Review: Passover, Here I Come!
Passover, Here I Come!
by D.J. Steinberg, illustrated by Emanuel Wiemans
Grosset & Dunlap (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Karin Fisher-Golton
Buy at Bookshop.org
Passover, Here I Come! is the kind of book families will bring out each year to introduce or remind children of Passover traditions. This warm, colorful collection of short poems is the Passover addition to author D. J. Steinberg’s Here I Come! series, which includes books on starting preschool to second grade as well as books on other holidays—secular, Christian, and Jewish.
Steinberg’s poems come in a variety of structures, including a poetic recipe for matzoh brei! Young readers will be engaged by the poems’ rhyme, rhythm, and humor. Topics include ways families prepare for and celebrate the holiday; child-oriented traditions (such as singing “Ma nishtana” and searching for the afikomen); and a brief version of the Exodus story.
Names, vocabulary, and images depict an Ashkenazi conservative or reform American Jewish experience. All modern male-presenting characters are depicted with kippot. Female characters’ heads are bare.
The majority of the modern characters appear as white, though a few people of other races are shown on most spreads. In the Exodus illustrations, Pharaoh and the escaping Hebrew people have the brown skin that was likely historically accurate, while Moses is depicted as white.
Passover, Here I Come! is a light-hearted book that will put young children in the mood of Passover and support discussions around traditions.
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Reviewer Karin Fisher-Golton is a freelance children’s book editor and the author of the board book My Amazing Day: A Celebration of Wonder and Gratitude; retellings of folktales for a reading program; and poems in several anthologies. She is a member of the Board of Advisors for Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Read more about her work at www.karinfisher-golton.com.
Passover, Here I Come! is the kind of book families will bring out each year to introduce or remind children of Passover traditions. This warm, colorful collection of short poems is the Passover addition to author D. J. Steinberg’s Here I Come! series, which includes books on starting preschool to second grade as well as books on other holidays—secular, Christian, and Jewish.
Steinberg’s poems come in a variety of structures, including a poetic recipe for matzoh brei! Young readers will be engaged by the poems’ rhyme, rhythm, and humor. Topics include ways families prepare for and celebrate the holiday; child-oriented traditions (such as singing “Ma nishtana” and searching for the afikomen); and a brief version of the Exodus story.
Names, vocabulary, and images depict an Ashkenazi conservative or reform American Jewish experience. All modern male-presenting characters are depicted with kippot. Female characters’ heads are bare.
The majority of the modern characters appear as white, though a few people of other races are shown on most spreads. In the Exodus illustrations, Pharaoh and the escaping Hebrew people have the brown skin that was likely historically accurate, while Moses is depicted as white.
Passover, Here I Come! is a light-hearted book that will put young children in the mood of Passover and support discussions around traditions.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
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