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The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story
Latkes are potato pancakes served at Hanukah. Lemony Snicket is an alleged children’s author. For the first time in literary history, these two elements are combined in one book. People who are interested in either or both of these things will find this book so enjoyable it will feel as if Hanukah is being celebrated for several years, rather than eight nights.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
5 people are currently reading
2719 people want to read
About the author
Lemony Snicket
315 books26.5k followersLemony Snicket had an unusual education and a perplexing youth and now endures a despondent adulthood. His previous published works include the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Composer is Dead, and 13 Words. His new series is All The Wrong Questions.
For A Series of Unfortunate Events:
www.lemonysnicket.com
For All The Wrong Questions:
www.lemonysnicketlibrary.com
For A Series of Unfortunate Events:
www.lemonysnicket.com
For All The Wrong Questions:
www.lemonysnicketlibrary.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 414 reviews
December 27, 2023
A humorous skit utilizing personification to explain the meaning and significance of Hanukkah and the representative paraphernalia associated with it. Informative in a playful and entertaining way; offers a succinct summarization while also pointing out that Hanukkah is not the same as Christmas. Worth the read, especially for those unfamiliar with this Jewish holiday that occurs during the time leading up to and around Christmas.
January 1, 2024
4 stars for this cute & very, very silly kid’s holiday book, which I brought home from our library bookstore - made me laugh & also rather hungry, LOL! 😱
December 2, 2019
A yummy potato pancake resists being boiled in hot oil and runs screaming through the village, spreading a delicious aroma AND the word about the true meaning of a very important holiday that has nothing to do with Christmas.
I guess the only question now is applesauce or sour cream?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzB5...
Happy Hanukkah!
I guess the only question now is applesauce or sour cream?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzB5...
Happy Hanukkah!
December 20, 2022
When I read this to the little girls they were mildly amused by the story. Fortunately, I have a friend who is an actor. When he read it to them they screamed and were impatient for the next page.
Glad to take instruction by example.
The rating is based on their reactions to the second time round.
Glad to take instruction by example.
The rating is based on their reactions to the second time round.
January 20, 2008
Clever, clever, clever. Here's a snippet of a conversation between the latke and the pine tree:
The latke sighed. "Presents aren't really a big part of Hanukah," it said in a voice hoarse from screaming. "There's nothing wrong with giving gifts to loved ones, of course, but it's more important to light the candles for eight consecutive nights, to commemorate the miracle in the temple and the miracle of victory even when you are thoroughly outnumbered, so you shouldn't give up hope."
"Plus, Santa Claus," said the pine tree.
The latke was too exhausted to scream.
"Santa Claus has nothing to do with it," the latke said. "Christmas and Hanukah are completely different things."
"But different things can often blend together," said the pine tree. "let me tell you a funny story about pagan rituals."
The latke sighed. "Presents aren't really a big part of Hanukah," it said in a voice hoarse from screaming. "There's nothing wrong with giving gifts to loved ones, of course, but it's more important to light the candles for eight consecutive nights, to commemorate the miracle in the temple and the miracle of victory even when you are thoroughly outnumbered, so you shouldn't give up hope."
"Plus, Santa Claus," said the pine tree.
The latke was too exhausted to scream.
"Santa Claus has nothing to do with it," the latke said. "Christmas and Hanukah are completely different things."
"But different things can often blend together," said the pine tree. "let me tell you a funny story about pagan rituals."
December 5, 2017
A pretty funny (except for the Latke screaming in frustration at being misunderstood, that is!) and informative small book to 1) express solidarity with all the Jews whose Christian friends think Hanukkah is just a Jewish version of Christmas and 2) to explain what Hanukkah really is to anyone. And no, they're not basically just hash browns (though it does seem suspiciously similar, hmmm).
With recipes. I say sour cream AND applesauce, by the way. Amusing, in Lemony Snicker fashion.
With recipes. I say sour cream AND applesauce, by the way. Amusing, in Lemony Snicker fashion.
November 11, 2024
2020 December 2
I am finding my original comment down there rather cryptic. Possibly the original two comments were reversed?
The book remains a favorite because if everyone kept treating Hanukah as a Christmas analog to me, I would also not be able to stop screaming.
And honestly, everything in winter isn't about Christmas, and shouldn't have that appellation, just because it was appropriated. I am with the fir. And the backward formation of origin stories really bugs me: candy canes are not a secret code for Christianity. Christianity had already taken over Europe and was busy repressing (a word which here means exiling at best and straight up genocide at worst) other religions or noncanononical interpretation of the same source material.
***
2016 December 15
The Possum was the one to break out the Christmas books this year. Honestly, I'm not sure it's possible for Handler and Brown to ever do anything I'll love this much. It may be perfect.
***
2014 December 11
The PandaBat read it aloud, showing me the pictures and everything. The screams killed me.
***
2013 December 17
I love it and look forward to reading it to someone every Christmas for the rest of my life.
***
2011 January 2
Apparently I meant that in the Christmas-time sense of the word.
***
2008 January 1
Well, I'm working on it.
I am finding my original comment down there rather cryptic. Possibly the original two comments were reversed?
The book remains a favorite because if everyone kept treating Hanukah as a Christmas analog to me, I would also not be able to stop screaming.
And honestly, everything in winter isn't about Christmas, and shouldn't have that appellation, just because it was appropriated. I am with the fir. And the backward formation of origin stories really bugs me: candy canes are not a secret code for Christianity. Christianity had already taken over Europe and was busy repressing (a word which here means exiling at best and straight up genocide at worst) other religions or noncanononical interpretation of the same source material.
***
2016 December 15
The Possum was the one to break out the Christmas books this year. Honestly, I'm not sure it's possible for Handler and Brown to ever do anything I'll love this much. It may be perfect.
***
2014 December 11
The PandaBat read it aloud, showing me the pictures and everything. The screams killed me.
***
2013 December 17
I love it and look forward to reading it to someone every Christmas for the rest of my life.
***
2011 January 2
Apparently I meant that in the Christmas-time sense of the word.
***
2008 January 1
Well, I'm working on it.
December 16, 2025
"SO YOU'RE BASICALLY hash browns," said the flashing colored lights. "Maybe you can be served alongside a Christmas ham."
"I'm not hash browns!" cried the latke. "I'm something completely different!"
"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Lemony Snicket, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story
So ... I was looking for the next book in the Snicket series I am reading, saw this title, and knew I would have to check it out.
It's absolutely adorable and a great addition to your Christmas & holiday story collection.
I'll have to get this for my best friend as a part of her Hanukkah gift stash.
I'll have to get one for myself and maybe pass it along to the little ones in my family.
I'll also have to check out the story about the lump of coal.
-- I also have an incredible craving for potato pancakes!
"I'm not hash browns!" cried the latke. "I'm something completely different!"
"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Lemony Snicket, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story
So ... I was looking for the next book in the Snicket series I am reading, saw this title, and knew I would have to check it out.
It's absolutely adorable and a great addition to your Christmas & holiday story collection.
I'll have to get this for my best friend as a part of her Hanukkah gift stash.
I'll have to get one for myself and maybe pass it along to the little ones in my family.
I'll also have to check out the story about the lump of coal.
-- I also have an incredible craving for potato pancakes!
January 26, 2008
One of the questions that invariably arises while reading popular children’s literature series that have come out over the last ten years or so, is what will they do once the series is over? Some simply try to recapture the magic, it looks like JK Rowling is going to run far away from her creations as possible, but in true fashion Lemony Snicket aka Daniel Handler makes one of the most creative and ingenious choices by writing The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming. Styled like any other children’s book, with simple declarative sentences and bright, colorful drawings it gives a nice Hanukkah story with irrationally loud noises to amuse even the least intelligent gentile. It’s a scant 43 pages, but it offers great hope that at least one suddenly celebrated children’s writer will keep reinventing himself for years to come.
September 28, 2013
Oh, what joy! My kind of humor (sarcastic), and real facts about Chanukah, and a nice message besides. So, nu, what more could you want?
"It is very frustrating not to be understood in this world. If you say one thing and keep being told you mean something else, it can make you want to scream. But somewhere in the world there is a place for all of us, whether you are an electric form of decoration, peppermint-scented sweet, a source of timber, or a potato pancake. On a cold, snowy night, everyone and everything should be welcomed somewhere, and the latke was welcomed into a home full of people who understood what a latke is, and how it fits into its particular holiday.
And then they ate it."
"It is very frustrating not to be understood in this world. If you say one thing and keep being told you mean something else, it can make you want to scream. But somewhere in the world there is a place for all of us, whether you are an electric form of decoration, peppermint-scented sweet, a source of timber, or a potato pancake. On a cold, snowy night, everyone and everything should be welcomed somewhere, and the latke was welcomed into a home full of people who understood what a latke is, and how it fits into its particular holiday.
And then they ate it."
January 9, 2012
Warning: this is a book written by Lemony Snicket. If you like that kind of thing, you will find this book, however short, to be the kind of thing that you like. If not, well, it may bother you to see the Christmas tradition of trying to make everything Christmas-like satirized, and you may not recognize the happy ending for what it is.
January 5, 2022
Reading A Series of Unfortunate Events, that expectation of suffering, felt very Jewish, and when I researched Snicket to discover he was Jewish it was validating, secret, a key framework for the books ... so I love that there's also a distinctly non-secret Jewish book, no hidden framework, just a Jew latke real fed up with the cultural dominance of Christianity/Christmas.
When Snicket's humor works, boy does it work for me; this is absurd and relatable. The illustrations would be better with more variety: a more dynamic screaming latke, please & thanks. But the ironic, iconic red cloth & gold foil binding is perfection.
When Snicket's humor works, boy does it work for me; this is absurd and relatable. The illustrations would be better with more variety: a more dynamic screaming latke, please & thanks. But the ironic, iconic red cloth & gold foil binding is perfection.
December 13, 2010
The title alone is pretty funny and gives clues about what you can expect from this tongue in cheek little ditty about the frustrations of Hanukah confusion/comparisons at Christmastime.
It teaches a little about the meaning of Hanukah for the unfamiliar and ultimately shares the message that everyone has a place to fit in. It will probably go over the heads of most kids unless discussed with a parent (which is likely the point). I bought the book for myself because I thought it looked interesting but my 3-year-old son did like the screaming latke, who runs away yelling AHHHHH! after every frustrating encounter. So perhaps a book kids could come to appreciate in stages.
Some highlights: "So you're basically hash browns," said the flashing colored lights. "Maybe you can be served alongside a Christmas ham."
"I'm not hash browns!" cried the latke. "I'm something completely different!"
"Santa Claus has nothing to do with it," the latke said. "Christmas and Hanukah are completely different things."
"But different things can often blend together," said the pine tree. "Let me tell you a funny story about pagan rituals."
It teaches a little about the meaning of Hanukah for the unfamiliar and ultimately shares the message that everyone has a place to fit in. It will probably go over the heads of most kids unless discussed with a parent (which is likely the point). I bought the book for myself because I thought it looked interesting but my 3-year-old son did like the screaming latke, who runs away yelling AHHHHH! after every frustrating encounter. So perhaps a book kids could come to appreciate in stages.
Some highlights: "So you're basically hash browns," said the flashing colored lights. "Maybe you can be served alongside a Christmas ham."
"I'm not hash browns!" cried the latke. "I'm something completely different!"
"Santa Claus has nothing to do with it," the latke said. "Christmas and Hanukah are completely different things."
"But different things can often blend together," said the pine tree. "Let me tell you a funny story about pagan rituals."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2009
This book is a marvelously silly way to explain that Hannukah IS NOT like Christmas. A latke runs screaming away from its owner (just like the Gingerbread boy). As it meets various Christmas objects (such as colored lights or Christmas trees) they try to figure out how he is like something for Christmas. He keeps explaining that he is entirely different, and then tells the story of Hannukah. It is fun and funny and useful!
January 5, 2018
Un cuento infantil donde Janucá y Navidad tratan de convivir. Una clara alegoría sobre nosotros como sociedad: judíos y cristianos conviviendo en un mismo suelo.
Me llevo esta frase: ES MUY frustrante no ser entendido en este mundo. Si dices una cosa y te siguen diciendo que quieres decir algo más, pude hacerte querer gritar. Pero en alguna parte en el mundo hay un lugar para todos nosotros.
Me llevo esta frase: ES MUY frustrante no ser entendido en este mundo. Si dices una cosa y te siguen diciendo que quieres decir algo más, pude hacerte querer gritar. Pero en alguna parte en el mundo hay un lugar para todos nosotros.
December 11, 2019
This latke (don't call him a hash brown!) will basically scream his way into your holiday heart. Funny, tongue-in-cheek Christmas/Hanukah story.
November 3, 2018
I live in a strongly Jewish area, and am always interested to find out more about Jewish festivals and food. I did know that Hanukah was quite different to Christmas, but until now, did not know all the story behind it.
This book has wonderful illustrations and the weirdest main character imaginable - a latke with arms, legs and a piercing scream. It is a scream of frustration with people who want to meld together Christmas and Hanukah into one lovely big holiday bash – ignoring the completely different meanings of the two festivals.
Christmas has already lost far too much of its real significance – lets hope that Hanukah does not as well.
This book has wonderful illustrations and the weirdest main character imaginable - a latke with arms, legs and a piercing scream. It is a scream of frustration with people who want to meld together Christmas and Hanukah into one lovely big holiday bash – ignoring the completely different meanings of the two festivals.
Christmas has already lost far too much of its real significance – lets hope that Hanukah does not as well.
March 18, 2010
Let's face it, Lemony Snicket's magnum opus was A Series of Unfortunate Events. And this book was not.
Kinda cute. Kinda not. It's interesting that this is a "Christmas Story," since it's so obviously a Hanukkah story. Which I kind of like, and I kind of don't.
The story was about to become interesting when the Latke met the pine tree, and the pine tree was about to talk about melding pagan traditions with Christian ones, but the pine tree was interrupted and didn't finish his thought.
The Latke ended up in a Jewish home, helping to celebrate Hanukkah. Which is nice that the Latke was finally appreciated in a world that wants to put you in a box. (Maybe if I was more misunderstood, I would have appreciated this book more?) But I would have preferred an open-minded Christian family opening their doors to a lovely Latke, and appreciating other cultures and traditions, recognizing that not everything they celebrate is as pure and Christian as they thought anyway.
Whatever. It's a book.
Kinda cute. Kinda not. It's interesting that this is a "Christmas Story," since it's so obviously a Hanukkah story. Which I kind of like, and I kind of don't.
The story was about to become interesting when the Latke met the pine tree, and the pine tree was about to talk about melding pagan traditions with Christian ones, but the pine tree was interrupted and didn't finish his thought.
The Latke ended up in a Jewish home, helping to celebrate Hanukkah. Which is nice that the Latke was finally appreciated in a world that wants to put you in a box. (Maybe if I was more misunderstood, I would have appreciated this book more?) But I would have preferred an open-minded Christian family opening their doors to a lovely Latke, and appreciating other cultures and traditions, recognizing that not everything they celebrate is as pure and Christian as they thought anyway.
Whatever. It's a book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2007
I spotted this book on a "novelty" display at B&N while finishing my "holiday" shopping (yes, Hanukkah, Christmas, the works) and leapt at a Lemony Snicket book published by McSweeneys (you know, Dave Eggers' gig). I picked it up and immediately started laughing loudly and, I'm sure, obnoxiously, in the store. A gentleman of a certain age approached me and asked what was so funny. He was hoping our senses of humor matched. I sure hope they did, as I tried my best to explain what was so funny about a screaming, disillusioned potato pancake. Ah well, being misunderstood is my game. So, two sets of nephews who celebrate all the holidays to various degrees were recipients of this book, along with a friend whom I know worships the Snicket oeuvre (and has a little experience in the cross-cultural upbringing thing to boot). Merry New Year!!
March 10, 2013
I really had no idea what to expect from this one. With a title like that...
This was actually a pretty cute holiday story (not purely a Christmas story, as the subtitle suggests). It tells the tale of a latke who can't seem to stop screaming, even as he strives to fulfill his holiday destiny. Interspersed with all the screaming are some surprisingly informative bits about the origins of Hanukkah and its traditions.
I'm sure I would have enjoyed this book when I was a kid, but I found it amusing even now. I enjoyed it a bit more than Lemony Snicket's other short holiday book, The Lump of Coal , but both stories would be great additions to your holiday book collection.
http://theladybugreads.blogspot.ca/20...
This was actually a pretty cute holiday story (not purely a Christmas story, as the subtitle suggests). It tells the tale of a latke who can't seem to stop screaming, even as he strives to fulfill his holiday destiny. Interspersed with all the screaming are some surprisingly informative bits about the origins of Hanukkah and its traditions.
I'm sure I would have enjoyed this book when I was a kid, but I found it amusing even now. I enjoyed it a bit more than Lemony Snicket's other short holiday book, The Lump of Coal , but both stories would be great additions to your holiday book collection.
http://theladybugreads.blogspot.ca/20...
December 31, 2009
I don't have children young enough to appreciate this book, but my librarian suggested it for my neices and nephews. I read it to them on Christmas Eve and they were enchanted. Not only does this book contain Christmas-related references, it teaches the Christian child about Hannukah.
The children loved helping the latke scream throughout the book, first because it is fried in olive oil and then because everything he runs into thinks he is something for Christmas.
It's a fun and intellectually written story for children.
The children loved helping the latke scream throughout the book, first because it is fried in olive oil and then because everything he runs into thinks he is something for Christmas.
It's a fun and intellectually written story for children.
September 8, 2013
This title screams for itself, making the book difficult to pass without reading. Kudos to Lemony Snicket for addressing with intelligence and good humor an experience irksome to Jews of all ages. The gist? Hanukah and Christmas are two totally different things. The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming is a refreshing story for the winter holiday season, providing fun for readers of all traditions and validating the experience of a large minority of Western culture who--gasp--don't celebrate Christmas.
November 14, 2007
Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) is my hero. This laugh-out-loud funny "Christmas" story is about a latke who, well, won't stop screaming. (Hey, if you were "born" in a pot of boiling oil, you might not stop screaming either.) In between running through page after page screaming (it never gets old), the latke manages to teach some rather close-minded Christmas symbols a thing or two about Hannukkah. Brilliant!
December 11, 2013
"This story ends in someones mouth"
This is a Christmas/Hanukah story about a Latke who learns the meaning of Christmas and finds out why he is boiled in a pan. A Latke is basically a potatoe hash brown eaten during Hanukah celebration. In case you have been hiding under a tree, until now.
My wife read this to our 4 year old and she liked the part of the yelling Latke "Ahhhhhhhh" I listened in and learned a few things and enjoyed some laughs.
This is a Christmas/Hanukah story about a Latke who learns the meaning of Christmas and finds out why he is boiled in a pan. A Latke is basically a potatoe hash brown eaten during Hanukah celebration. In case you have been hiding under a tree, until now.
My wife read this to our 4 year old and she liked the part of the yelling Latke "Ahhhhhhhh" I listened in and learned a few things and enjoyed some laughs.
December 2, 2009
Lemony Snicket's witty voice tells the story of a latke that couldn't stop screaming. It runs down the street, encountering Christmasy things (a candy cane, a tree) that don't understand. Is he a hash brown? Is he a part of Christmas?
The latke explains, and screams, what he is and what he's all about. And it's all very amusing. And there's a cute squirrel.
The latke explains, and screams, what he is and what he's all about. And it's all very amusing. And there's a cute squirrel.
October 27, 2015
Ridiculous and absurd but actually quite funny. Not find of the illustration style but they're comical and fit the text. Plus, I learned something about Hannukah I didn't know. (I think maybe this degree of mine was written on toilet paper with disappearing ink.)
April 29, 2015
A latke who apparently doesn't like being fried. He's also very frustrated with everyone's ignorance of Hanukah.
December 3, 2014
I always forget exactly how much I love Lemony Snicket. I should stop doing that.
December 22, 2015
A cute, but rather lightweight story that made me Snicket. I'm sorry. I meant snicker.
And it did persuade me to finally spend half an hour to put up my Christmas Tree.
And it did persuade me to finally spend half an hour to put up my Christmas Tree.
December 28, 2019
I love the first sentence, “The story ends in someone’s mouth.....”
Lol.
Interesting story for children. Or is it?
Lol.
Interesting story for children. Or is it?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 414 reviews