two books celebrating Passover

I don’t feel qualified to assess stories about the Jewish faith, yet this year I did want to include some books for Passover. These two seemed excellent to me. If there are other titles you particularly enjoy, I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

Passover: Celebrating Now, Remembering Then, by Harriet Ziefert, paintings by Karla Gudeon
published in 2010 by Blue Apple Books

This gorgeous book begins by telling the story of the Ancient Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt which is remembered in the symbolism of the Passover celebrations.

Page by page, Ziefert highlights the preparations and elements of the seder, one at a time. Each part of the seder is tied to its historical counterpart. This is what we do — because of what the Israelites experienced then. Her explanations are succinct, clear, and full of solemn respect.

The pages are dominated by Gudeon’s beautiful paintings. Her rich, vibrant colors pop against the handmade, wheat-colored paper. Each page shows the present-day seder elements, then by unfolding a flap, a large scene from the Old Testament story is revealed showing the historical context.

As I said, it’s a gorgeous book, with folk art borders, caligraphy, paintings, and narrative all contributing to a warm, celebratory, yet bittersweet understanding of Passover. Ages 5 and up.

The Passover Lamb, by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss
published in 2013 by Random House

Miriam lives with her family on a small farm. Today is an exciting day because it’s time to celebrate the Passover seder at her grandparents’ home, and for the first time, Miriam will be the one to sing the Four Questions.

When one of the family’s ewes unexpectedly delivers triplet lambs in the morning, though, travel plans need to be called off. The ewe has rejected one lamb, and it needs round-the-clock care to survive.

Miriam is initially heartbroken, but her clever thinking makes it possible to care for the lamb and attend the seder.

Inspired by a true story in the author’s family, this gentle story will not help an unfamiliar person understand Passover, but it sheds a nice light on the significance of the seder tradition from a child’s point of view. The use of names relevant to the Passover account, and a story revolving around a lamb, also tie things together well. Ages 3 and up.