Welcoming Elijah

Starred review from January 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 1-Simple, lyrical text describes how a contemporary Jewish family celebrates the Passover Seder. Inside, the house is filled with light and laughter as a young boy fills the ceremonial cup of wine for the Prophet Elijah, dips parsley in salt water, breaks the middle matzo, hears the story of the Jews' exodus from Egypt, and enjoys the holiday meal. Meanwhile, a small stray kitten waits alone in the dark for the moon to rise. When the time comes for the boy to open the door for the Prophet Elijah, the kitten has scampered up the walk and is waiting to be invited inside. The text concludes: "And that's how Elijah [the kitten] found a home." The luminous detailed illustrations-done in ink, charcoal, and digital collage-use deep gold, black, and blue tones to beautifully depict the contrast between the loving, festive atmosphere inside the house and the dark, still night outside. Readers will delight in finding the adorable white kitten on each spread and will notice how the kitten's actions outside mimic the boy's actions inside. A large, intergenerational and racially diverse family is warmly depicted. An extensive author's note is appended, providing background information about the history and customs of the Passover holiday along with a listing of some of the traditional rituals of the Passover Seder. VERDICT Anybody who has ever opened the door for Elijah during the Passover Seder will relish this charming, magical, and heartwarming story.-Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 13, 2020
Every year at the Passover seder, Jews take a moment to open their front doors and symbolically welcome in the prophet Elijah, a bringer of hope and redemption. In this story, the boy charged with opening the door finds not a prophet but a stray white kitten on the doorstep. “Elijah?” asks the boy. “Meow!” replies the adorable feline, who is immediately welcomed into the family. Newman structures the lead-up to this adoption as a series of contrasts and perspective shifts between “Inside”—the warm, happy home where an inclusive, multigenerational group is celebrating—and “Outside,” where the kitten wanders and waits before finding its new home. “Inside, the boy waited/ for the Seder to start./ Outside, the kitten waited/ for the moon to rise”; “Inside, the boy broke/ the middle matzo in half./ Outside, the kitten split/ a twig in two.” Gal’s lushly textured ink and charcoal drawings and close-ups of happy, candlelit faces convey the warmth of holiday togetherness and communal care. Ages 5–8.

February 1, 2020
Passover nights are different, happily so for a boy and a kitten. It's a Seder night, and a boy and his large family welcome guests to the festive holiday celebration. There are many rituals in the evening, including filling a cup of wine for the prophet Elisha, but his favorite is opening the door to welcome Elijah in. Writing in contrasting couplets, Newman relates the many elements of the holiday as "inside" activities. There are also "outside" goings-on. A fluffy white cat in the yard does feline things that seem to mimic what the family and their guests are doing except in one respect. The family enjoys plenty of good food while the kitten "swishe[s] his skinny tail." Finally it is time to hold open the door, and who should be standing there but that irresistibly appealing fluffy white kitten. Boy and kitten, to be named Elijah of course, embrace as the others look on in joy. Gal's softly smudged illustrations, rendered in ink, charcoal, and digital collage, warmly reflect the text's contrasts, with bright yellows illuminating the household and iridescent blues bathing the outdoor scenes. The family and friends are racially diverse, with both black- and white-presenting group members. The boy himself presents white; the men wear kippot. While not the traditional holiday outcome, it should please celebrants and cat lovers all. (author's note, list of Seder rituals) (Picture book. 4-7)

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January 1, 2020
On Passover, inside his warm and cozy house, a boy waits expectantly for his family's Seder. Outdoors, a kitten waits alone for the moon to appear. Inside, the Seder begins. The boy fills the Cup of Elijah, a ritual that welcomes the prophet into the home. The child listens to the Passover story and enjoys a traditional meal, while outside the cat listens to whispering leaves and "ate nothing at all." Readers recognize or learn about nearly all the steps of the Seder while getting to know the roaming feline, whose roughly parallel activities are shown, split-screen-style, on every spread. The cat's rambles lead to the boy's doorstep at the same moment he opens the door for the prophet: "And that's how Elijah found a home." Gal's warmhearted illustrations, in ink, charcoal, and digital collage, show a diverse, loving extended Jewish family. The art is suffused with light, including golden hues, warm browns, and midnight blues along with textured brushstrokes, subtle patterns, dark outlines, and the whitish-gray cat. Passover-themed details in the text ("Tonight would be different from all other nights," think boy and cat--a nod to the Four Questions), the illustrations (gefilte fish advertised in a market window), and the story's message (let all who are hungry come and eat) will resonate with readers; for those unfamiliar with the holiday, Newman's informative and personal appended author's note provides more detail. Waiting is a feeling with which young Seder-goers will likely be familiar. The protagonist's wait ends not as he expected, but satisfyingly nonetheless.

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2020
On Passover, inside his warm and cozy house, a boy waits expectantly for his family's Seder. Outdoors, a kitten waits alone for the moon to appear. Inside, the Seder begins. The boy fills the Cup of Elijah, a ritual that welcomes the prophet into the home. The child listens to the Passover story and enjoys a traditional meal, while outside the cat listens to whispering leaves and "ate nothing at all." Readers recognize or learn about nearly all the steps of the Seder while getting to know the roaming feline, whose roughly parallel activities are shown, split-screen-style, on every spread. The cat's rambles lead to the boy's doorstep at the same moment he opens the door for the prophet: "And that's how Elijah found a home." Gal's warmhearted illustrations, in ink, charcoal, and digital collage, show a diverse, loving extended Jewish family. The art is suffused with light, including golden hues, warm browns, and midnight blues along with textured brushstrokes, subtle patterns, dark outlines, and the whitish-gray cat. Passover-themed details in the text ("Tonight would be different from all other nights, " think boy and cat�? a nod to the Four Questions), the illustrations (gefilte fish advertised in a market window), and the story's message (let all who are hungry come and eat) will resonate with readers; for those unfamiliar with the holiday, Newman's informative and personal appended author's note provides more detail. Waiting is a feeling with which young Seder-goers will likely be familiar. The protagonist's wait ends not as he expected, but satisfyingly nonetheless. Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)