By
– May 30, 2013
Suppose you are invited to a seder where a very young child is to be present. Do you know what to bring? Bring this little book. It will become his or her very own Haggadah. The story is told in the illustrations as well as the words. The fun starts with the cover. What is going through the head of the little boy with the mischievous smile? Each step of the meal, named in Hebrew and described by a simple, brief text, is illustrated with charming, bright, happy pictures that demonstrate both figuratively and literally what takes place during the seder. From cover to cover, one sees a jolly family enjoying the Seder. While the women and children look just like the readers’ own, perhaps not all the men do. They have long beards, dress in black and wear black hats, not yarmulkes. This is an opportunity to explain to the older children that we Jews have the freedom to follow our religion and to dress in a variety of ways, none of which are forbidden. A list of the steps of the seder, with explanations, appears inside the back cover. The book has plastic coated pages, so unlike the stained pages of most veteran Haggadot, it can be washed. I am ordering four for myself. If your family has intermarried members, what better way is there to introduce Passover to their toddlers? Recommended for ages 3 – 6.
Marcia W. Posner, Ph.D., of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, is the library and program director. An author and playwright herself, she loves reviewing for JBW and reading all the other reviews and articles in this marvelous periodical.