When she and her family move to France, Charlotte finds that she must adjust to many new, and sometimes unpleasant experiences, from being placed in the lowest class at school, because she doesn't speak the language, to being called "l'étrangère" - the foreigner - by an unsympathetic classmate. But although she doesn't like everything about her new home, Charlotte does enjoy the preparations for Christmas that are underway in the village, and wishes that she could participate. Her parents, while sympathetic to her feelings, are firmly opposed to the idea that she should celebrate Christmas, reminding her that they are Jewish. And then one night, at Chanukah dinner, Charlotte thinks of a way that she (and her parents) can participate after all, without betraying who they are...

Billed as a "true story," A Chanukah Noel is apparently the record of an incident in the early life of one of author Sharon Jennings' friends, although no further details are given. The story, in which a Jewish family gives Christmas - complete with all the trimmings (French style) - to a Christian one, reminded me of Patricia Polacco's The Trees of the Dancing Goats, which is high praise indeed! Jennings' story is an engaging one, and I was particularly struck (and moved) by three things: first, that it is the family of the young girl who ridicules Charlotte that is the one to benefit from her generous idea; second, that Charlotte's father insists that they find a way to be generous without hurting the Levert family's pride; and third, that the Leverts demonstrate, at the end, that they too can be generous.

I was interested to see that the illustrations for A Chanukah Noel were done by Gillian Newland, an artist whose debut picture-book, Big and Small, Room for All quite impressed me, when I read it last year. The style here is a little different than in her earlier book - far darker, with more of a "scratchy" look - but the effect, while not exactly pretty, was quite interesting. All in all, I found this an engaging holiday title, and think it would be suitable for both Chanukah and Christmas reading. ( )