Review: A Purr-fect Passover

A Purr-fect Passover by Jenna Waldman, illustrated by Erica J. Chen Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Susan Tarcov Buy at Bookshop.org Three kittens—each different, each adorable—prepare for and host a Passover seder. They go through all the steps, from searching the house for leavened foods at the beginning of the book to cleaning up after the meal at the end. The story is told with wit (the Four Questions begin with “Meow-nishtanah”) and in impressively “purr-fect” rhythm and rhyme: It's afikoman searching time, where can that matzah be? High and low, the kitties go, but who will find it? “Me!” Although all the seder guests are cats, at the end even the mouse in the house gets a taste of matzah. The illustrations have clever little touches: each flower painted by the kittens is clearly a single pawprint. The kitties are of various breeds - tabby, Siamese, and tortoiseshell. They wear no markers of Judaism (no kippot or ...