The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Matzah Day! by Charlotte Offsay, illustrated by Jason Kirschner Holiday House, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Elizabeth Suneby   Buy at Bookshop.org This upbeat picture book celebrates the many, many ways matzah can be enjoyed, and is sure to get young children excited about Passover and eating matzah. The happy rhyming text and energetic colorful illustrations infuse a rather "dry" (pun intended) subject with joy. Even before the story begins, the wordless mosaic of matzah squares with the family's faces sets a welcoming tone. The book offers an authentic representation of Passover and Judaism on many levels, even alluding to the potential drawbacks of eating matzah: crumbs and constipation! On a more serious note, the child-friendly nonfiction back matter is written for children, but is great for grown-ups who would like a holiday primer. And the back matter offers recipes for matzah and for a sweet and a savory matzah dish.  Editor's Note: This book was in...

Ellis Island Passover written and illustrated by Marissa Moss Creston Books, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Suzanne Grossman   Buy at Bookshop.org   Great-Uncle Ezra arrives just in time to cheer up a grumpy little girl as her family prepares for Passover. Based on Marissa Moss’ family memoir, Uncle Ezra shares the extraordinary true tale of how he traveled alone when he was 9 years old, first across Europe, then by ship, escaping violent antisemitism. When he arrived at Ellis Island his older brother was not there as expected to sponsor his entry to America. He was well cared for on the island but if his brother coudn’t be found by week’s end then he would be sent back to Europe. During this time he helped create and celebrate a seder for the other Jewish refugees. Without a Haggadah they told the Exodus story from a Hebrew bible, without matzoh they substituted crackers. But the participants all felt they were sharing their own personal Exodus from oppression to free...

The Curious Case of the Pot Roast: A Passover Mystery by Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Green Bean Books, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Eva Weiss   Buy at Bookshop.org The spirited young hero of this picture book brings to life the antic legend of a custom born of misinterpretation. On Passover Eve, an inquisitive boy (whose name we never learn) asks his mother why she cuts off the ends of her pot roast before cooking it. To decipher the family tradition, the child is directed first to his grandmother, and then to his great-grandmother, who reveals that the custom originated with a pot that was too small for the roast. The story is told in the first-person voice of the engaging and precocious hero, who also states its moral: "Even old recipes can have new questions." Along the way, the young hero asks many more questions about the ways of the world, as he skips up the stairs. He wants to know everything from who invented spoons to whether an...

Happy Passover, Edie Rose! by Joy Preble, illustrated by Valeria Cis Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2025 Category: Picture Books  Reviewer: Julie Ditton   Buy at Bookshop.org   Why is this Passover book different from all other Passover books? Most other Passover picture books tell the biblical Passover story or tell a tale of a typical seder. This one is a bit different. Mia and everyone else loves going to Edie Rose's apartment for the Passover seder. Edie always prepares everything, and guests are told "just bring yourself". Edie makes everything fun, with paper frogs that kids have colored, and everyone participating and imagining that they are marching together to escape Egypt. Edie is quite the character, and regales Mia with the stories of all her travels. She has given Mia a map of the world to mark her own travels, stating that "You never know what journey might call your name." When Edie is injured right before Passover, Mia r...

Max's Mask: A Purim Story by Havvah Deevon, illustrated by Itay Bekin Kalaniot Books (imprint of Endless Mountains Publishing), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Amy Schreibman Walter   Buy at Bookshop.org Max starts kindergarten at a new school and, while he likes his class and his new teacher, he’s not completely comfortable just yet. Fortunately, wearing his superhero costume and mask gives him the confidence he needs to deal with big emotions and new stressors. When a classmate knocks over Max’s block tower, kicks over Max’s neatly lined up row of toy cars, and then sticks his tongue out, Max's superhero costume and mask give him strength. A little while later, when Purim comes, everybody in the class chooses a costume - except Max. He decides to come to Purim unmasked, as his true self. Max realizes that he is strong just as he is - no costume necessary. This book makes a great social/emotional read-aloud for the classroom - for preschoolers, kindergarteners and beyo...

Kayla and Kugel's Playful Purim written and illustrated by Ann Koffsky Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Susan Tarcov   Buy at Bookshop.org   This book is part of a series of picture books about the Jewish holidays, featuring Kayla and her dog, Kugel. This newest entry celebrates the holiday of Purim. Kayla and Kugel bake hamantashen, dress up in costumes (Kayla dresses up as Kugel, and Kugel as Kayla), go to synagogue to hear the reading of the Megillah, and then home for a Purim feast with family and friends. The cartoon-style illustrations are cheerful, and Kayla’s red braids point up or down, expressing her emotions. What fun to see dogs and cats in synagogue—all the better to make noise to drown out Haman’s name! And there’s a very nice touch at the end: the story says that a Purim meal is most fun with friends, and the following final note to the reader begins “Dear Friends.” This book is a great introduction to t...

Just Like Queen Esther by Kerry Olitzky & Ari Moffic, illustrated by Rena Yehuda Newman Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Cindy Rivka Marshall   Buy at Bookshop.org In this appealing picture book, Atara wears a crown everywhere and chooses her own name, which means “crown” in Hebrew. When her mom reads her a book about Purim, Atara relates to Queen Esther, because they both had to hide their identities: Esther hid that she was Jewish, while, until recently, Atara hid that she was a girl, not a boy like her parents had thought. Her mother responds matter-of-factly to Atara’s observations and supports Atara's wish to wear a crown as a way of proclaiming to everyone that she identifies as a girl. When Atara is cast as Esther in a Purim play, she worries that the other kids and the audience will laugh or say that she is not a “real girl.” Happily - and refreshingly - these fears never come to fruition. While the book portrays Atara’s vulnerability...

Rembrandt Chooses a Queen by Kerry Olitzky & Deborah Bodin Cohen, illustrated by Cinzia Battistel Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rinat Hadad Siegel   Buy at Bookshop.org   Set in 1660 Amsterdam, Rembrandt Chooses a Queen is a charming historical fiction picture book inspired by the Rembrandt painting "Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther."   Samuel (fictional) is an apprentice at Rembrandt's studio. Surrounded by art and artists dedicated to their work, Samuel develops a new sense of belonging and a calling he wants to pursue. Though there are not many Jewish visuals in the illustrations, the Jewish voice is dominant, and a significant debate is apparent in the plot on how to follow a path to pursue different interests, in addition to a lifelong journey with the study of Torah and Mitzvot.  Samuel is excited at the concept of Rembrandt painting a scene from Esther's scroll. However, Rembrandt is n...

  The Elephant and the Purim Crown by Haviva Kierzenblat, illustrated by Rebeca Luciani Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva   Buy at Bookshop.org   The Elephant and the Purim Crown introduces the vibrant world of Rangoon, Burma, where rickshaws, pagodas, and banyan trees abound. Young Rachel, dressed as Queen Esther for the Purim festival, and her cousin Raz encounter a working elephant. Initially, they want to take a ride, but then Rachel notices the old elephant’s bruised and cracked feet. Her compassion for animals makes the ride and the elephant’s condition concerning. When Rachel wins the Purim contest and is gifted a jewel-covered crown, it becomes the ticket to freeing the elephant and retiring her to a sanctuary. Author Haviva Kierzenblat and Illustrator Rebeca Luciana immerse the reader into the colorful Burmese landscapes, native foods and traditions, and the bustling bazaar. The sto...

The One and Only by Sarah Maddali, illustrated by Marcin Piwowarski Hachai Publishing, 2024  Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Doreen Klein Robinson Buy at Hachai.com This picture book reads like a psalm, with its beautiful rhyme, and feels like a balm, with its soothing message. The repeated Hebrew phrase, Ein Od Milvado - There is nothing besides Him - introduces the reader to the concept of the Oneness of Hashem (G-d). Each spread affirms the belief that Hashem is in control of everything – and that we should be thankful when things go our way and even when they don’t – a lesson that even adult readers would benefit from. Another important idea imparted in this beautiful book is that we are all unique and created for something important. The Jewish (frum) family portrayed in this story looks Ashkenazi, with father, mother, son, and daughter characters. Some spreads show them doing secular things, such as hiking, picnicking in the rain, and swimming. Other spreads lean into their...

Aren't Sisters and Brothers Wonderful! by Shevi Morgenstern, illustrated by Valentina Jaskina  Hachai Publishing, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Hachai.com Goodness, am I the right reviewer for this book. I'm the eldest of four boys, and my youngest brother is just seven years younger than me. It's very different today in the liberal Jewish world (1.4 is the rate), but our Orthodox brethren (and all Israelis, for that matter) are still holding to big families. Thumbs up for them, and I mean it. The hero here, in an Orthodox family, is Shmuly. He's number three in a family of four, with an older brother who always beats him to the bathroom in the morning, a sister who tends to use his favorite cereal bowl, and a little sister who enjoys hiding his slippers. I relate to all of this. Shmuly is unhappy with his circumstances, but his mom -- dad isn't in this story -- relates how she too faced some of the same struggles, and that her mom ha...

  In the Beginning: My Storybook Bible by Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, illustrated by César Garcés Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishers), 2024 Category: Picture Books  Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org In the beginning of “In the Beginning,” the author, Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, encourages young readers to “Jump right in!” — challenging kids to make the first books of the Hebrew bible their own by listening and imagining. Included in this introduction to the Torah are the familiar, child-friendly stories — creation, Noah’s ark, the beginnings of the Jewish people with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his children, the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, until Moses brings them to them promised land. Some stories are expanded with details from outside of the Torah text to make them more familiar or relatable. For example, in the Torah, Noah’s wife, Naamah, is not named, but here she is the first to feel a raindrop before the flood. These details ...

Beam of Light: The Story of the First White House Menorah by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Sofia Moore Rocky Pond Books (imprint of Penguin Books), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Laurie Adler   Buy at Bookshop.org A Beam of Light is a spectacular nonfiction picture book told from the point of view of a wooden beam which is eventually fashioned into the first menorah, indeed the first piece of Judaica, that was added to the permanent White House Holiday Collection. "I was supposed to be destroyed" is a repeated refrain throughout the book, as the beam survives a dilapidated White House, the Truman-era demolition and renovation, landfills, and storage, to experience consequent salvation.  The wood reflects on the "deeper level of destruction" it witnessed in 1943, when the sitting president refused to offer refuge to Jews, and millions perished in the Holocaust. Yet, like the Jewish people, the wood comes from strong roots, can withstand the ravages of...

Oy, Santa! or There's a Latke to Learn about Hanukkah by Joyce Schriebman, illustrated by Gila von Meissner Intergalactic Afikoman, 2024  Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lila Spitz Buy at Bookshop.org A young Jewish boy named Oliver corresponds with Santa Claus via email regarding Christmas,  correcting unintentional misunderstandings about Hanukkah. Mistakes include Hanukkah nomenclature, holiday foods and their appropriate toppings, and notable differences between the Gregorian calendar and the Hebrew Calendar. As Santa’s confusion with Hanukkah traditions escalates, Oliver’s emails become snarky, demonstrated by the increased size and bolded font of the text. Illustrator Gila von Meissner enhances the juxtaposition of Christian and Jewish holidays by contrasting Santa’s cute felines with Oliver’s playful canine. The artwork portrays Oliver as the African American son of a heteronormative mixed-race couple, with a helpful younger sister. Jewishness is an integral part of ...

Don't Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah by Karen Rostoker-Gruber, illustrated by Carles Arbat Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Melissa Lasher Buy at Bookshop.org Illustrated in cheerful blues, golds and browns, Don’t Invite A Bear Inside For Hanukkah depicts the worst playdate ever—and how a boy turns the debacle into a treasured holiday memory. Set in a snowy mountain town, a narrator tells the story in a style akin to If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. Despite the narrator’s warning, a generous boy invites a massive, blundering, hungry bear into his home to celebrate Hanukkah. What could possibly go wrong? Only everything. The bear sends dreidels and candles flying. He eats all the gelt and latkes. Then, unbearably, he rips apart the presents. Oy! The boy banishes the bear. When guilt sends the boy out after the bear, through the forest, he sees a tree-branch menorah in the bear’s den window. The boy finds himself in a pickl...

A Dragon for Hanukkah by Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Ariel Landy Orchard Books (imprint of Scholastic), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili   Buy at Bookshop.org   A Dragon for Hanukkah follows Hannah as she receives a gift on each successive night of the holiday. Or does she? Does she really receive gifts of a dragon, a rainbow, a treasure chest and the like? No . . . Yes? With her signature flair for fantasy, author Mlynowski spins an imaginative story in which children will recognize all the elements of Hanukkah, including the menorah, latkes, the Maccabees, and dreidels. Well incorporated is also the idea of tzedakah when children (and adults) may get too focused on gift-giving. Illustrator Landy's vibrant and whimsical expressive artwork add to the magical feel of the tale, while the rich purple and blue palette bring the reader right into the feel of the wintertime setting. Back matter is presented in a fun manner with a Q and A...

Hanukkah (Celebrations & Festivals series) by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Words & Pictures (imprint of The Quarto Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Award winning author Lesléa Newman has gifted us a fine attempt at all-inclusive book to illuminate the celebration of the holiday of Hanukkah. With a few caveats, this book is a good place to start — full of history, traditions, recipes and rituals. It follows a child named Lior (a Hebrew name translated here as “my light”) when he and his family celebrate Hanukkah with their extended family and friends, and with their wider community. Their preparation begins with decoration, cleaning, descriptions of the Hanukah menorah (hanukkiah) and of the dreidel game, and a retelling of the historical story of Hanukkah. As the guests start arriving, laden with holiday gifts, they join the family in lighting their many hanukkiot and reciting the blessings (included in English and trans...

The Light From My Menorah: Celebrating Holidays Around The World by Robin Heald, illustrated by Andrea Blinick Pajama Press, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland Buy at Bookshop.org As a young boy gazes at the light from his Hanukkah menorah, he embarks on a fantastical journey following its light around the world. Robin Heald’s beautiful, lyrical language describes fall/winter celebrations among different peoples, each centered on light. It’s a story of what connects us despite our differences. It encourages curiosity about different beliefs, different languages, and different customs. Along with the child in the story, the reader is shown the miracle and the universality of light.   The book opens and closes with the child joyfully celebrating Hanukkah with his family. There are no signs that the family is Orthodox, but the Hanukkah scenes are authentic with dreidels and sufganiyot. This book would certainly be shelved with Hanukkah books, but there are image...

Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights: A Hanukkah Story by Charlotte Offsay, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Doubleday Books for Young Readers (imprint of Knopf), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Greer Buy at Bookshop.org A joyous introduction to Hannukah for young children. This delightful story follows a family consisting of a mother, father, son, and daughter celebrating the Festival of Lights together. They visit extended family, cook and eat latkes and sufganiyot, light traditional candles, play dreidel games, and open presents. Each page includes a small caption explaining traditions and words that may not be familiar. At the end of the book, the complete Hanukkah story is told in an age-appropriate way along with information on what the word means and why it’s spelled in various ways. Also included is an overview of how and why Hanukkah is celebrated, discussing the many traditions depicted in the story. The parents and children are illustrated in a variety o...

Hanukkah Pajamakkahs by Dara Henry, illustrated by Olga & Aleksey Ivanov Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org Hanukkah Pajamakkahs , with its adorably cute illustrations, is the story of Ruthie, who is delighted to receive Hanukkah-themed pajamas - “Pajamakkahs” – on the first night of Hanukkah. Ruthie wants to wear them for all eight nights of the holiday, but her parents want her to keep them “spotless” for the forthcoming Hanukkah party. Antics ensue as Ruthie (who has promised to keep them spotless) makes latkes – and gets streaks (but not spots) on her pajamakkahs, candle drippings (but not spots) on her pajamakkahs, strips of tape, sticky sufganiyot, sparkles, and squishes (but not spots) on her pajamakkahs. After all, if the oil in the Hanukkah story could last eight nights, certainly Ruthie’s pajamakkahs can, too. This rousing tale is hilariously illustrated with bright, bold colors depicting the adventur...