by Roni Schotter; illustrated by Erin Eitter Kono
In this embarrassing non-story about a Passover seder, we get cutesy rhymes about cutesy toddler antics and cutesy doggy antics and a few vague references to the actual purpose of the gathering.
It's useless for instructing kids and isn't fun as a story. The ritual foods on the seder plate are explained in endnotes, but there's no reference to Egypt or Moses.
Worse, matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish get prominent mentions. Oy. These are Eastern European foods; a Jew of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern pedigree wouldn't recognize them.
The rhymes are trite and the meter's off. The art at least avoids the more stereotypical renditions of Jews, but the exclamation point in the title bugs me.
It might've been salvageable had the story been titled Afikomen for the broken matzoh that gets hidden and prompts a treasure hunt. Its discovery marks the official end of the meal. At least that wouldn't have raised our expectations of something more.
Rating: *\
oh, darn it. Too bad this one wasn't good. Any other recommendations for Passover books for the picture book crowd? I know I'm late, there's still plenty of interest here! I'll check your sidebar, too.
Posted by: Susan | April 21, 2006 at 02:23 PM
I'll ask my son's pre-school teacher, maybe she'll have a recommendation. Otherwise, I was thinking of looking around for a good children's haggadah.
Barron's "Let's Celebrate Series" also came out with a workbook called "More Than Matzoh" that looked okay for older kids.
I may have to get back to you on this one.
Posted by: Anne | April 21, 2006 at 06:25 PM
Thank you, Anne. Picture books (on any number of subjects) often help me out, too! My version of Passover left something to be desired; my son clearly didn't trust my story of the events. I think he picked up a little more at Passover with the cousins, though.
Posted by: Susan | April 21, 2006 at 07:28 PM
I hope you had a happy Passover. My son refused to eat the peanut butter and matzoh sandwiches we made him. Then there was the leftover Easter ham a friend served us for dinner one night. Fortunately, Brett and I kept our sense of humor and had a great time.
Will ask around for Passover books for you. Meanwhile, you can rent "Prince of Egypt" or "The 10 Commandments" and try to not snicker at all the camp.
Posted by: Anne | April 22, 2006 at 05:31 AM