Passover Picture Books
It’s Passover, my favorite holiday and the most stressful one. Why is it my favorite? It’s a meaningful one about slavery and freedom. My parents hosted beautiful seders every year of my childhood, full of good memories. There are so many traditions and bits of knowledge that are fun to know and share. Why is it the most stressful one? Because of the food. If you run out of something, you can’t just go to the store and pick up some more up. Growing up in Michigan, my mom had to ask ahead when the grocery store would put out the Kosher for Passover food. Then she would be there the first day to stock up on the basics (the only items on offer) or miss her chance. The fact that my Connecticut grocery store starts putting out Passover food in February is a wonder, though it also leads to some impulse purchases (i.e., “We undoubtedly need this fourth box of Tam-Tams.”)
Having reached the middle of the week of Passover, perhaps you need a break from cooking, cleaning, and cajoling kids to eat more unfamiliar things. Pull out one of these great picture books on Passover and relax.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, and Quentin Blake (1982)
Webber and Rice’s musical, first written for a school, grew into a Broadway hit. (When I got to see it as a kid, I clapped so hard my hands ached.) Blake’s illustrations for the lyrics of the Joseph musical are delightful. If you know the show you’ll be tempted to sign along. And the story is a great “prequel” to the story of Moses and Passover, as it tells who the Jewish People came to Egypt, following Joseph there.
Only Nine Chairs: A Tall Tale for Passover by Deborah Uchill Miller and Karen Ostrove (1982/1995)
What do you do if you have 18 guests for your seder but only nine chairs? This silly, rhyming story presents that answer. There’s even a punchline featuring Elijah. The kids will surely be giggling as they see the absurd answers to the chair shortage.
Five Little Gefiltes by Dave Horowitz (2007)
A Yiddishkeit counting book starring five anthropomorphic gefilte fish is a surprising but funny entry to the Passover hit parade. Despite their mother’s warnings, the gefiltes will engage in risky behavior (to the delight of children reading) and disappear one by one. At the conclusion, there is a happy ending and a glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew terms.
Richard Codor’s Joyous Haggadah: The Illuminated Story of Passover as told by Richard and Liora Codor (2008)
Although this is a usable Hagaddah, it’s also a fun read beyond the seder. The illustrations are colorful and comic, with lots of little hidden gems to discover. The four children are depicted as the Marx Brothers. The story of the Exodus from Egypt is told in comic book form. The picture of the parting of the Red Sea includes a person cooking matzo and a sign claiming that “The Afi-Komen is Not Here.” It’s a delight from cover to cover.