Oy, indeed! There's a great deal that Santa does not know about Hanukkah in this informative, funny book — but the jolly old elf gradually becomes more fluent in holiday traditions thanks to the patient persistence of Oliver, a boy exchanging letters with him.
Oliver starts off their exchange by letting Santa know that "I'm Jewish. And that means you don't have to come down my chimney on Christmas Eve. I just wanna make sure you know."
Santa writes back, noting that Oliver's friend Ibrahim doesn't celebrate Christmas, either, but that "Santa keeps track of children everywhere. He knows who celebrates Christmas and who doesn't."
Santa then makes the first of many faux pas when he closes his letter by wishing Oliver a "Happy Chrismukkah." Not happy with this smushing together of holidays, Oliver writes back politely but vigorously with details about what Hanukkah is and isn't. And so they continue, with Oliver needing to correct Santa's misconceptions about everything from matzah (that's for a different holiday!) to not putting ketchup on latkes.
Meanwhile, the boy is growing suspicious, since Santa keeps referring to himself in third person. In an overall clever book, that's one of the most adroit touches, allowing readers ages four to nine to keep their own inner image of Santa alive if it doesn't quite coincide with this comparatively clueless character.
Gila von Meissner, an illustrator from North Germany, gives the book extra sparkling touches. These include Santa's mismatched socks, Oliver's "Maccabee" pennant and rainbow-colored yarmulke, and the post-its on Santa's "Nice" and "Naughty" tack-board (for the record, "Nice" wins out by a mile).
Extensive backmatter on Hanukkah and more round out this book for readers of all faith traditions. Oy Santa is Joyce Schriebman's first book (could have fooled us!), but she has long experience with multifaith understanding as founder of My Brother from Another Mother, a nonprofit dedicated to religious understanding. She credits this book's inspiration to her son, who years ago wrote, "We dont salubrat crismis" — a note that the family still places on their mantel every Hanukkah.
