cover image Passover Scavenger Hunt

Passover Scavenger Hunt

Shanna Silva, illus. by Miki Sakamoto. Kar-Ben, $17.99 (24p) ISBN 978-1-4677-8937-0

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. (Feb.)