I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel

I know an old lady who swallowed a dreidel, a Chanukah dreidel she thought was a bagel…. Perhaps it’s fatal? As per the traditional rhyme, this old lady goes on to swallow some oil, some latkes and so on – all while her loving family watch on in horror. 

As well as including Hanukkah-themed items, and escalating to appropriately wild proportions, there is another layer of humour added by the illustrations, which depict the grandmother in many famous pieces of classic art. From da Vinci to Munch, Vermeer to Warhol, this whistle-stop tour of Western art history will make the adult chuckle, and the child wonder at the variety of style, setting and colour palette. As such, it’s something to return to as an older child, when the pieces might be recognised.

The illustrations do a magnificent job of contextualising the story too – from the granny’s arrival in a wordless spread at the start, to listing all the things she’s swallowed, and her reaction to them, in boxes on each spread.

Published in the US, but available in the UK too, this is a very funny and inventive take on the familiar rhyme.