AFIKOMEN

Passover magic.

A seder’s leader breaks a matzah in half and places it in an afikomen bag. (Afikomen is a matzah portion eaten at seder’s end and usually hidden for children to find for a prize.) The family dog grabs it and scurries under the table. Following the dog, three Jewish children magically find themselves, with dog and bag, along the banks of the Nile in ancient Egypt. Across the river, a woman, standing with her daughter, places a basket in the river; it floats away. Eventually, the children discover the basket contains an infant. With the children’s help, the baby drifts to the Pharaoh’s daughter, who rescues him. The baby’s sister and the children bid farewell; children and dog return home. Later, their parents are bewildered to see sand spilling from the bag! The author’s note describes the story of Passover, though the book itself is wordless. But children who know about Moses’ early life know he was the infant in the basket. They also know there couldn’t have been Passover without Moses. It makes sense that this comic-style book is wordless, since children must “recite” the elements of the evocative ink-and-watercolor panel illustrations as if they were reciting the Exodus story from the Haggadah itself. The artist does a fine job capturing particulars (whorls in the Nile suggesting flowing water; children playing with frogs). The protagonists are tan-skinned; seder guests are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

The origins of Passover, expressed in a unique fashion.