BAXTER, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher - Laurel Snyder

Illustrated by David Goldin
Tricycle Press, 2010
$15.99
32 pages
Rating: 5
Endpapers: Kosher dill pickles, sliced lengthwise, on a white background

This book is funny. This book is clever. This book has a great message. Can you tell I really, really like this book?

Baxter the pig is waiting at a bus stop when the bearded, kippah-wearing gentleman sitting beside him says he can't wait for sundown and the Shabbat meal, which includes gleaming candles, singing, and the people that he loves most. Well, Baxter thinks this sounds wonderful and wants to be part of it. But he is told that since he's a pig - he can't be part of a Shabbat meal! He's not kosher! So through a series of misunderstandings and how-do-you-become-kosher inquiries, we follow Baxter through ups and downs to a Shabbat meal.

What fun! This is delightful. And the illustrations are great - whimsical and different. David Goldin uses collage and hand drawing. Fabrics, pickle bottles, foods, candlesticks, piano...are photos, collaged in. It's fun just to look for what's collaged and what's drawn. The piece de resistance, though, is Baxter. His facial expressions are superb!

This is a new favorite. I'm reading a library copy, but this one I must get for myself....and for my school library.

Laurel Snyder's website. (I enjoyed this. She sounds pretty cool.)
I can't get David Goldin's website to work. Well, I THINK it's his website, it's hard to tell for 100% certainty. But I'll keep checking on it.

She is Too Fond of Books review.
Jewish Books for Children's short interview with Laurel Snyder
And here's a longer inverview with Laurel Snyder