Picture Book - Around the Passover Table by Tracy Newman

Illustrated by Adriana Santos

2019 Albert Whitman & Co.

HC $16.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.67 - 21 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers:  Dark baby blue

1^st line/s:  "Here is our table for this seder night."

My comments: Modern-day illustrations, multi-ethnic representations, simplicity and not too much text highlight this book as a great read aloud for preschoolers, just what I was looking for!  I love that the family's cat and dog are in every illustrations, no matter what's going on, just part of the family!

Goodreads:  The candles are lit, the seder plate filled, and the matzo stacked high. Join in to read, sing, eat, and observe the holiday. The many steps of a Passover seder are portrayed in this rhyming story.

Picture Book - Pippa's Passover Plate by Vivian Kirkfield

Illustrated by Jill Weber

2019, Holiday House

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.26 - 87 ratings

My rating:  3
Endpapers:  simple line drawings of Passover and Jewish-related items (red on peach)

1^st line/s:  'Hurry, scurry, Pippa Mouse, .
washing, scrubbing, cleaning house.
Passover starts at six tonight,
Seder meal by candlelight."

My comments:  The story is cute, rhyming, and fun!  But other than cleaning the house and talking about the Seder plate in general, the book tells nothing more of Passover.  It's written for very young kids, but even for Jewish kids, there's not very much about Passover or even why you'd need a seder plate.  And I have one huge unsolved question - how did the Seder plate get in the water?
     I also love the alliteration of the book title!

Goodreads:   An irresistibly adorable mouse tries to find her Passover plate before sundown when the Seder begins in this colorful Jewish holiday story.
          An enchanting mouse scours her cozy, miniature home for her Passover Seder plate with no luck. Sundown is near and the Passover celebration will begin soon. Pippa Mouse must venture out and be brave to ask a cat, a snake, and an owl for help. To her surprise not only are the animals helpful in tracing her plate to the pond, they become her Passover Seder guests. A spread at the end of the book shows the Passover plate with its six essential symbolic items: zeroah (a roasted bone), beitzah, (an egg), maror and charoset (bitter herbs), chazeret (mortar or paste), and karpas (a spring vegetable). 

PICTURE BOOK - The Longest Night: A Passover Story by Laurel Snyder

Illustrated by Catia Chien

2013, Schwartz & Wade Books

HC & price

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.84 - 102 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers:  Front: Very dark blue sky
Back:  Light Blue morning sky

1^st line/s:  "Every morning with the light
Came another day like night."

My comments:  This is a Jewish story, read and interpreted by a non-Jew, but a non-Jew who worked in a Hebrew Day School for 12 years and loved to learn all the stories and traditions of Judaism.  This story is written in couplets, with lovely rhythm in most places.  It tells the story from the point-of-view of a Jewish slave girl through the plagues and parting of the sea.  The language is beautiful, and when slowly and digested I loved it.  I was not a fan of the illustrations, and I hate saying that, but they were what I call "vague" illustrations.  Not abstract, but with a sense of abstractness.  I love abstract painting, but I like more detail in my picture books.  Personal preference, apologies to Ms. Chien.

Goodreads:  Here's a picture book for all Jewish families to read while celebrating Passover. Unlike other Passover picture books that focus on the contemporary celebration of the holiday, or are children's haggadahs, this gorgeous picture book in verse follows the actual story of the Exodus. Told through the eyes of a young slave girl, author Laurel Snyder and illustrator Catia Chien skillfully and gently depict the story of Pharoah, Moses, the 10 plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea in a remarkably accessible way. 
          "Evocative and beautiful... flawlessly evokes the spirit of the Old Testament story," raves Publishers Weekly in a starred review. This dramatic adventure, set over 3,500 years ago, of a family that endures hardships and ultimately finds freedom is the perfect tool to help young children make sense of the origins of the Passover traditions.

A Tale of Two Seders – Minda Avra Portnoy

Illustrated by Valeria Cis

Kar-Ben Publishing, 2010

Hc $17.95

32 pages

Rating:  4 – but non-Jewish kids/parents would have to refer to the glossary a LOT

Endpapers – Black – or such a dark navy blue that it looks black.

Title Page – pale green wall, table covered with swirly green tablecloth, seder plate, candles, Kiddish cups, and plate of matzah.

Illustrations:  no white, edge-of-page to edge-of-page, extremely appealing with strong color.  I very much like them.

Setting:  contemporary America

OSS:  An only child tells about the si different seders she’s attended since her parents divorced three years before.

1^st sentence/s:  “The year after my mom and dad stopped being married to each other, I went to two seders in two places --- one at Dad’s apartment, and one at Mom’s house.”

The author shows, in a clever, lovely way, how the passage of time changes things – but that with a caring, loving family, being close to one another doesn’t have to change at all.  We see new relationships, grandparents, and friends, as well as many of the Passover traditions that would have great meaning to a child – the charoset, the Four Questions, finding the afikomen.

The book ends with four different recipes of charoset:  Yemenite, Israeli, traditional Askenazi, and a traditional Italian recipe with 18 ingredients (a very special Hebrew number) that makes two quarts!

Passover - Harriet Ziefert

Celebrating Now, Remembering Then
Illustrated by Karla Gudeon
Blue Apple Books, 2010
HC $17.99
32 thick pages - 10 that open up to a double page
Endpapers:  colorful small drawings of matzoh, a Seder plate, a Kiddish cup, musical notes, flowers, doves, a Haggadah...

The steps of the Passover Seder are described and illustrated.  Each page begins "NOW" and describes the cleaning, the preparation, the symbols.  But as the candles are lit, we get to open up the right hand page to a lovely painting of the "THEN."  Each of the sections of the Seder plate are described, every part of this special passover meal -- right down to opening the door for Elijah and finding Afikamen.  It's beautifully told and the folky paintings are incredibly delightful.

Before I taught at a Jewish day school I knew nothing - NOTHING - about Jewish holidays.  I've attended three Seders now, which helped me understand this book even more.  But if a child knows nothing about Passover, this might not be enough.  It is for Jewish children to read and enjoy.  It's really lovely.

The Yankee at the Seder - Elka Weber

Illustrator: Adam Gustavson
2009
$16.99
Rating: 4. 5
Endpapers: Gray

This is based on a true story - which always makes a tale extra enjoyable - and told from the point-of-vew of a 10 year old Confederate boy in Virginia. The South has just surrendered to the North and Yankees are patrolling the streets of the town. Jacob is munching on a piece of matzah when a Yankee sees him and asks for a piece. He is invited by Jacob's mother to join them for the seder. Myer Levy happily accepts.

There are times that are a bit awkward for members of two opposing sides right after the war, but their differences are outweighed by their similarites. This is a charming story - including telling about a gift received for Passover the following year.

Included are two pages on "the real story" (with photos), a page of explanation about Passover, and a short glossary of Hebrew terms. An excellent, enjoyable read.

The Secret Seder - Doreen Rappaport

illustrator: Emily Arnold McCully
Published: 2005
Rating: 4
REad: Jan. 25, 2009
Endpapers: Rust

A young nameless Jewish boy must pretend to be Catholic in order to hide - he lives in France during the time of Hitler. It is spring, the time of Passover, but Jews cannot safely celebrate. Marching black boots are everywhere. One night the boy's father takes him out of the village and up the mountainside to a dark cabin where a small graoup of men are daring enough to celebrate the Passover Seder. They whisper. They have no food and only one piece of matzo. But they share the ritual of the seder and the young boy, for the first time, participates in the Hebrew his mother has been secretly teaching him.

Powerful story. Beautiful - though dark - illustrations. Another piece in a sad, sad story that must continue to be told.