Izzy’s brand new inven­tion, the Super-McDuper Passover McClean, can suck up all of the books, rugs, cur­tains, lamps, tables, chairs, toys, and dish­es and spit them back out clean, washed and dried with­out a trace of hametz. More amaz­ing still, Passover McClean puts every­thing back in its place! But Izzy faces a near dis­as­ter when his inven­tion mal­func­tions with the liv­ing room stuck inside. Luck­i­ly, he is able to fix it before his Mom wakes up and mirac­u­lous­ly, the entire house gleams and sparkles by the ti me the fam­i­ly sits down for the Seder. The crazy, col­or­ful illus­tra­tions per­fect­ly com­ple­ment the imag­i­na­tive, rhyming text, which scans well and is a joy to read. Izzy is adorable with his bright eyes, large round glass­es, wide grin, and base­ball cap, and it is refresh­ing to see a live­ly, vibrant, con­tem­po­rary fam­i­ly cel­e­brat­ing a Jew­ish hol­i­day. A sim­ple two-sen­tence author’s note intro­duces Passover along with a slight­ly longer expla­na­tion of Hametz. Like the old favorite Only Nine Chairs by Deb­o­rah Uchill Miller (Kar-Ben, 1982), the slight, sil­ly sto­ry line will not ele­vate or enhance the reader’s under­stand­ing of the hol­i­day but it is nev­er­the­less a fun, fluffy addi­tion to the Passover book­shelf. Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 3 ‑8.

Read­ing Guide