From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2–Baxter desperately wants to experience Shabbat dinner, the special Friday-night meal that ushers in the Jewish day of rest. He wants to see for himself how “the candles gleam and glow and dance while our sweetest voices lift in song.” When he learns that pork is a forbidden food according to Jewish law, he stuffs his face with kosher pickles and raisin challah, hoping to become kosher. He even tries, unsuccessfully, to become a cow. Finally, an encounter with a kind rabbi sets him straight. She explains that while he's not kosher to eat, never will be, and really wouldn't want to be, everyone is welcome at Shabbat dinner. Baxter enjoys a marvelous evening with the rabbi, pigging out on kugel, a Jewish casserole dish, and realizing that it is much better to be a guest than an item on the menu. The delightfully expressive and comical pen-and-ink illustrations are digitally enhanced with photographs of storefronts, deli counters, pickle jars, and traditional Jewish foods. While animals celebrating Shabbat isn't new–think Sylvia A. Rouss's Sammy Spider's First Shabbat (1998), Diane Rauchwerger's Dinosaur on Shabbat (2006), and Jacqueline Jules's Once Upon a Shabbos (1999, all Kar-Ben)–the idea of a pig wanting to become kosher will entertain children and the adults reading to them, especially those familiar with Jewish traditions.
Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review
Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, June 28, 2010:
"Snyder and Goldin go together like matzo balls and chicken soup: the bright, daffy prose and ebulliently goofy cartoon and photo collages will persuade readers that they don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Baxter's spiritual journey—which ends, happily enough, at the Shabbat table of a kindly rabbi. Yes, of course he's a guest. What did you think?"
Review, School Library Journal, August 1, 2010:
"Delightfully expressive and comical..."
Review, The Horn Book Magazine, September & October, 2010:
"In-the-know readers will be tickled pink by
mensch Baxter...while the uninitiated will quickly catch on."
Review, Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2010:
"This will...find plenty of use in Jewish homes, particularly among families in which one parent is not Jewish."
Review, Curled Up With A Good Kid's Book (site), December 2010:"The smart dialogue ... effortlessly educates readers about the Jewish holiday called Shabbat right alongside an adorable pig who shares the same goal ... charming story with equally charming illustrations ..."