The Golden Dreidel

The Golden Dreidel by Ellen Kushner book cover

Cover by Kevin Keele

The Golden Dreidel

Illustrations by Kevin Keele

From award-winning fantasy author Ellen Kushner comes an unforgettable adventure inspired by Jewish folklore and tradition.

Sara wishes her family celebrated Christmas or at least had one of the pretty trees she sees at her friends' houses. But at her family's big Chanukah party, mysterious guest Tante Miriam gives Sara a one-of-a-kind gift: an enormous, golden dreidel. Miriam warns her to be careful, for when she spins it, she's spinning miracles. Sara soon discovers there's much more to the dreidel than meets the eye, and before long she's spun herself into a whole new world--one of magical princesses, riddles, and demons. Can Sara discover her wisdom and rely on her courage to help a new friend and to find her way back home? The perfect Chanukah read!

Book Reviews

  • The chatty storytelling is fast, furious, and sometimes funny, especially the riddles… and scattered throughout are delicate black-and-white illustrations that capture the magical realism. Kids will enjoy the fantasy adventure, as well as the contemporary family standoffs; they’ll also be interested in Tante Miriam’s explanation of the dreydl’s symbols. This will be fun for reading aloud.

    Booklist

  • The Golden Dreidel is a beautifully spun tale of Jewish folklore, coming into your own, and the power of friendship.

    Literary Lady Reviews

  • This magical middle grade Chanukah story, a Jewish spin on The Nutcracker, will delight not only fantasy readers, but those who enjoy witty humor and challenging riddles.

    School Library Journal

  • The Golden Dreidel is back and better than ever with new illustrations by Kevin Keele.

    Kveller

  • Kushner’s book is an engaging read for kids not yet ready for longer middle-grade novels but eager for a satisfying holiday adventure.

    Good Reads with Ronna

  • The author, an established award-winning fantasy writer for teens and adults, does an admirable job of combining Jewish folklore and holiday traditions with an appealing fantasy story for young readers. The delightful black and white line drawings that are sprinkled throughout the text provide further entry into the magical world that Kushner has created.

    Jewish Book World

  • Peopled with a magical cast that includes evil demons and biblical royalty… sure to engage Harry Potter enthusiasts.

    Hadassah Magazine

  • … a beautiful little gem of a book.

    Jeff VanderMeer

  • Now, for slightly older readers, we will keep on hand copies of The Golden Dreydl … a story that begins with a child “too old” for the annual family gathering. The adventure she falls into incorporates many elements of Jewish folklore and celebrates the return to the bosom of the family, and isn’t this what the holidays are always about?

    Sonia Bolle, The Los Angeles Times

  • A delightful adaptation of the classic Nutcracker, bringing Jewish folklore and traditions to life.

    Metro Parent

  • Kushner is known for her fantasy novels, and her foray into the seldom-explored area of Jewish fantasy for young readers will appeal on many levels. Jewish customs and folklore, interesting characters, and silly riddles combine for an entertaining and enchanting read. Highly recommended for middle-grade readers in all libraries.

    Kathe Pinchuck, Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter

  • Ellen Kushner, host of the public radio series Sound & Spirit, has been performing with the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra in The Golden Dreydl, their Hanukkah adaptation of The Nutcracker; now the story that she narrates appears as a novel with the same name, with line art by Ilene Winn-Lederer. In place of Clara, meet Sara, who after a petulant scene before Tante Miriam (think Drosselmeyer), accidentally tosses a special dreydl through the screen of her aunt’s gigantic television; the dreydl is the enchanted daughter of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

    Publisher’s Weekly

  • The Golden Dreydl is a story for any Jewish child whose holiday candles may have felt dimmed by the super-charged wattage emitted at Christmas . . . .The story of Sara’s fantasy experience is engaging . . .The reader is swept right along . . . a willing participant in the journey through time. Kushner has a gift for dialogue, which is difficult to accomplish when writing for teenagers. . . . You know these kids. Maybe they are your kids. There is a ‘once upon a time’ quality to this story that brings dusty figures from the past to life in the present and on to the future. This is a story that will be read and appreciated through the years.

    Brenda Sutton, Mythic Passages

  • When the mysterious Tante Miriam shows up at the family Chanukah party and gives each kid a gift, Sara’s annoyance deepens; her present is a weird, huge, golden dreydl. Except, well, it actually sends her spinning into another reality, one that includes King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, a lost princess who needs rescuing, and the Demon King. Also, some highly satisfying riddles that my kid has been enjoying trying out on friends.

    Els Kushner, book, book, book

  • Good New Books about the Holidays: — Sara’s grumpiness about Hanukkah disappears when Tante Miriam gives her a special dreidel that actually is an enchanted princess. . . Sara journeys into a magical world to rescue the princess from the evil Demon King.

    Karen Macpherson, Scripps Howard News Service

  • Folklore, fantasy and humor . . . . Sara gets caught up in a dance where the letters of the dreydl along with every letter of the alphabet combine to make word after word, ‘as if the world itself were being created in letters.'

    Sandee Brawarsky, Jewish Journal

  • A fresh, different story, incorporating elements of Jewish mythology and folklore to create something new and enjoyable.

    Strange Horizons

Celebrating The Golden Dreidel

  • Child reading The Golden Dreidel

  • Young reader of The Golden Dreidel

  • Child curled up in a chair and reading The Golden Dreidel

  • Ellen at Books of Wonder in New York City

    Ellen with The Golden Dreidel; Books of Wonder (New York City, 2021)

  • Books of Wonder (New York City, 2021)

  • Photograph of Ellen Kushner holding her book The Golden Dreidel

    Ellen with The Golden Dreidel; Book Moon (Easthampton, MA, 2021)

  • First author copies

“Kushner’s book is an engaging read for kids not yet ready for longer middle-grade novels but eager for a satisfying holiday adventure.”

Good Reads with Ronna

The Story of The Golden Dreidel Project

This Chanukah tale began as a stage show, The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer “Nutcracker” for Chanukah, in collaboration with the klezmer band Shirim. Commissioned originally for a Boston music festival, it went on to delight audiences across the U.S., from New York’s Symphony Space to Kalamazoo’s Michigan Festival of Sacred Music, featuring Ellen as the Narrator of the band’s hilarious, irreverent musical arrangements of the Tchaikovsky favorite. That show went on to become an award-winning public radio holiday special, which then became an album.

The Album

2002 Gracie Allen Award winner

Ellen was already a fan of Shirim’s version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite reimagined as klezmer roots music. Klezmer is the name for the wandering Jewish musicians of Eastern Europe. In the 20th century, they made their way to America, met American jazz—and a whole new sound was born! 

Shirim leader Glenn Dickson explained, "Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker shares Russian roots with klezmer music; it is dance music like klezmer music is .... The results [of playing Tchaikovsky with a klezmer band] surprised us. This was not just a novelty but a piece of music that made sense and had its own integrity and charm."

All it needed was a story . . . And so Ellen and Shirim keyboardist Michael McLaughlin sat down together and created one: a Jewish “Nutcracker,” with a little girl named Sara, not Clara, a magical auntie instead of Uncle Drosselmeyer . . . and the Nutcracker Prince changed to a Dreidel Princess! Kushner’s narration weaves in and out of the music as they tell the story together.

Ellen said, "We wanted to create a holiday story rich in Jewish themes and values, drawing on Jewish folklore and ethics. The Golden Dreydl is like Tchaikovsky meets Harry Potter, and they go to a Jewish wedding! Shirim's music is a brilliant re-arrangement of the holiday classic. At first you laugh, but then, we hope, you get sucked into a whole new way of hearing the familiar music.”

The performance was recorded by WGBH Radio, Boston, as part of Ellen’s national public radio series, Sound & Spirit. It went out over the airwaves as a holiday special, and then was picked up as an album by Rykodisc. The days of CDs may be over, but the recording is still available online.

Or listen on YouTube.

Or listen on YouTube.

Shirim Klezmer Orchestra.

The First Edition

Book cover of 'The Golden Dreyddl' by Ellen Kushner, featuring a yellow creature with floral and leafy patterns hanging from a tree with green leaves and flowers.

In 2005, an editor from Charlesbridge Publishing asked Ellen if she might turn the story into a book. The result was the beautiful first edition of The Golden Dreydl (2007), with lavish illustrations by noted Jewish illustrator Ilene Winn-Lederer.

A few years later, inspired by a request from PJ Library, Charlesbridge created a new edition of Kushner’s Chanukah story, changing the spelling from Dreydl to the more modern Dreidel, and featuring new illustrations. This is the edition available today.

The Play

The Golden Dreydl book took Ellen Kushner’s tale to the next level: children’s theater! New York's Vital Theater Company asked Ellen to adapt the book as a play for their 2008-09 season, called The Klezmer Nutcracker.

For a lifetime theater bug, it was a dream come true: working on the script with director Linda Ames Key, helping cast the show from New York’s ambitious adult actors at the beginnings of their careers . . . then, at the last minute, Ellen fulfilled her life’s dream of acting on stage in New York, when she stepped in to play the part of Tante Miriam, who presents Sara with the gift of the Golden Dreydl!

Ellen Kushner as Tante Miriam 2008-09.jpeg

Note: The script for The Klezmer Nutcracker will be available soon for licensing, for school and professional performance. Please reach out to Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary Agency for details.

Celebrating The Stage Play

  • Ellen Kushner playing Tante Miriam on stage (2008-09)

  • The Queen of Sheba riding a pretend horse on stage in The Golden Dreidel

    The Queen of Sheba played by Toni Ann DeNoble (2008-09)

  • Ellen Kushner playing Tante Miriam on stage (2008-09)

  • Ellen Kushner playing Tante Miriam on stage

    Ellen Kushner playing Tante Miriam on stage (2008-09)

  • Tante Miriam holding the Golden Dreidel aloft in the stage play of the same name.

    Tante Miriam played by Bethany White (2009-10)

  • Laurabeth Breya, Elizabeth Maria Walsh, Lauren Gray and Ashley Marinelli (2009-10)

  • Ashley Marinelli and Laurabeth Breya (2009-10)

Ellen Kushner playing Tante Miriam on stage (2008-09)

Stage Reviews

  • The Klezmer Nutcracker is a vibrant show. . . there’s plenty in it for grownups to enjoy too, including remarkable sets, a few jokes meant to go over kids’ heads, some great choreography and at least one achingly sweet moment of song. For kids there’s a surprising amount of plot that definitely won’t insult their intelligence, a few obligatory moments of gross-out humor and plenty of magic.

    Gather

  • Casting the author as Tante Miriam was a stroke of genius as she gives the entire play a spiritual and essentially Jewish quality that sets it apart from the fluff of the original Nutcracker . . . The music is truly brilliant.

    CurtainUp

  • Winning characters and enthusiastic cast …. This sort of thing is the true magic of the theater, the reason to take kids out to a show rather than plop them in front of a DVD.

    Blogcritics.com

  • The enterprising Vital Theatre Company’s production ….contained a theatrical innocence I love…

    New York Observer

The Peacock

Ellen Kushner is available for school and community visits, often accompanied by The Peacock, one of the characters in The Golden Dreidel.

Here she is doing a reading in Brooklyn, with Delia Sherman managing the Peacock: