On Passover [Hardcover]

Cathy Goldberg Fishman (Author), Melanie W. Hall (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

Watching and taking part in the many traditions of Passover, including bringing out the Seder plate, preparing the meal, and participating in the Seder, a young girl asks many questions and discovers her personal feelings about the holiday.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As a young girl prepares for Passover with her family, she uses all her senses to experience this important Jewish holiday. Everyone in her family answers her questions (which are an integral part of Passover) and playfully encourages her to understand more deeply what they are celebrating. Her father tells her that it is important for Jewish people to celebrate Passover every year so that they can always remember what it was like when people were slaves in Egypt, and so they can pray for all the people in the world who don't have freedom. The girl learns that Passover has things to see (feathers, candles, and spoons), smell (gefilte fish and chicken soup), taste (matzah bread), hear (songs and blessings), and feel (the softness of the silk matzah cover). Passover is a time to ask questions. But most of all, she says, Passover is "a wonderful feeling in my heart, dyenu." (Hebrew for "it would be enough.")

Cathy Goldberg Fishman's gentle, lilting child's-eye-view of Passover is a quiet extravaganza of the senses. Melanie W. Hall's wonderfully Chagall-like collagraph and mixed-media illustrations create a mystical backdrop that evokes history and tradition as it commemorates ancient symbolic ritual. This is one of four in a series by the author/illustrator team, including On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, On Hanukkah, and On Purim. (Ages 5 to 10) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. A comfortable picture-book introduction to a beloved holiday. A young girl shares the preparations and the rituals that are part of the traditional Passover seder. The sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and feelings of the observance are conjured up by a rhythmic text that conveys information and recreates the joy of the celebration. The motion and muted colors of the appealing collagraph and mixed-media illustrations glow with the warmth of the occasion. The different textures and hues naturally blend together pictures of the narrator's family with religious and biblical images.?Amy Kellman, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; 1st edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689805284
• ISBN-13: 978-0689805288
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,675,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A charming overview of Passover traditions, April 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: On Passover (Hardcover)

There is a cozy, warm feel to this book, not least because of the beautifully colored illustrations. They show a young girl as she is encouraged by her family to experience Passover through her senses--How does Passover smell, taste, sound, etc. This interaction between the girl and several generations of her family lends a wonderful element of shared traditions. All of these aspects of the story blend to become a book to which a wide variety of people can relate, without regard to their religious background.

4.0 out of 5 stars Using your senses to prepare for Passover, April 4, 2011

By 

Stephanie's Mommy Brain (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Passover (Paperback)

A child describes the Passover preparations of his (or her, we aren't told which) family. Each time the child asks a question about the preparations he is told to use one of his 5 senses to figure out the answer. This clever presentation teaches us about the foods, story and games of Passover.

An enjoyable book for 4-8 year olds.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, March 16, 2010

By 

N. Davis (Lafayette, Co USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On Passover (Paperback)

I love all the books in this series. We have and have given all of them - On Passover, On Shabbat, etc. They're the best children's books about the holidays I've ever seen.