Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion is a beautiful children's book that the entire family will cherish. Written and compiled by Eric A. Kimmel, one of America's most well-known Jewish storytellers, it is illustrated with art spanning 3,000 years. The book was designed by David Caplan.
The Purpose of the Book Wonders and Miracles
According to Kimmel, "This book was created to give people of all ages a fuller, richer understanding of what Passover means. This book should be read before the Seder, and used during the Seder together with the Haggadah, to answer questions that the participants have. That is what the Seder is really about: asking questions, getting answers, expanding our knowledge, and understanding." While Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion will be of particular interest to Jewish families, I would suggest it to a much wider audience - anyone eager to learn more about the religious holiday Passover, its history and celebration. The elegant design, exquisite artwork, and fascinating contents make it a recommended book for both children and adults.The Contents of Wonders and Miracles
The book begins with the Seder and the haggadah, the Hebrew word meaning "the telling." The fourteen parts of the Seder are explained as are various aspects of Seder, as the telling of the story of the Passover unfolds. Interspersed are other stories, such as "Alone in the Castle," by Rachel Pomerantz, about how one Jewish family celebrated its first Seder in America as newly arrived immigrants on Ellis Island and "Elijah the Buider," retold by Peninnah Schram.There are also recipes, poems, blessings, prayers and songs in this collection. In addition to a matzah recipe earlier in the book, there is a "Favorite Passover Recipes" section, with such recipes as huevos hamminados, a traditional Sephardic egg dish; tzimmes, a fruit and vegetable stew; sweet potato kugel, and Mrs. Berger's almond macaroons. Song lyrics include "Miriam's Song," "Go Down, Moses," and "Echad Mi Yodeah?" ("Who Knows One?"), a children's counting song. Prayers include "Nishmat Kol Chai," which means "The Soul of Every Living Being." There is even a three-person, two page play by Kimmel, based on the ten plagues of Egypt.
The Artwork in Wonders and Miracles
The artwork, which was carefully selected to illustrate various aspects of the Seder and the Passover story, is wonderful. It ranges from work that is centuries old to artwork done in the 1990s. Among the museums, libraries, and collections credited with providing artwork are the Jewish Museum in New York, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the British Library in London, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the Granger Collection in New York, Yedioth Abronoth Books in Tel Aviv, and the Mary Evans Picture Library in London. The quality of the book's paper and the printing show the artwork to advantage.More about Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion
Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion (ISBN: 9780439071758) was published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, in February, 2004. The book not only has a handsome dust jacket, but the cover of the book itself is beautifully designed. Eric A. Kimmel, who compiled and wrote the book, is the author of more than 60 children's books, many of them award winners. Wonder and Miracles is about 9" by 11" in size and is 136 pages long. The book includes both a bibliography and an index. I highly recommend Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion.