Potatoes at Turtle Rock

Narrator Annie leads her family on a nighttime hike around their farm to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Annie uses riddles (and potatoes) to talk about old traditions and make new ones. Get it on Amazon.

“‘Baked potatoes and snow cones.’ It’s a fun twist on traditional stories about the holiday.” ―The Washington Post

“The creative team behind Tashlich at Turtle Rock (2010) returns with another story about a Jewish holiday–themed hike. Once again, young Annie is the leader and narrator; the title refers to her giving two baked potatoes to each family member during a Hanukkah walk through their snowy woods. Annie explains that the potatoes serve multiple purposes: they’re touchstones of family history (as a boy,‘Great-Grandpop’ used hot potatoes as pocket warmers during wintry walks to his shtetl’s religious school), a makeshift menorah (‘Annie, you’re ingenious,’ says Dad, as she pushes six candles and the shammash into the spuds), and latke substitutes, eaten al fresco. Schnur and Schnur Fishman fill the family’s sojourn with snappy banter (asked to reveal something he’s afraid of, Dad replies, ‘The federal deficit’) while Steele-Morgan’s outdoor scenes capture the chilly blue light of the season.”—Publishers Weekly

“The authors, a mother-daughter team who wrote Tashlich at Turtle Rock have joined with the illustrator of that book to offer one family’s unusual, but creative, observance of Hanukkah. It is the sixth night of the holiday, snowing and cold. Mom, dad, children Lincoln and Annie, and their pet chicken and goat venture out to the woods to celebrate. Annie has the itinerary planned, and the group stops at Old Log, Squeezy Cave, and Billy Goat Bridge before reaching Turtle Rock. Anna has secret packages and questions to ask the family at each destination. She brings hot potatoes to keep warm, to use for candle holders, and finally to eat. During the slightly scary adventure, the family sings holiday songs, dances, the children make dreidels in the snow, and mom says a prayer.

One bit of trivia is told. On the sixth night of Hanukkah, we cannot see the moon shine (it is the new moon in our hemisphere).

There is a brief note about Hanukkah after the story and the illustrations complement the text by adding just enough color to make the dark evening come alive.

Recommended to elicit discussion on individual family observances of traditional holidays.”—Congregational Libraries Today