Matzah Man to the Rescue!

“Never Fear, Matzah Man is here.”

Eric Kimmel is one of the most prolific picture book authors around. With over 150 books to his credit, he has been delighting children for fifty years. Many of his books about Jewish holidays or topics, but most are folktale retellings. Now we have something completely different. Instead of a folktale, he has spun a modern Passover story based on pop culture superheroes. Kids might recognize Superman or Batman, but older family members will recognize Underdog as well.

This wacky book has Matzah Man flying around the world to help save three different seders with missing symbols. Along the way, readers will learn about vegetarian alternatives to the shank bone, varieties of matzah, and the differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic charoset. Matzah Man couldn’t save the day without his secret weapon: matzah balls as an energy source. This delightful book even has Elijah actually appearing for a change. Artist Charlie Fowkes has provided bright, colorful illustrations in a cartoon style that is appropriate to a superhero picture book. An author’s note describes the significance of Passover and the symbolism behind the shank bone, matzah and charoset.

This book is aimed at 6-to-8 year-olds, but I think that any Jewish child will enjoy this book. Parents and caregivers will appreciate the humor that may escape the little ones. It can also be used in religious schools to launch discussions about Jewish diversity and Passover symbols.

Kimmel is a five-time recipient of the National Jewish Book Award and has been honored with the Sydney Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award. His holiday books have been a staple in Jewish homes for generations. I read some of them to my children every year. This bubbe, will definitely be reading this book aloud this spring and for many years to come. As a Jewish holiday book that highlights Jewish diversity around the world, this charming book fits the criteria for the Sydney Taylor Book Award. —Julie Ditton, The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

After days if not weeks of prepa­ra­tion, the Passover seder is final­ly ready. But wait — some­thing is miss­ing! As any super­hero fan knows, some sit­u­a­tions call for spe­cial pow­ers, espe­cial­ly when a shank bone is miss­ing or the charoset can­not be found. In Eric A. Kim­mel and Char­lie Fowkes’s new book, Matzah Man is pre­pared to address any cir­cum­stance that threat­ens to delay the Fes­ti­val of Freedom.

This graph­ic nov­el is divid­ed into chap­ters, build­ing read­ers’ excite­ment and intro­duc­ing them to dif­fer­ent Jew­ish cul­tures around the world. Matzah Man is dressed in tra­di­tion­al super­hero garb, with a blue mem embla­zoned on his shirt that match­es his iden­ti­ty-con­ceal­ing mask. Begin­ning his jour­ney in Matza­hville, whose wel­come sign is rem­i­nis­cent of mid­cen­tu­ry Amer­i­can graph­ics, Matzah Man is con­front­ed with a cat who has con­sumed the shank bone. Although fam­i­ly mem­bers believe it’s irre­place­able, Matzah Man assures them that a beet or car­rot would be a fine substitute.

Then, a frum fam­i­ly in Jerusalem los­es their matzah to some hun­gry mice. Matzah Man is armed with every vari­ety of the unleav­ened bread, includ­ing the strict­ly pre­pared shmu­rah vari­ety. When a Moroc­can grand-père and grand-mère find them­selves with­out charoset, each assum­ing that the oth­er has pre­pared it, the pos­si­bly Ashke­nazi Matzah Man can’t sup­ply them with the dates they need for their spe­cial recipe. But not to wor­ry: he search­es on his phone and quick­ly locates some. The best loca­tion is San Diego, Cal­i­for­nia, a city whose dis­tance does not deter Matzah Man. Both text and image demon­strate the inter­con­nect­ed­ness of the Jew­ish world on a deeply sig­nif­i­cant holiday.

Every super­hero is vul­ner­a­ble, and Matzah Man is no excep­tion. Even­tu­al­ly, his glob­al trav­els deplete his ener­gy before he has had time to assem­ble enough matzah balls for every­one who needs them. When Eli­jah the Prophet shows up to help, look­ing like a beloved zayde with his beard and sun­glass­es, one of the seder guests plays a cru­cial role. Young read­ers — and maybe even old­er ones — will have oppor­tu­ni­ties to learn about dif­fer­ent cus­toms that ful­fill the mitzvot of Passover. This book’s empa­thy and humor open the door to a vision of free­dom that, unlike a shank bone, can­not be replaced. —Emily Schneider, Jewish Book Council

An easy reader graphic novel that combines the traditions of Passover with the superhero trope to create a fun, accessible story. Matzah Man, decked out in a yellow suit with blue shorts, boots, gloves, cape, mask, and a blue Mem (the Hebrew letter “M”) on his chest, is called to save three other families’ Passovers, but can he make it home in time for his own? A bat signal-style beacon with a blue Mem on a matzah textured background calls Matzah Man to provide a replacement shank bone, find some matzah, and finally to make ­charoset. After using up his matzah ball power-ups to retrieve dates for the charoset, he runs out of energy. However, Elijah finds him and gives him a ride so he can spend the Passover seder with his family. This funny, over-the-top story has information about the seder worked in effectively. Text is in rectangular word bubbles, with the narration done in yellow-backed rectangles, and has a distinct comic book, superhero feel. Cartoon-style art varies from full-bleed spreads to pages with multiple insets to pages with up to five or six panels, ­keeping the story moving quickly. ­Matzah Man and his family are depicted with masks and light skin, but the rest of the cast is more diverse. VERDICT This light, entertaining early reader Passover book is a pleasant addition to schools and libraries looking to expand their Passover ­collections. —Amy Lilien-Harper, School Library Journal