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April 28, 2005 - Image 42

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2005-04-28

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

wish famili

A Secret For Everyone

A Passover book with a poignant tale, a lovely book for new parents,
and a lot of silliness, a bit of wisdom.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

The Secret Seder by Doreen
Rappaport, with illustrations by Emily
Arnold McCully. Copyright 2005,
published by Hyperion Books for
Children (www.hyperionbooksforchil-
dren.com). Hardback. 40 pages.
$16.99.

"Restraint" is word missing from the
vocabulary of many writers. They love
to pour it on, louder and heavier,
almost like a rock musician, when
they want to express a deep emotion
or something they're not sure you're
actually understanding. If it's sad, add
lots of "very" and "really" and tons of
crying; if
it's happy,
do the
same.

N

4/28

2005

42

The
Secret Seder
is the kind
of book
which, in
less skilled
hands, eas-
ily could have fallen into the "very"
and "really" routine. Instead, it's a
beautiful, quiet tale of a seder held in
Nazi-occupied France.
As the story begins, a little boy
named Jacques is "walking as fast as I
can." He walks quickly because he is
eager to get home to practice the Four
Questions — and because he is afraid.
He is afraid of the "'black boot men
[who] came to Paris and took the Jews
away." Jacques and his family are pre-
tending to be Catholic, but they never
feel safe. You can see this on the faces
of Jacques' parents, beautifully drawn
by Emily Arnold McCully.
Though Jacques' mother is fearful,
her son is going to join his father and
grandfather and the other men for a
seder. They creep into the forest,
through the darkness, listening all the
time for someone who might be near.
Finally, they come to a shack at the
top of a mountain. Gathered there is a
handful of men at a table with one

piece of matzah and a bottle of wine.
As the men conduct the seder, they
speak of their own agony.
"We have no bitter herbs to dip in
salted water," says the old man.
"We do not need bitter herbs," says
a deep voice. "Our lives are bitter .
enough."
No one speaks for a few minutes.
Someone recalls how Pharaoh freed
the Jewish people, and another asks
why God doesn't free the Jews now?
"Tonight, we are free," Papa says.
"We are free inside ourselves; for by
celebrating Pesach, we defy orders not
to practice our religion."
Inspired by true events, The Secret
Seder manages to show both a child's
delight in the holiday and the terrible
fear that defines his life and those of
everyone around him. It ends on a
haunting note, as the men go home
saying the last words of the seder:
"Next year in Jerusalem."
Though we read it each year, the
Haggadah is always compelling. So,
too, is The Secret Seder
'a book that
should be read and reread every
Pesach.



Before You Were Born by Howard
Schwartz, with illustrations by
Kristina Swarner. Copyright 2005,
published by Roaring Book Press (2
Old New Milford Road, Brookfield,
CT. 06804). Hardback. 32 pages.
$16.95.

There's something about becoming a
parent that brings otherwise normal
adults to
the brink
of tears at
the oddest
moments.
Watching a
commercial
for dish-
washing
liquid, for
example,
could mean a good cry if a mom and
daughter are sitting together.
Horrendously sappy poems can do

it, too, so long as they focus on a par-
ent's love.
Rest assured, then, that Before You
Were Born, is going to make a lot of
parents cry.
In all fairness, the copy is pretty
good, though not so brilliant it would
leave the average seasoned parent
weeping. ("The perfect gift for new
moms, new dads, new babies," the
book's cover proclaims). It's the
retelling of a popular Jewish story
about a child before he is born. Still in
God's arms, the little soul learns every-
thing he could ever want to know.
Then he is brought to a family, to be
their child, and just before he is born,
an angel comes and makes a slight
indentation under his nose and above
his mouth (philtrum is the technical
terms) and he forgets everything.
Howard Schwartz, probably best
known for his collection of Jewish
fairy tales, tells the story pretty much
as you would expect. It's simple and
straightforward, with a nice postscript
at the end where Schwartz tells of how
he heard of this famous tale.
Before You Were Born is, nonetheless,
an amazing book for one reason and
one reason alone: the art. Kristina
Swarner is simply one of the best
artists out there. Her work is breath-
taking: bright and gentle and flowing
and tender all at once. There wouldn't
even need to be a single word on a
page, and her painting alone could
convey extraordinary love, or wonder,
or mystery, all the best parts of being a
child.
So even if you don't have children,
even if you're not moved to tears by
certain dishwashing-liquid commer-
cials, it's worth it to buy Before You
Were Born just to be dazzled by the
wondrous beauty of Kristina Swarner's
art.

Whiskers by Max Silk, with illustra-
tions by Kerry Hirsch. Copyright
2004, published by Biblio Books
(www.bibliobooks.com). Paperback.
124 pages. $12.

Whiskers is a mouse who lives inside
the walls of the Bennett family's
house. He has lived there for years,
eating the family's food and avoiding
the cat, Tinker.
One day when the family goes on
vacation, Whiskers goes exploring and
meets a new mouse named Kattie.
They fall in love and go on many
adventures.
The Bennetts return and unhappily
find both Whiskers and Kattie; and
the two mice manage to escape,
though
they
eventually
return to
the
Bennett
home.
Then,
there are
more
adven-
tures,
more
escapes,
and final-
S e
ly the
e7(6.-atdra 4
Bennetts
plan to
move. The day of the move, Kattie
and Whiskers. jump into one of the
boxes so they can continue on with
the family at their new home.
Biblio Books is an Israeli publisher,
but there is nothing about Israel or
being Jewish in Whiskers. Further, the
text itself is flawed. The plot is written
to appeal to younger readers, but the
book is ridiculously long and includes
a number of words they will not
understand. The end of the story is
just horrid: Whiskers -learns Kattie is
pregnant and responds: "Now I really
have problems, not only are we mov-
ing to a new home, but now I will
have more mouths to feed as well."
And if all that wasn't enough, the copy
has punctuation and grammatical
errors. Awful, just awful.

ta

Wise ... and Not So Wise: Ten Tales
from the Rabbis, selected and retold

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