonline.net/hanukkah-in-alaska/

Target Audience
Lexile level not shown
This book is for younger readers, kindergarten to fourth grade.

Summary
This book is about a young girl who lives in Alaska. It is explained that in winter in Alaska, daylight only lasts for about five hours, there is a lot of snow, and everyone has to watch out for moose. Moose like to use the path that humans shovel out, like driveways and roads. There is a moose that decides to camp out in the main character's back yard, right by her swing. She tries everything to get it to leave, but nothing works until the last day of Hanukkah, when she discovers that a Jewish food is something that the moose likes to eat. She ends up successfully luring the moose away from her swing, and she then enjoys the beauty of the northern lights with her family.

Evaluation
This story is good because it explains a lot of things that people don't normally think about, like what life is like in Alaska during the winter, and having to watch out for moose. The characters fit the setting perfectly, in that the main character dresses in a giant snowsuit just to go outside. This story makes it sound like this kind of thing could actually happen, because it says that you can hug a tree to avoid getting stepped on or attacked by a moose, and the moose stays where there is less snow. The character is portrayed as an individual who has lived in Alaska her whole life, and she knows that snow and darkness and moose are a reality of the winter.

Lesson
The lesson for this story will be about moose, the northern lights, and Hanukkah. The children can be taught about onomatopoeia, and what kinds of sounds a moose makes. They can discuss the author's use of foreshadowing, with the other moose that got caught in the swing. The author's use of simile can also be addressed. The students can do a research project about Alaska and the northern lights, as well as talking about the different winter holidays, other than Christmas.