When Zoe, Zach and their parents adopt a dog from the shelter on the first day of Hanukkah, they name him Latke and bring him home. Unused to life in a house, Latke makes a number of mistakes, from eating treats not meant for him to chewing on wrapped holiday gifts. Fortunately, his new family is patient and understanding...

I picked up Latke, the Lucky Dog with some anticipation, hoping for a sweet holiday tale about an animal finding a home, and that is just what I got. That said, the text sometimes felt a little clunky to me, and the first-person narration from Latke's perspective was often a little forced. The artwork is colorful and cute, although the human faces (particularly the eyes) were somewhat off-putting to me. This is my first book from author Ellen Fischer, but I have encountered and enjoyed illustrator Tiphanie Beeke's work before, in Julia Rawlinson's picture-books about Fletcher the fox, so I was surprised to find that the visuals didn't strike more of a chord with me. Perhaps Beeke is simply better at depicting animals than humans. There's nothing really wrong here, and I would still recommend this one to those seeking picture-book set at Hanukkah (rather than about Hanukkah itself), but somehow I expected to enjoy it more than I did. ( )

O was so excited to open this book and read it again. It's a cute light story. ( )

A dog recently rescued from an animal shelter makes a mess of Hanukkah in a series of mishaps. ( )

3. I liked the book “Latke, The Lucky Dog” by Ellen Fischer. The book includes clear language that flows and separates the words thought by the dog with the words being said by the humans. The characters in the story are believable, as the humans in the story are struggling to train the dog they just rescued from an animal shelter. The plot is organized and follows the eight days of Hannukah as a guideline for time passing in the story. At the end of the book, there is a description of Hannukah, elaborating the details of the holiday to the reader. The main message of this book is about patience and love, while also including information about the Jewish holiday, Hannukah.