This picture book celebration brings the joy and family fun of Hanukkah to life for even the youngest reader

Eva, a would-be writer, sits on her New York City stoop with her notebook, waiting for something to happen. She has been given a homework assignment to record goings-on in her Manhattan neighborhood. Each neighbor who passes offers her useless writing tips, but it isn't until Eva takes matters into her own hands that exciting things begin to happen in her neighborhood -- enough to make a great story!A hilarious sequence of happenings ensues and Eva learns that you can find inspiration for writing anywhere if you observe carefully enough.

"Reading is freedom," Hannah's mother tells her. "The thoughts in books are powerful strong, stronger even than chains," her father says. When ten-year-old Amanda hears noises in the night, she sneaks downstairs and discovers her house is a stop on the Underground Railroad During the brief time that Hannah, a runaway slave, hides out in Amanda's house, the two girls become fast friends. Hannah tells Amanda how she intends to be free in EVERY way--including the freedom that comes from knowing how to read and write. Risking everything, Amanda impulsively decides to help. Crackling with suspense, this moving, accessible story says much about the power of friendship and the power of literacy.

Words. Selig collects them, ones that stir his heart (Mama!) and ones that make him laugh (giggle). But what to do with so many luscious words? After helping a poet find the perfect words for his poem (lozenge, lemon, and licorice), he figures it out: His purpose is to spread the word to others. And so he begins to sprinkle, disburse, and broadcast them to people in need.