January 23, 2017
Silva makes her children’s book debut with the warmhearted story of a family’s Passover seder, during which one of the young cousins, Rachel, gets fed up with how bad her Great-Uncle Harry is at hiding the afikomen. Taking the initiative, Rachel organizes a scavenger hunt for her cousins, featuring rhyming clues built around the ingredients on a seder plate (“The shankbone reminds us/ of when the Jews fled./ Find Clue Number Four/ Where Frank rests his head”). Sakamoto’s (Let’s Build) genial cartoons send Rachel and her cousins all over Great-Uncle Harry’s house, quietly emphasizing the closeness among the older and younger members of the family. It’s a no-stress, no-conflict portrait of a Passover celebration that emphasizes ingenuity and the creation of new traditions to accompany the old. Ages 4–9. Illustrator’s agency: Shannon Associates.
July 1, 2017
Rachel decides to play with tradition at her family's seder by creating an afikoman scavenger hunt to find the hidden matzah. She gets everyone involved in searching and solving holiday-themed clues. The story is playful and substantive (though not precise about the order of the seder). The cheerful illustrations are true to the story but also stereotypical and unimaginative.
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