SAN DIEGO – Here is a recipe for writing a great chapter book for children about Hanukkah
Ingredients
Find a subject to write about
Jot ideas down on paper or computer
Create a main character or two
Create lots of tension
Get your main characters into a lot of trouble
Lead up to one big, big obstacle or problem
Have your main characters solve that problem
Wind down with a satisfying ending
Have a message/theme that doesn’t hit the reader over the head
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Procedures for Writing A Dreidel in Time: A New Spin on an Old Tale
- I decided I wanted to write a chapter book about the story of Hanukkah for children ages 5-8+. I needed an original way to tell that story.
- I jotted down the key action points in the story of the Maccabees and their fight for religious freedom. I also jotted down thoughts about including a magical, time-travel theme.
- I wanted a brother and sister, under the age of 13, from the modern world. I also wanted two siblings from the time of the Maccabees. The modern kids, Devorah and Robbie, would be the main characters. They would be greedy, concerned only with getting presents.
- The tension began with the first spin of the magic dreidel, transporting Devorah and Robbie from their comfy home in California to a ragged tent 2000 years ago. I had to weave them into the Hanukkah story and move them quickly through time to cover the entire story in one book.
- Enter the magic dreidel that could move the story ahead with each spin while tying the Hebrew letters on the dreidel to both their meaning in the game and to what was happening in the story.
- Problems encountered had to be developed around the actual Maccabee storyline.
- When Robbie is captured, and the enemy soldiers are on their way to defeat the Maccabees in a final showdown.
- The children must find a way to free Robbie, while saving the Maccabees from certain defeat.
- The children… Wait—I don’t want to give away the ending. You’ll have to read the book for that.
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Marcia Berneger is a retired elementary school teacher. She loves writing stories for children. She is the author of such children’s books as Buster the Little Garbage Truck, and A Dreidel in Time.