Advent Calendar: Day 11

Here is a beautiful and heartwarming book for you today, in the middle of the eight days of Chanukah. There are a couple of reasons I love this book and wanted to recommend it to you. First -- look how pretty the illustrations are! The muted colors and soft tones beautifully evoke a winter night -- the first night of Chanukah as well as Christmas Eve, 1938. We meet Oskar, a newly arrived immigrant who has fled Germany in the wake of Kristallnacht -- "The Night of Broken Glass." As Oskar (who carries only a photograph and his aunt's address) walks through Manhattan toward his new home, he encounters the holiday sights and sounds of the city, and experiences several different acts of kindness. This book shows us that good people are everywhere if we are paying attention -- and that blessings abound even in times that seem dark.

Seems pretty timely to me.