Review: Welcoming Elijah
Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal
Category: Picture Book
Reviewer: Anna Caplan
In Lesléa Newman’s gentle picture book Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail, the Passover seder is rich with sensory experience. It’s also a little bit magical.
Using simple, lyrical prose, Newman takes readers on a journey through two separate worlds: a boy experiences the seder indoors while a stray kitten wanders outside. Although the boy and the kitten occupy different spaces, their experiences echo one another:
Inside, the boy dipped
parsley into salt water.
Outside, the kitten chewed
A wet blade of grass.
Inside, the boy broke
the middle matzo in half.
outside, the kitten split
a twig in two.
This soothing pattern of phrases beginning with “inside” and “outside” continues throughout the book. The repetition propels readers forward towards the inevitable meeting between boy and kitten. When they eventually meet, the moment is…
Reviewer: Anna Caplan
In Lesléa Newman’s gentle picture book Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail, the Passover seder is rich with sensory experience. It’s also a little bit magical.
Using simple, lyrical prose, Newman takes readers on a journey through two separate worlds: a boy experiences the seder indoors while a stray kitten wanders outside. Although the boy and the kitten occupy different spaces, their experiences echo one another:
Inside, the boy dipped
parsley into salt water.
Outside, the kitten chewed
A wet blade of grass.
Inside, the boy broke
the middle matzo in half.
outside, the kitten split
a twig in two.
This soothing pattern of phrases beginning with “inside” and “outside” continues throughout the book. The repetition propels readers forward towards the inevitable meeting between boy and kitten. When they eventually meet, the moment is…
