Anne Margaret Lewis

I’ve read this book a couple times, and I am still not too sure if I like it or not. Something I did like was how it used food to inform the reader about Passover and what it means to the Jewish faith. For example, one of the foods on the table for Passover dinner was a charoset, which was described as a mixture of nuts, apples, and wine. The text informs the reader that it is made to “remind everyone of the mortar the enslaved Jewish people used to build the pyramids.” I liked how the information was organized and given to the readers. This series of books are guessing books, so on each page the author described something that would be seen at a home on Passover, and the reader was to guess what it was before flipping a flap on the next page. Under the flap was what the item was and what it represented. This interaction would be engaging for children. I think food is a great way to introduce different religions into a classroom and this book would be a good tool. Something I did not like was that because I am not Jewish, I did not know what some things in the book were because it was not explained. For example, the word Seder was mentioned many times, but I have no idea what it is. It also would have helped if there was phonetic spelling accompanying some of the Yiddish words so they would be easier to pronounce. The overall message is to inform the reader what Passover is and what is used to represent it.… (meer)