Description:
Ezra and Roza are helping to prepare for their Passover celebration. Join the siblings as they experience the sights, smells, and sounds of a seder in Iran of the 1950s.
A free downloadable activity guide that highlights the themes in this book is available on the Kalaniot Books website.
Brief description: Rashin Kheiriyeh is an internationally recognized award-winning illustrator, author, and animator who has published over eighty children's books and received fifty national and international awards, including the 2021 Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year, Sendak Fellowship, and Bologna Book Fair New Horizons Award. She has a master's in graphic design and a doctorate in illustration, and is a lecturer in the art department of the University of Maryland. She lives in Washington D.C.
Review Quotes: Ezra and Roza help their family prepare for Passover in 1950s Iran. Ezra's most important job is to take his family's flour to the matzah bakers in the synagogue courtyard. As he and his sister watch, the baker's pour in water, mix, knead, and bake the flour into matzah, in well under the 18-minute halachic requirement. The package of matzah in hand, they set out for home, but when Ezra tries to make it back in record time, he trips and falls, dropping his matzah in a puddle of water. Distraught, the children search the market for any vendor who might be selling matzah. With Passover looming, they receive scallions (to hit each other during Dayenu!), candied almonds (for an extra sweet holiday), but no matzah. Worried and upset, they stand outside their home wondering how to tell their parents that there will be no matzah this year. Their neighbor, Mrs. Pirnazar, walks by wishing them a Moadim Shalom (a happy holiday), and learns of their plight. Immediately she offers them her matzah, as she will be "celebrating alone this year." The children invite her to share the Passover seder with their family. Vibrant and colorful illustrations, in a primitive style, bring this story to life. The seder "table," an ornate sofreh, a cloth on which food is served, is carefully detailed and beautifully decorated with all the symbols of the holiday. The back of the book contains a short description of Passover, a glossary of the Hebrew and Persian words used throughout the text, a narrative about Jews in Persia, and a recipe for Hallaq, Persianstyle charoset. Filled with wonderful facts about an Iranian seder, this is a charming Passover story for young people and their families, and a rare look at a segment of Sephardic Jewish life. A great addition to the Passover shelf for home, school, synagogue, and public libraries.--Kathy Bloomfield "Association of Jewish Libraries News and Reviews"