Written by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky and Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen
Illustrated by Mariia Kolker
Published by Kalaniot Books
Mom's Review
Hannah loves having a big Passover celebration, so when her extended family is unable to visit and celebrate together, Hannah and her parents decide to invite their closest friends, Jewish or not. In her invitations, Hannah highlights different aspects of Passover, which prompts each invitee to bring a gift from their own culture to honor the Passover tradition. One family brings kimchi in recognition of bitter herbs and another brings a kite to celebrate to onset of spring. Hannah, her family, and their culturally and religiously diverse friends celebrate and honor tradition together, reverencing Jewish history and strengthening cross-cultural connections. While these subjects may appear heavy, the focus of An Invitation to Passover is clearly friendship and children sharing what matters most to them. This picture book is itself a celebration of friendship and the reverence friends have for one another's faiths and cultures. The effective combination of text and illustration welcome the reader into Hannah's home for one extraordinary seder meal; the audience will enjoy Hannah's problem-solving, her parents' support of her ideas, and finally the back matter explaining Passover practices.
An Invitation to Passover is a win for faith representation - it's a worthwhile read in its own right and has the added value of depicting the integral part religious tradition has in some families. And at this point I think we all know that it is just as important for children to see themselves in literature as it is for them to see lifestyles different from their own.
Comments
Post a Comment