Under-the-Sea Seder

Ann D. Koffsky is the award-winning author and illustratorof more than 35 books, including What’s in Tuli’s Box?, Judah Maccabee Goesto the Doctor, Noah's Swimathon (a Sydney Taylor Notable book), and the Kayla & Kugel series. She lives in WestHempstead, New York.

During a seder, a young Jewish girl gets antsy. Miri is too noisy, and her parents don’t like the way she"slurp[s] down her grape juice" or "crunch[es] on a matzah." She and Abby, hercat, find a way to flee the boring, long meal. They hide under the table, wherea fish embroidered on the tablecloth seemingly comes to life, sea plants grow,and a seder submarine carries the pair under the sea. They find themselves at aseder attended by three wildly colored sea monsters, complete with a sederplate containing symbolic holiday foods. Everyone comes together to celebrate,the creatures, Abby, and Miri speaking, respectively, Sea Monster, Cat, andHebrew (all translated into English in footnotes) and the others listening asMiri begins the four questions. They then leave the table for dancing. But Mirihears her parents calling, so she and Abby return to the sub and head home intime for Miri to sing seder songs and dance with her family. With overtones ofMaurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), this read-aloud brings acreative element to the holiday. The humorous, vibrant illustrations depictmost human character as light-skinned, though one guest has dark brown skin.The author provides useful ideas for actively involving children in theholiday. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Marine fun and fantasy make for a magical Passovercelebration. (note to families) (Picture book. 4-6) --Kirkus ReviewsAnn Koff­sky has cre­at­ed a mag­i­cal under-the-sea envi­ron­ment sure to enter­tain chil­dren as Passover approach­es. Like many kids, young Miri is bored and rest­less dur­ing her fam­i­ly’s seder; adult voic­es drone on, grape juice is nois­i­ly slurped, and the crunch­ing matzah is messy. But the world under the table­cloth allows Miri’s active imag­i­na­tion to thrive. Accom­pa­nied by her pet cat, she explores an ocean­ic won­der­land. They meet fan­ci­ful, bright­ly col­ored sea crea­tures with whom they share a seder filled with enthu­si­as­tic song and dance. Miri then returns to the world of her fam­i­ly seder in time to sing the tra­di­tion­al Passover songs, and every­one starts to dance, hav­ing great fun together.An author’s note reminds fam­i­lies that the seder need not be a long, drea­ry affair. Act­ing, mov­ing, singing, and play­ing can be eas­i­ly incor­po­rat­ed to enliv­en the expe­ri­ence and include chil­dren who sim­ply can­not sit still. (Koff­sky notes that the rab­bis who designed the ear­li­est seders were con­cerned about main­tain­ing the inter­est of all the par­tic­i­pants.) She encour­ages fam­i­lies to think about cre­ative activ­i­ties they can add to encour­age par­tic­i­pa­tion and max­i­mize learn­ing. The art accom­pa­ny­ing the text, with its rich, deep col­ors and humor­ous touch­es, is as vibrant and imag­i­na­tive as Miri. --Jewish Book Council