Book Review: The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck

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The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World  by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck is a children's book about a boy being taken around the world via the light from his menorah. In his travels, he visits different holiday festivals. Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. I think it's important for children to learn about other holidays around the world in a fun way. However, I expected a little more description during the actual story to correspond with the illustrations instead of it being included in the author's note. I feel like the adults will have to explain the point of the book to children. With that being said, the writing was absolutely beautiful, and the illustrations are fantastic. Four out of five stars is what I gave The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck for taking the initiative to

Book Review: Are You There God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume is told from the perspective of Margaret, who has recently moved to New Jersey and is dealing with a lot of things a girl at this age typically deals with. Margaret has to deal with making new friends and is questioning religion. Additionally, she and her new friends are entering the sixth grade and are juggling the trials and tribulations of being a tween and going through puberty, including school dances, boy/girl parties, getting their first bra, etc.

Judy Blume does a great job of what a child might experience in these situations and additionally does a great job dealing with how a child might question religion. I thought the story was well written and was handled delicately. I do suggest that parents have a conversation with their child after they read the book to answer any questions they may have.

There were some situations that I could relate to, but there were others that I didn't relate to at all. I remember bras and such being a topic of discussion in the girls locker room, but none of my friends and I had a competition about getting our periods. I was a little dumfounded that the boys didn't have a sex education class like the girls did. At my school, students were split up, with boys in one or two classes and girls in separate classes to discuss the sensitive issues of puberty. Of course, parents could opt their child out of the class.

As a kid, I never really questioned different religions. I think that was largely because my dad would ask me what I learned at church, and my parents and I would have a discussion about it as a family. Additionally, I learned a bit about different religions in school as well. Between these two things, I guess I never really felt the need to question any type of religion.

This was my first time reading this book, and it's my understanding that parts of the book have been updated to align with modern times. I wish I had access to the original story so I could compare the two. 

All in all, I enjoyed reading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I gave it four out of five stars.

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