Ellie the elephant and Kanga the kangaroo live in the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem. When the zoo closes for the Passover, they decide that they want to celebrate the holiday too. They convince their friend Chimp, who teaches them all about matzah, the haggadah, the Seder, the ten plagues, Moses, and haroset, to join them as they work together to escape. When the trio end up at Shmulik, the zookeeper’s house, he welcomes them to his Seder with open arms: “Let all who are hungry come and eat!”
The colorful, expressive pencil illustrations are absolutely adorable and children familiar with the holiday customs will get a kick out of Ellie and Kanga mistaking the haggadah for a coloring book and the ten plagues for the ten planes.
A brief description of Passover and the Biblical Zoo, along with two color photographs, are appended. This is a cute and clever addition to the preschool Passover bookshelf.
Rachel Kamin has been a synagogue librarian and Jewish educator for over twenty-five years and has worked at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, IL since 2008, currently serving as the Director of Lifelong Learning. A past chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee and past editor of Book Reviews for Children & Teens for the Association of Jewish Libraries News & Reviews, her articles and book reviews appear in numerous publications. She has been a member of the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Book Award Committee since 2021.
