Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Passover: with Matzah, Maror, and Memories
Part of the Holidays Around the World series, this slim entry is informative though sometimes disjointed. It begins with a short recitation of the Passover story and then moves directly into how the holiday is celebrated. Surprisingly, the next spread, in words and photographs, focuses on the Orthodox way of preparing for the holiday. The photo shows a family covering their kitchen in aluminum foil to prevent leavened crumbs from getting into the home--hardly a common practice. The book goes on to explain Passover traditions and offers a more detailed version of the Passover story. A concluding essay by a rabbi offers thoughts on the meaning of the holiday. The clean format evokes the spring holiday, but the book's visual emphasis is also on Jewish communities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. More information about these diverse groups, other than the simple picture captions that identify them, would have been welcome because the arresting photos are the book's initial draw. Appended information includes the Four Questions and instructions for setting the Seder table.Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved