Eight Winter Nights by Laura Krauss Melmed

Getting Ready
    Each year we take eight winter nights
To kindle our menorah’s lights.
Tick-tock! Don’t be late!
We’re getting set to celebrate!
Polishing the Menorah
    Rub-a-dub up
Rub-a-dub down
‘Til our menorah
Shines like a crown.

Colored Candles
    Red as a fire truck, blue as the sky,
Yellow as wings on a butterfly,
Green as a grasshopper, pink as a bow,
Orange as apricots, white as snow.
Pick the candles you like the best
To light tonight. We’ll save the rest.

First Night
    Now the sun has gone away
And stars are coming out to play—
It’s time to start our holiday!
The First Candle
    Outside there’s snowy blow-y weather,
But here at home we’re snug together—Daddy, Baby, Grandpa, Brother,
Sister holding hands with Mother—All watching on this special night
As Grandma sets one flame alight.
The Ninth Candle
    The shammes candle stands up straight,
A servant and quite proud of it.
He always is the first one lit
And then he lights the other eight.

Second Night
    We’ll choose two candles,
Light the menorah,
Turn up the music
And dance the hora.
Hanukkah Rock
    Sway to the music,
Bounce to the beat,
Feel the rockin’ rhythm
In your feet, feet, feet,
Give a little shimmy,
Prance a little prance,
Whirl around and twirl around
And dance, dance, dance.

Third Night
    At our window we will show
How warmly our three candles glow.
The Storyteller
    The children sit on Grandpa’s knee
To learn of Judah Maccabee
And why each year we tell the story
Of those ancient deeds of glory.

Fourth Night
    Tonight is a light-four-flames night.
Tonight is a fun-and-games night.
Dreidel Game
    I’m a little dreidel,
Watch me spin,
Nun, gimel, hey, and shin.

The way I fall,
Tells who will win.
Dreidel Chase
    I had a little dreidel,
I made it out of clay,
But Baby grabbed my dreidel,
And now I cannot play.
Let’s catch that naughty baby—OOPS! Baby got away!

Fifth Night
    It’s SO hard to wait
‘Til the cousins arrive
To help light the candles
On night number five.
They’re Here!
    BRR-RRING goes the doorbell
And in rush the cousins—
Wild ones, noisy ones,
There must be dozens!
What a commotion, what a delight
When cousins come calling this
Hanukkah night!
Golden Coins
    Chocolate coins! Hanukkah gelt!
Munch them fast before they melt!

Sixth Night
    Sizzling latkes, such a treat,
With applesauce so cool and sweet,
Let’s light six candles; then we’ll eat.
Latkes …
    Latkes in the frying pan,
Latkes on your plate,
Latkes for the family,
Who ate and ate and ate.
… and Applesauce!
    Applesauce, applesauce on your nose.
Applesauce, applesauce on your toes.
Applesauce, applesauce on your thumb.
Applesauce, applesauce in your tummy-tum-tum.
Applesauce, applesauce, we like it best.
Applesauce, applesauce, east to west.
Applesauce, applesauce, north to south.
Here comes the applesauce—open your mouth!

Seventh Night
    Seven candles shining bright
Send all the world a gift of light.
Opening Presents
    Sister got a painting set,
Brother got a model jet,
Baby got a teddy bear
And sat it on her potty chair.
Tzedakah
    We save our coins up in a jar
To help our neighbors, near and far.

Eighth Night
    Eight blazing candles stand up tall
On this, the brightest night of all.
Though Hanukkah ends now it’s true,
Next year we‘ll celebrate anew.
A Lucky Number
       1
+ 2
+ 3
+ 4
+ 5
+ 6
+ 7
+ 8
Makes 36,
And here’s the wonder—
36 is a lucky number!

Good Night
    The snow is white.
The stars are bright.
The family is sleeping tight,
Wrapped in dreams
Of candlelight.

Hanukkah
    About two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were ruled by a cruel foreign king named Antiochus. He would not let them practice their religion and forced them to bow down to statues placed inside their holy temple. Out of fear, many people obeyed. But a small band of fighters led by Judah Maccabee would not give in. They battled Antiochus’s army for three years and finally won. When they reclaimed the temple, they found that the eternal lamp, meant to be kept