On Passover

Cathy Goldberg Fishman

ISBN 10: 061322129X ISBN 13: 9780613221290

Publisher: Bt Bound, 2000

Synopsis

"Dy-dy-enu, dy-dy-enu" my father sings in Hebrew.

"It would be enough."

A young girl hears her father singing these words and knows it is time to get ready for Passover. Time to eat special food on special Passover dishes. Time to tell the Passover story and take part in the Seder. During the celebration of Passover, there are many things to see, taste, smell, hear, and feel. And as the girl follows her senses and asks questions about all she encounters, she discovers in her own heart what Passover really means.

About this title

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

From Kirkus Reviews:

In an impressive debut, Fishman captures the emotion of the Passover celebration through the observations of a young narrator who recounts her family's annual preparations for the holiday. Childlike, fluid prose evokes sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and rituals, as the girl helps her mother take out the special dishes, pots, and pans, and the objects used before the holiday to remove all traces of leavened bread from the house: ``That night we light the candle and carry it around the darkened house. The flame sends shadow people dancing on the walls as the feather sweeps forgotten bits of leavened bread into the spoon.'' Scratchy mixed-media illustrations are a worthy counterpart to the text, combining images of the preparations and the symbols of the holiday in a swirl of textures and line. In soft pinks, greens, and gold, figures glide in and out of borders, furniture tilts and floats, vegetables dance over the cooking pot, and visions of other times and events long past fill the pages. A welcome addition to the holiday shelf. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bt Bound
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 061322129X
• ISBN 13: 9780613221290
• Binding: Library Binding