[2] Phinney also notes that Chaikin's intent, "particularly in her later books, is to illuminate and record the history, traditions, and values of the Jewish people", and to remember the Holocaust.

[2] I Should Worry, I Should Care (1979) is described in the School Library Journal: "One of a plethora of books about being young, Jewish, and living in Brooklyn pre-World War II, this has a pleasant warmth about it and, in spite of the fact that nothing much happens, what does makes good reading.

[4] Chaikin's other series, the Yossi books, was described by Liz Rosenberg in The New York Times as part of a movement towards innocence and "cheerful fiction".

[7] The New York Times wrote that "The Exodus story here is full of human details, and reveals the participants as understandable people rather than remote mythic figures".

[10] A review in the School Library Journal said that "Chaikin's dignified text and Mikolaycak's magnificent bold illustrations make this a treasure for all ages and religions".

[14] The New York Times thought that the book "perhaps inevitably - greatly oversimplifies Jewish theology in her effort to depict a Supreme Being who is simultaneously all-powerful, all-merciful and yet sufficiently exasperated by human evil to destroy mankind in the Flood".

[15] Ilene Cooper, writing in Booklist, said of Angels Sweep the Desert Floor that Chaikin "does a good job of mixing religious history with tenents of Judaism and framing everything as folklore, right at a child's level".

[16] Publishers Weekly described Angel Secrets as an "entertaining collection" based on Midrash tales, and said that "An informative introduction, source notes and references may encourage further reading in this area".

[1][26][27] Her 2002 Don't Step on the Sky: A Handful of Haiku collection for small children, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata, was reviewed in Publishers Weekly: "moves easily between whimsy ("Duck glides across pond--/ water doesn't notice") and wistfulness ("Lovely lily/ alive for only a day./ Take good care of yourself"), and Nakata's (Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate) watercolors accommodate both.