As a Jewish educator, this is a great book for reviewing the story of Hanukkah (or Ḥannukah, if we are being grammatically accurate in transliteration). In the book, a family of latkes (a fried potato dish we eat during Hanukkah) is telling the story of the Maccabees to their children. The kids don't understand the name "Maccabees" and assume that the story is about "mega bees" who defeated the Greeks. This is a cute and attention-grabbing technique, suitable for students no matter their familiarity (or lack) with the story of Hanukkah. (One of the latke-children keeps objecting that there were no bees in the story). The end of the book gives an accurate overview of the story of Hanukkah, minus any references to bumble bees. This is a fun and educational book which I ordered for my personal collection after seeing it at a scholastic book fair.

The Hanukkah story meets Star Trek in this hilarious new picture-book from author/artist Alan Silberberg, with a little bit of the Trojan War thrown in for good measure. As the clueless Latke Family celebrates the Festival of Lights, Grandpa Latke proceeds to tell little Lucy the tale of how Judah and the Mega-Bees fought off the Alien Potatoes from Planet Chhhhh, who were determined to destroy the Jewish people and their temple. Lucy's dog Applesauce struggles to tell the real story, but Grandpa carries on with his crazy tale, which comes complete with warrior-bees hidden inside a massive wooden dreidel, and the invention of the first latkes (made from splattered aliens). Will Applesauce ever manage to set the record straight...?

I picked up Meet the Latkes with fairly low expectations, if I'm being honest. Sometimes these "funny" picture-books are hit or miss with me - my funny-bone is notoriously difficult to tickle - and I tend to prefer sweeter and/or more poignant holiday stories, rather than the more lighthearted ones. That said, I quickly found myself laughing aloud at Grandpa Latke's over-the-top narrative here, and Applesauce's resultant indignant sputtering. The artwork is colorful and accentuates the humor of the story, with Applesauce's interjections in increasingly dramatic speech bubbles. I think the humor here works best if you know the real story of Hanukkah, but with that proviso, this is one I'd recommend to readers looking for humorous holiday tales for their celebration of the Festival of Lights. ( )

Lucy Latke's family is just like yours or mine. Except that they're potato pancakes. And also, they are completely clueless. After lighting the menorah and gobbling the gelt, Grandpa Latke tells everyone the Hanukkah story, complete with mighty Mega Bees who use a giant dreidel to fight against the evil alien potatoes from Planet Chhh. It's up to the Latke family dog to set the record straight. (To start with, they were Maccabees, not Mega Bees...) But he'll have to get the rest of the Latkes to listen to him first!