cover image The Mouse in the Matzah Factory

The Mouse in the Matzah Factory

Francine Medoff, Kathleen In Den Brown. Kar-Ben Publishing, $6.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-58013-048-6

Engaging as well as informative, Francine Medoff's 1983 The Mouse in the Matzah Factory receives all-new illustrations by Nicole in den Bosch. The story follows a mouse who lives in a wheatfield; when farmers approach the crop with special care-watching over it daily, building a fence around it, etc.-the mouse's curiosity is piqued and he stows away on the wagon that brings the wheat to a mill. As Medoff's plot incorporates the steps taken to preserve the integrity of handmade Passover matzoh, in den Bosch's watercolors eschew period detail to conjure up a generally old-fashioned community, where the streets are sunny and the bakers always smile.