Off the Shelf: For Passover: a graphic novel and a picture book

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“One Little Goat”

Dara Horn’s first graphic novel for tweens may surprise fans who are familiar with her other works. “One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe” by Horn and illustrated by Theo Ellworth (Norton Young Readers) is a surrealistic look at not only an endless Passover seder, but Jewish history. The narrator is the oldest child in the family and the book opens with a very funny illustration showing how the seder he attends seems never ending. However, this year, there is an additional problem: his youngest sibling runs off with the afikomen (the matzah that ends the seder meal) and throws it into a time warp. According to their tradition, they can’t end the seder until the afikomen is recovered.
As if the time warp wasn’t strange enough, a talking goat arrives at the door, introducing himself as the scapegoat (the goat people blame for everything that goes wrong), who is also part the poem (“Chad Gadya”) sung at the end of the seder. This nameless goat takes the narrator on a trip through time to recover the afikomen. During their travels, the narrator learns about his father’s life in the U.S.S.R. (when it was illegal to practice Judaism) and his great-grandmother’s time in the Warsaw Ghetto. He and the goat visit other Jews throughout the centuries, including ancient rabbis who are less than thrilled when the goat makes an appearance.
“One Little Goat” offers lessons in a round-about fantastical way. The narrator learns about being patient with his younger siblings, in addition to facts about Jewish history. But the work also illustrates that the past never completely disappears, something that is also noted during a traditional seder: those attending are supposed to feel as if they, too, had been slaves in Egypt and redeemed. This unusual work demands attention to detail in order to make sense of its spiraling story, but those willing to leaf through its pages will discover unexpected delights.

Pages from “One Little Goat” (Text by Dara Horn and illustrations by Theo Ellsworth. Used with permission from Norton Young Readers/W. W. Norton and Company.)

“Matzah Day”

The short, funny picture book “Matzah Day” by Charlotte Offsay with illustrations by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House) is the perfect way to introduce young children to matzah. The family featured loves matzah, no matter its shape or size. The book offers suggestions of different ways to eat the flat bread, including sweet matzah, matzah pizza or matzah with sour cream, lox and onion, although the baby’s favorite is matzah brei. There is a warning to matzah lovers about not eating matzah in bed, noting that “crumbs will sneak into your covers.”
Offsay’s prose is clear and easy to understand, but it was Kirschner’s illustrations that made me smile. For example, when explaining how matzah is made, he enlarges the ingredients and shrinks the humans. The drawing of the seder dinner delightfully shows the organized chaos that occurs during many family gatherings. The work ends with explanations of matzah and Passover, in addition to three matzah related recipes.