Chil­dren’s

The Mir­a­cles of Passover

Josh Han­ft; Sey­mour Chwast, illus.
  • Review
By – April 2, 2012
This book offers a straight­for­ward retelling of the Passover sto­ry for young chil­dren with eager hands. Illus­tra­tions are col­or­ful and the lift-the-flap” ele­ment offers delight­ful visu­al sur­pris­es. A dou­ble page spread of the flee­ing Jews at night is com­pelling, and when Moses’ staff turns into a snake just to eat the magician’s staff, the result is indeed mirac­u­lous in com­po­si­tion and humor. How­ev­er, the sto­ry is recalled in a neu­tral, omni­scient voice, which does not give the read­er any emo­tion­al sense of the dra­mat­ic sto­ry. After retelling the sto­ry of the Exo­dus from Egypt, Han­ft uses the last pages to explain some of the his­to­ry of Seder and the spe­cial foods on the Seder plate. He con­cludes with the tra­di­tion­al wish, We wait for the time when Eli­jah will announce the day of peace for every­one. We end the seder with these words, NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM.” For ages 3 – 6.
Sarah Aron­son holds an MFA in Writ­ing for Chil­dren and Young Adults from Ver­mont Col­lege. She is a full time writer and has recent­ly pub­lished her first nov­el, Head Case (Roar­ing Brook) for young adults. Sara blogs every Thurs­day for the Lilith blog.

Discussion Questions