HEY MAN,
WHAT ABOUT ME?!

Santa skips her house.
She stopped waiting.

Get notified when the book drops Oct 26 + exclusive character stories while you wait.

Book drops in:

-- days -- hrs
  • Ages 3 to 8
  • Rhyming read-aloud
  • Brooklyn, NY
  • Out October 2026

Launch news + character stories. No spam.

The Hanukkah Fairy flying, wand raised, in her blue Star of David dress and black boots

The story

Once upon a time
in your own neighborhood.

HEY!

Once upon a time in your own neighborhood, lived a young girl who was misunderstood.

KNOCK KNOCK

Then a knock at her door brought a surprise, an angel in sneakers with twinkling eyes.

WHOOSH!

Standing tall in her boots, Pup by her side, in a magic blue dress with wings built to glide.

WAIT!

There are trolls hiding right here in our midst!

Front cover of The Hanukkah Fairy: the fairy looks up at a string of lights over a Brooklyn block at night
Story by Elise & Donny Dykowsky.
Illustrations by Tincho Schmidt.

Holiday magic isn't just gifts under trees.

The cast

Meet the cast.

The Hanukkah Fairy pointing her star wand, sparkles flying

The Hanukkah Fairy

Sassy and quick, clever at hiding and sharp as a whip.

She has no name on purpose. Boots, a blue dress, a wand with a star. Any kid can be her.

The angel in sneakers holding up a candle, pink glasses, purple shirt, tiny wings

The angel in sneakers

Knocks on the door. Shouts HEY! Hands her the wand.

Pink glasses, purple shirt, white sneakers, and wings the size of a bagel. The fairy godfather every block needs.

Pup, a scruffy golden dog with a blue bow and purple collar

Pup

Loyal sidekick. Blue bow. Chocolate donut.

She rallies the block when it counts. She is never, ever without the donut.

Grizzlebottom, a big pink fluffy troll with yellow eyes and a unibrow, holding a gold gelt coin

Grizzlebottom

Steals chocolate gelt with a foul, wicked smirk.

Big, pink, fluffy, and up to no good. You don't fight a troll like him. You out-joy him.

The ritual

She hides. You seek.
Be kind. Get a treat.

  1. 1

    She hides.

    Every night of Hanukkah, somewhere new. The kitchen shelf. The fridge, between the pickles and the seltzer.

  2. 2

    You find her.

    Eight nights, eight hunts. Little ones lead, grown-ups follow.

  3. 3

    Be kind.

    So if you can find her and truly believe, be helpful and kind, and you might get a treat.

  4. 4

    Jelly donuts.

    Or leave jelly donuts when you turn out the lights, and maybe you'll see her noshing at night.

For each night a candle, for each night a gift.

No list. No lookout. Kindness earns the gelt.

Plush pals

Four pals.
One very fluffy troll.

  • Hanukkah Fairy plush toy The Fairy
  • Angel in sneakers plush toy The Angel
  • Pup plush toy Pup
  • Grizzlebottom plush toy Grizzlebottom

Plush is in the works. The list hears first. Get on it.

The authors

From a Brooklyn stoop
to your bedtime.

Elise and Donny Dykowsky wrote it for their daughters, Mia and Paige, who turn up in pajamas on the last pages. Tincho Schmidt drew every window on the block, the tree in one and the menorah in the next. Craig Duffney set the early art direction.

The Hanukkah Fairy
once left that way too.
And that's why
this story belongs to you.

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when the book drops.

Launch date, buy links, peek inside, plush news. A few emails, then quiet.

Pup, waiting
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