cover image Judah Maccabee Goes to the Doctor: A Story for Hanukkah

Judah Maccabee Goes to the Doctor: A Story for Hanukkah

Ann D. Koffsky, illus. by Talitha Shipman. Apples & Honey, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-68115-522-7

Here’s an unusual twofer: a Hanukkah book that advocates for vaccinations. Brisk text and schoolroom-cheery illustrations introduce a boy named Judah, who’s trying his best to be a hero to his baby sister, Hannah (he tries sharing his “Choco-monster-delight cereal,” which she joyfully returns in a projectile spit). Just when he thinks he has the big brother role cinched, thanks to a toy Maccabee shield he receives for Hanukkah, Judah discovers that it’s time for his vaccinations—and in the presence of a watchful Hannah, he balks. Koffsky and Shipman take a while to get to the heart of their message, but when they do, it’s perfectly pitched for their audience: being vaccinated, Dad explains, is just one more way we protect the people we love. “Being the best and the bravest wasn’t only an outside, shiny-shield thing,” Judah realizes. “It was an on-the-inside thing, too.” Ages 4–8. (Aug.)