Passover, Here I Come by D.J. Steinberg (illustrated by Emanuel Weimans); Grosset & Dunlap (c) 2022; ISBN 9780593-224038; 32 pages plus a page of stickers; $5.99.
SAN DIEGO — This charming book tells in rhyming couplets the story of a Passover celebration from the viewpoint of young children in a multiracial Jewish family.
It starts with such preparations as cleaning the house and ridding it of any trace of chametz; the arrival of matzoh into the family’s diet and the distribution of Haggadot; extending the dining room table to seat many guests; relatives telling the same jokes that they told every year before; a brief summary of the Exodus; and a rhymed version of the Four questions: “1. Why matzoh, no bread? 2. Why bitter herbs instead? 3. Why foods that we dip? 4. Why recline and not sit?”
On it goes to tell of four cups of grape juice; a seder meal featuring brisket; commentary on matzoh ball soup (yum) and gefilte fish (yuk); the search for the afikomen; all the children receiving a prize; and a matzoh brei breakfast the next morning, with a rhymed recipe: “Mix 4 eggs in a bowl, Make 2 matzohs wet; Crumble them in; Get your fry pan all set; fry the mixture in butter; Add sugar, so sweet; Sprinkle in salt and pepper; 2 minutes, serve and eat.”
The book concludes with Passover ending and the family heading to the store to purchase bagels, waffles, pancakes, pie, and doughnuts.
The sticker page consists of many of the illustrations that accompanied the text. Among them, a seder plate; a matzoh wrapped in a napkin to serve as the afikomen; Moses telling Pharaoh to let his people go; the cover of the Haggadah, a seder plate and a jumping frog symbolizing one of the ten plagues.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via
donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com