Meet the Matzah: A Passover Story

A great way to get children to appreciate historical or cultural events is to make them relevant to their experiences. Alan Silberberg gives Passover a modern-day, inclusive feel with clever word play, silly characters, funny illustrations, but, most of all, an instructive story. The small set will absorb the story of an event that may have occurred 3-4000 years ago so that, as they grow older, they can develop a greater understanding of the history and its significance.

Meet the Matzah: A Passover Story is a partner to the equally silly and enjoyable Meet the Latkes. (www.cmreviews.ca/node/296)

Silberberg’s characters are composed mostly of flour and water, with a few yeasty additions. Alfie Koman, Loaf, Challah, Naan-cy, Burnie Toast, the Bun twins (Bun and Bun) and Cornelius Tortilla are all students in Mrs. Crust’s contemporary, diverse public school classroom. They're learning about their favourite holidays. For example, Naan-cy teaches her friends about Diwali, Cornelius about the Mexican Day of the Dead, but Alfie, who is supposed to tell the story of Passover, is nowhere to be found.

Why? Because Alfie is a piece of matzah, which is usually hidden during Passover, waiting to be discovered by happy children competing for a prize. Alfie’s shy and easily intimidated by Loaf, a sourdough who interrupts Alfie’s story of Passover, mashing it up, changing the Pharaoh into a Pha-roach and Moses into a flying superhero who zips, zaps and zooms.
In Loaf’s version, the Ten Plagues include No Wifi, Early Bedtime, Broccoli for Dessert and Bad Haircuts. With Challah’s support, Alfie stands up to Loaf and demands he “Let My Story Go!” , just like Moses stood up the Pharaoh and said, “Let my People Go!” Alfie tells the story as it’s supposed to be told, and Loaf apologizes, ashamed for having been a (sour) bully.

Alfie is forgiving and invites Challah and Loaf to his family seder where this night is indeed different from all other nights. Since Passover is a no-yeast event, his friends respectfully don protective outfits to keep the rules of the holiday - think PPE for the dinner table.

Silberberg’s expressive illustrations add a sense of fun to the story. Alfie and his baked friends all have big eyes, expressive mouths and appropriate hair - Challah’s is nicely braided. Bun and Bun toast themselves gently under an umbrella in the desert sun. But the illustrations also add tension - the Pha-roach is an ugly, green monster with multiple legs and fearsome pincers, and the exodus becomes a hurried affair when the Pharaoh (the real one) sends his army to bring the Hebrews back. Silberberg uses cartoon bubbles with big bold letters to supplement the text, adding a dramatic and urgent tone to the story.

A light orange-beige represents the desert sands, and soft hues of blue fill a sky buffeted by fluffy white clouds. Mrs. Crust’s classroom is full of books all askew on the shelves as well as desks in random spots on the open-concept floor. Note that Bun and Bun share the same desk! The combination of illustrations in boxes, circles and on a white background give a child a lot to examine. The bright colours are muted, so it's not jarring to study the pages.

Montreal-based Silberberg has worked as an animator for Nickelodeon and Disney and is a screenwriter, a cartoonist, and the author of other children’s books. His middle grade novel, Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze
earned him the Sid Fleishman Humour Award.

Meet the Matzah will make a perfect gift for children who celebrate Passover, but Silberberg’s use of a diverse student population and a real-life problem makes this a good candidate for a school or classroom library as well. Schools teach empathy and understanding of others, something which Silberberg fosters through strong writing, clever interpretations and cheeky illustrations.