Matzo Ball Moon [Hardcover]

Leslea Newman (Author), Elaine Greenstein (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Eleanor's grandmother, Bubbe, makes chicken soup with matzo balls every Passover, and this year is no exception. With Eleanor's help, Bubbe makes some of the lumpiest, bumpiest, yummiest-looking matzo balls Eleanor has ever seen. These matzo balls are so delicious that no one in Eleanor's family can resist sneaking a taste, each thinking one or two matzo balls will never be missed. But when it comes time to serve the soup at the Passover meal, there aren't enough matzo balls for everyone-until Eleanor find one last matzo ball in a very unexpected place! Expressive, cheerful illustrations complement this warm story of a family's celebration of the Passover holiday and their rediscovery of its true meaning.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For Eleanor and her family, the highlight of Passover is having Bubbe come and make her fabulous matzo ball soup. This year the recipe turns out so well that no one can enter the kitchen without sneaking a matzo ball from the pan?and there are so many trips to the kitchen that Bubbe falls short one matzo ball when it's time for the seder. "Eat up, all of you," she says, serving matzo balls to everyone else. "As long as my family enjoys, I enjoy." Newman (Too Far Away to Touch) captures the easy affection and love of happy families, and if Bubbe says the expected, she is also credible and has some chutzpah. The cheerfully naive style of Greenstein's (While the Candles Burn: Eight Stories for Hanukkah) painted monoprints intensifies the mood of sunny domesticity. Colors are both vivid and slightly warmed, giving the palette a comfortably well-worn look, and compositions gracefully incorporate casually festive patterns. While the art is consistently inviting, the text gets a little too sweet at the end. Eleanor, gazing at a full moon, sees it as a "big, bumpy, lumpy, yummy-looking matzo ball," and offers the metaphor up to a delighted Bubbe. The moral: when the moon in the sky is a big matzo ball, that's amore. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3AIt's the morning of Passover and Eleanor is excited because Bubbe is coming to cook chicken soup with matzo balls. Her grandmother, who has a traditional Eastern European Jewish air about her, clearly relishes sharing the mixing and rolling and tasting. So does the rest of the family, because Daddy, Mama, and older brother Joshua all help themselves to just one, and then one more, chewy matzo ball. Alas, after the Seder is recited and the soup is served, there are no matzo balls left for Bubbe, but she is happy to watch her family eat. At the conclusion of the meal, Eleanor opens the door for the prophet Elijah. She looks up at the moon "so big and lumpy and bumpy" and sees-another matzo ball! Notes at the end of the story explain how a Seder table is set and describe some of the traditions. Lively, full-page gouache illustrations depict a happy household cheerfully sharing a holiday celebration. A humorous, warm-spirited, intergenerational story.ASusan Pine, New York Public Library
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (March 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039571530X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395715307
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,716,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lesléa Newman is the author of 64 books for readers of all ages including the middle grade novel, HACHIKO WAITS, the poetry collection, STILL LIFE WITH BUDDY, the short story collection, A LETTER TO HARVEY MILK, and the children's books A SWEET PASSOVER, THE BOY WHO CRIED FABULOUS, THE BEST CAT IN THE WORLD, DONOVAN'S BIG DAY, and HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES. Her literary awards include poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists. A past poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts, she is a faculty member of Spalding University's brief-residency MFA in Writing program.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Upbeat story of a family tradition, June 22, 2000

By 

Jacob Helfgott - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matzo Ball Moon (Hardcover)

This book offers an upbeat story of one family's tradition of having Gramma prepare the matzo ball soup for Passover seder. Gramma shows up at the door with her special soup pot, and her favorite grand-daughter pitches in to help. Unfortunately, the story is cluttered with a lot of family members, dropping by to snatch a matzo ball out of the pot. And, the book fails to offer any religious meaning to the holiday -- the "Rugrats Passover" does a much better job at this. Comparing a lumpy matzo ball to the full moon at Passover seder is a bit of a stretch, and added little to the story. In short, my 3 yr old son found this book un-interesting. It lacks the warmth and enthusiasm of a similar book about a little girl spending the night at her grandfather's house: "Everything from A to Z....," which my son memorized from cover-to-cover within a week after the book arrived.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm family story rich with tradition, August 17, 2001

By 

Michael Spaulding (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matzo Ball Moon (Hardcover)

This is one of my three-year-old son's favorite books. He loves the interaction between the daughter and grandmother. The story isn't heavy on the relgious aspects of Pesach, but it does touch on them. Most of all, it is an endearing story of family tradition.