Passover was one of my favorite holidays as a kid. Much more so than the holiday most people associate with Jews – Hanukkah – because it came with a two week vacation from school and usually a gift, no matter if I found the Afikomen or not.
As I grew older, I began to appreciate the cultural and religious traditions just as much as my time off, because really it wasn’t time off anymore- we spent the days right before the holiday helping my mother “turn over” the kitchen from chametz to kosher for Passover. For my orthodox family, that meant boxing up all the usual dishes and foods and schlepping up the special Passover dishes from their boxes in the basement. They would then dwell in our newly scrubbed kitchen that was covered in so much silver foil it resembled a space ship. This might be where my love of space ships first began. Also possibly the origin story for my almond macaroon obsession.
I would made a special trip to the library prior to the holiday to check out enough books to last me through the eight days. Back then, I read one a night minimum, which made for a hefty haul. Yet almost none of these books were Passover related, or even Jewish at all. Because back then, outside of orthodox publishers whose books rarely made it to public libraries, there wasn’t much available available in Jewish Interest for kids after they graduated from picture books. Obviously, Passover has its own special book – the Haggadah – but now there’s also new offerings for our younger readers. Hopefully this turns some of them on to reading Jewish literature – and maybe even writing some of their own! – as they grow. Plus, they make a great afikomen gift.
Golem Crafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen is a charming middle grade book about two siblings delving into their family history while learning to craft golems from their grandfather. It contains one of the most hilarious depictions about a Passover Seder I have read in any book ever. The line about gefilte fish from jars slayed me. But Golem Crafters is about more than just humor.
These kids are dealing with a heavy family history – most historical Jews did not exactly lead happy, persecution-free lives- plus the struggle of explaining how a person can be both Japanese and Jewish to classmates who insist their intersectional background makes them unable to fully claim either heritage. They learn a lot about identity, which is thematically very relevant to the Passover holiday when our identity as a people was formed.
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Let’s face it, the Seder is long. It’s also a time of strong family memory creation. Dara Horn and Theo Ellsworth’s graphic novel One Small Goat combines these two concepts by sending a wise child through Seders of the past to find a missing Afikomen, so that his family can finally end their Seder. It is a tour through Jewish history, but also an homage to the Jewish tradition of asking questions. This book is great for your more reluctant readers in addition to your critical thinkers. Even the parents will enjoy the story.
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I’ve had my moments of personal pain with Jewish anthologies, usually when they claim to represent a broad swath of Jews but pointedly leave out the ones they find embarrassing (aka the ones that grew up like I did and the ones that practice orthodoxy as I still do). Therefore, I was very pleased to see some of my favorite orthodox creators included in the compilation On All Other Nights edited by Chris Baron, Joshua S. Levy, and Naomi Milliner.
The book features different stories arranged around to the order of the Seder itself. Kadesh, urchatz… I understand it’s impossible to include everyone – we contain multitudes! – but I hope some kids find themselves in this book this Passover.
Technically speaking, Honey and Me by Meira Drazin covers a lot of holidays. We meet Orthodox best friends Milla and Honey right before the high holidays and follow them through their bay mitzvah year straight through receiving the Torah at Shavuot. However, Passover is a critical turning point in not only their relationship, but also Mills’s relationship with her mother.
It’s a story of quiet growth, of appreciation for what one has, while also an acknowledgement that one must take care of oneself in order to be a fully realized person. It’s one of my favorite reads this year and I highly recommend it for Passover.
The trouble With Good Ideas is a book for anyone that’s ever had trouble with change, had to deal with being the only Jew in their class, or who has lost a grandparent to any form of dementia. The main character, Leah, is forced by life circumstances to switch from her Jewish surroundings to a town where she must attend public school where she faces significant antisemitism. To solve her problems Leah forms a golem.
What she fails to realize is that all Golems eventually have a mind of their own, and often turn on their creators or those around them. As the only Jew around, Leah is having to explain a lot, including Passover, to her classmates. She’s also facing her own redemption story. Much like the Jews in Egypt.