An inviting, child-friendly introduction to a key Jewish holiday.
A tot observes Passover.
The family prepares for dinner, greets their guests, and begins the seder service with blessings. Along the way, the young narrator discusses the various customs—and offers earnestly enthusiastic asides. Everyone takes a sip of wine (“I get to drink grape juice”). Soon it’s time for the reading of the Four Questions (“I get to read [them]…because I am the youngest. This is my first year doing it!”). Next, the youngster tells the story of how the Jews escaped slavery in Egypt, the family eats their festive meal (“gefilte fish, roasted chicken, matzah ball soup, potato kugel, and noodle pudding. YUM!”), and the children hunt for the afikoman, the hidden piece of matzah. At last, the seder finishes with a wish for freedom and a “Happy Passover!” Katz’s illustrations rely on bright colors and eye-catching patterns; the characters sport such wide grins that readers can’t help smiling along. The text is clear and easy to follow, each tradition explained simply but effectively at an age-appropriate level, though the addition of backmatter would have been helpful. More complex topics—the seder plate, the 10 plagues—are well illustrated with examples, and the book follows the distinct steps of a seder; however, a few are combined or skipped. The young protagonist is pale-skinned; other characters vary in skin tone.
An inviting, child-friendly introduction to a key Jewish holiday. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781250360427
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A feast…at least for the eyes, and much better for the teeth.
It’s all about the colors in this board-book version of the virally popular “rainbow explosion” cake.
The cake, which stars in many online videos and slide shows, is actually all about the sprinkles, evoked here with a combination of multihued spinners or sliders and hundreds of tiny holes punched into the sturdy cover and stock. Kassem, a New York City specialist baker, recaps its creation…without specific ingredients but step by step in the simplest language: “Pour it! / Mix it! // Color it!” The images are abstract enough that the result never really looks like food, but young digerati are unlikely to care as they’re directed to choose colors for each of the six layers, pull a tab to watch them rise in the oven, then see all but the top layer hollowed out before being stacked in rainbow order (sans indigo) and finally filled with a column of sprinkles that will pour out in a climactic rush (“Surprise!”) when the finished cake, its outside likewise sprinkle encrusted, is sliced. Chavarri’s simple illustrations flash with oversaturated hues, each succeeding double-page spread being somehow brighter than the last one, until the final uncomplicated pop-up unfolds in a grand shower of confetti and sprinkles. Budding chefs may find the recipe-based approach in Lotta Niemenen’s Cook in a Book series more to their taste, but for sheer energy and dazzle, this is hard to beat.
A feast…at least for the eyes, and much better for the teeth. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3746-6
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Younger audiences may be mostly interested in the bonking and stinky parts, but the rudiments are at least in place for...
Ten tales from the Old and New Testaments, with plot points and lessons hidden beneath large, shaped flaps.
Higgins depicts Jesus as a bit larger than those around him but otherwise draws him and the rest of the cast—including angels—with similar-looking round heads, wide-open eyes, slightly crooked beards (on the men), and dark brown or olive skin. Cycling arbitrarily among various tenses, the abbreviated, sanitized, and informally retold episodes begin in “a garden” with the tree, most of Adam and Eve, and the “tricky serpent” who “will trick them” initially hidden beneath die-cut flaps. Lifting the largest reveals the disobedient first couple sporting flashy animal-skin togs and text that promises that “God had a plan to save people from sin.” After Noah boards the “crowded, noisy, and stinky” ark, Moses leads the escape from plague-ridden Egypt (“Frogs and locusts! Yucky sores and flies!”), and “David bonks Goliath.” God’s promise eventually bears fruit with the birth and select miracles of Jesus. In the climactic scene, three distant crosses hide beneath a flap that depicts Jerusalem, while behind a tomb in the foreground an angel literally fizzes with fireworks. Beneath a bush readers see Mary (Magdalen) weeping until the risen Jesus (beneath another bush) gives her a hug: “Go tell the disciples that I am alive!”
Younger audiences may be mostly interested in the bonking and stinky parts, but the rudiments are at least in place for homiletic discussion. (Novelty/religion. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5064-4684-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Beaming Books
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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