APRIL 7 • 2022 | 33

PASSOVER

A Persian Passover
By Etan Basseri, Illustrated 
by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Kalaniot Books, $19.99
“Many years ago, in a small 
town in Iran,” the book 
begins. The story is about sib-
lings Ezra and Roza, who are 
helping their parents prepare 
for the seder. The traditional 
cleaning is underway, the 
ingredients for hallaq — the 
Persian version of charoset, 
made from dates, raisins and 
nuts — are assembled, and 
the children are charged with 
taking the family’s sack of 
flour to the synagogue’s com-
munity oven, where teams 
of bakers transform it into 
matzah. 
 A disaster occurs on the 
way home, but the duo’s mis-
adventures ultimately provide 
an opportunity to invite a 
lonely neighbor to their seder. 

Passover, Here I Come
By D.J. Steinberg, Illustrated 
by Emanuel Wiemans 
Grosset & Dunlap, $5.99
Celebrate Passover with a col-
lection of funny and festive 
poems from the author of the 
hugely popular Kindergarten, 
Here I Come! 
The seder plate is set and the 
pantry’s filled with matzah 
— Passover is here! Author 
D. J. Steinberg is back with 
an all-new collection of 
poems celebrating the joys 
of Passover, from singing the 
Four Questions to finding the 
Afikomen. 
The book includes a sheet 
of stickers for extra holiday 
fun.

The Melody
By Oded Burla, Assaf 
Benharroch (Illustrator) 
Ilana Kurshan (Translator)
Kalaniot Books, $19.99
The Melody, written by Oded 
Brula, an Israeli writer and 
poet who is considered 
among the founders of chil-
dren’s literature in Hebrew, at 
first seems a simple tale of a 
melody in search of a home. 
 In this translation, the mel-
ody asks mountains, rivers 
and stones, crows and moles 
to listen to it before finally 
finding a mother, who hums 
the melody for her child. 
 Look closer at this story, 
and you will find Jewish con-
nections to God offering the 
Torah to the Jewish people. 
According to a 2,000-year- 
old commentary, God offers 
the Torah to all the people of 
the ancient world, but none 
accept it until it is presented 
it to the Jewish people on 
Mount Sinai. 

Three new books to help celebrate the holiday 
with your little ones.

New Story Books 
for Passover

JN STAFF

A

re you ready to add some new holiday books to your current lineup of bedtime stories 
for your 4-to-8-year-olds? Here are three charming books to consider this year. All are 
available at amazon.com.

Jewish Fund Grants 
Bring Dental Health 
to Metro Detroit’s 
Needy 

The word “dentures” may conjure 
up cartoon images of teeth soaking 
in a glass of water or a punch line 
from a corny joke. But to many of 
Metro Detroit’s uninsured poor, 
their need for dentures is no laugh-
ing matter, but a critical health issue.
Thanks to grants from the Jewish 
Fund and the Jewish Fund Teen 
Board, 75 patients of the Malta 
Dental and Medical Clinic in 
Detroit are getting their dentures — 
and with them, a new lease on life.
“We can change someone’s life 
with a set of properly-fitting den-
tures,
” said Nancy Harmon, the 
clinic’s dental director. “Health, 
social life, employability — just 
about every marker of well-being 
improves dramatically. Patients 
come to the clinic too ashamed to 
even open their mouths, and they 
walk out beaming with a new smile.
”
The grants, which total $25,000, 
make it possible for the Malta Clinic 
to provide dentures without cost 
to patients. The cost of dentures — 
anywhere from several hundred to 
several thousand dollars — poses 
an insurmountable barrier to the 
uninsured poor, explained Thomas 
Larabell, president of the Malta 
Clinic board of directors.
“It’s a time-consuming and 
expensive process to make dentures 
that fit well,
” Larabell noted. “We are 
so grateful to the Jewish Fund board 
of directors and Teen Board for 
helping us meet this critical health 
need.
”