The Matzah Man by Naomi Howland

Howland, Naomi (2002). The Matzah Man: A Passover Story. New York: Clarion.

This delightful picture book is a joy to read! An adaptation of the Gingerbread Man story with a Jewish twist, children grades 4 and up will learn about Passover traditions, Jewish culture and customs, and Hebrew and Yiddish terms. A glossary is provided at the end of the book. The textual and pictorial content of the book are culturally authentic as verified by two Jewish friends from Israel and a Jewish American.

The whole village is preparing for the Passover dinner. Mr. Cohen, a baker, is baking what the Matzah Man later calls “the best Matzah” and uses the scrap left over to make a matzah man. The slightly burnt Matzah Man runs all over town causing havoc, only to be tricked by a boy named Mendel Fox to climb inside the matzah cover and be broken into pieces. The characters who chased the Matzah Man are the baker, the red hen, an old woman, a woman making brisket, a woman shopping, an old man, a woman making matzah soup, and a goat.

The book is elegantly designed. The text was set in 14.5-point ITC Bookman Light and the illustrations are rendered in gouache, cut-paper collage, and coloured pencil. The text is rounded, which makes the book seem less threatening. The background of the front and back cover, which is actually a whole scene, is a pattern of small blue and white plaid and looks a lot like fabric even though it’s an illustration. The background gives a sense of cleanliness and calmness.  The illustration of the gold and brown matzah on the cover is surrounded by a yellow frame. Although the frame serves to remove the readers emotionally from the book, yellow is the colour of friendship and the colour invites the readers to engage with the story. The Matzah Man on the cover also has a huge grin on his face. The welcoming message is especially important because children may not read the book after looking at the title if they do not know what matzah is. The endpapers are red with a pattern of rows of diagonal small white dots on them. This also serves to create a feeling of elegance, which is important because it lets children know that just because a culture is not part of mainstream culture, it does not mean it is low brow or subservient. The illustrations are either on one page or two-page spreads and alternate with the text in regards to which one is placed on top. There are times when the text takes precedence over the illustrations. The illustrator depicts the making of matzah in a culturally authentic manner by incorporating the all the interesting tools and some of the ingredients needed. Hebrew is written on the calendar, bags of flour, and matzah covers. The characters and animals are all illustrated realistically and all the human characters have dark, colourful and shiny patterns on their clothing. The one page illustrations are unframed when a character is chasing after the Matzah Man, which helps get the readers emotionally involved. The Matzah Man is usually on the right side of the page but is on the left-hand side of a page or spread if the illustrator introduces a new character.

The Gingerbread Man by Barbara Baumgartner and Norman Messenger

Baumgartner, Barbara (1998). The Gingerbread Man (Norman Messenger, Illustrator). New York: Dorling Kindersley.

The plot and characterization differ  from other stories in two ways in this adaptation of the Gingerbread Man. Firstly, there is no grandfather present in the story. Secondly, the author gives onomatopoeic sounds to the animals and the crunching sounds when the fox eats the Gingerbread Man. The author chose to use large and thin typography on almost every page, which lets the reader know that the book is meant for children. The text is also always above or beside the illustrations, never below, which gives the text presidence over the illustrations. The characters that chase after the Gingerbread Man are the grandmother, duck, cow, and horse. The setting of the story is the countryside as evidenced by the grandma’s traditional cottage wear, lush green trees, blue cloudy skies, and grass green rolling hills.

The pattern on the white endpapers are repeated watercolour illustrations of the main character the Gingerbread Man, an off-white rolling pin, and a dark gray tea kettle. The orderliness of the endpapers creates a clean, crisp atmosphere for the picture book. The illustrations are realistic and detailed. For example, readers can see the wheat-like texture of the Gingerbread Man, the folds on the purple raisins and the pinkish-brown swirly design of the candies used to decorate the Gingerbread Man. Readers can also see the softness of the horse’s, cow’s and fox’s fur. When the Gingerbread Man scurries off, the illustrator uses lines of actions to show that he is running. One of the most interesting points about the illustrations is that from the time when the Gingerbread Man runs away from the grandma to when the Gingerbread Man walk to the top of the fox’s head, they are all two-spread illustrations. The left page always depicts the last character that chased after the Gingerbread Man and the page on the right always introduces the new character. Readers are given close-up views of the fox when it munches on the Gingerbread Man. Interestingly, the fox in the story is male.