Passover Magic - Softcover

Roni Schotter is the author of many children’s books, including Hanukkah!, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, and its companion, Passover Magic. She enjoys speaking to children in schools and lives in a small village north of New York City.

The late Marilyn Hafner illustrated many popular books during her lifetime, including Hanukkah! by Roni Schotter, It’s Halloween and It’s Christmas by Jack Prelutsky, Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger, and A Carnival of Animals by Sid Fleischman. The mother of two daughters, she graduated from Pratt Institute and made her home in Massachusetts.

PreSchool-Grade 2?This story of an extended family's celebration of Passover is clever, but flawed. As aunts, uncles, and cousins arrive at Molly's house, inviting scenes show three generations preparing for and celebrating the Seder. The magic enters with Uncle Harry, a dentist-cum-magician who amuses the children with his tricks, including the traditional hiding of the afikomen. He implores them to think carefully about the importance of the holiday before he reveals the whereabouts of the matzoh and the prizes for its return. The book ends with a one-page explanation of the holiday's history and customs. Nowhere does the author mention that bread and baked goods are removed from the house during Passover and replaced with food made with matzoh flour. Also, her note that lettuce can replace horseradish on the Seder plate is incorrect?it can replace parsley. Hafner's attractive, brightly colored, cartoonlike illustrations exude the warmth of a loving family cooking, eating, dancing, and relaxing together, but are inconsistent: in one picture, it's dark outside, while in the next it is broad daylight. For children unfamiliar with this important holiday, this title provides an incomplete and confusing introduction. Marilyn Hirsh's I Love Passover (Holiday, 1985; o.p.) and A Family Passover (Jewish Publication Society, 1980) are better choices.?Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
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