The Mouse in the Matzah Factory

by Francine Medoff, Nicole in den Bosch (Illustrator)

Overview

Journey with a curious little mouse as he travels from a wheat field in the country to a big city factory where harvested wheat is baked into matzah.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512495911
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	253,201
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nicole in den Bosch lives and works with her family in a Civil War-era general store and schoolhouse on the eastern shore of Maryland. She has illustrated numerous books, greeting cards, and magazines.

Editorial Reviews

Engaging as well as informative, Francine Medoff's 1983 The Mouse in the Matzah Factory receives all-new illustrations by Nicole in den Bosch. The story follows a mouse who lives in a wheatfield; when farmers approach the crop with special care-watching over it daily, building a fence around it, etc.-the mouse's curiosity is piqued and he stows away on the wagon that brings the wheat to a mill. As Medoff's plot incorporates the steps taken to preserve the integrity of handmade Passover matzoh, in den Bosch's watercolors eschew period detail to conjure up a generally old-fashioned community, where the streets are sunny and the bakers always smile. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A new edition, with a new illustrator, of Medoff's 1983 Passover classic gives us a mouse-eye view of the process by which matzah is watched to insure that it's perfectly dry and free of any trace of leaven. Store-bought, boxed matzah, our charming mouse friend tells us, is watched from the time the flour is milled until it is baked; but shmurah matzah is watched from the moment the wheat is harvested. What an interesting idea, the mouse decides! So he follows the entire process along, observing from hidden places as the farmers plant, harvest, transport and grind the wheat and then bag, transport and unload the flour. It is great fun to see the entire baking process, too, especially when the delicious aroma of fresh-baked matzah fills the air. Along the way, young readers will enjoy the happy pastel pictures and the insider's knowledge of what it takes to make kosher matzah for the Passover Seder. 2003, Kar-Ben,
— Judy Chernak

Children's Literature

PreS-This story describes the preparation of shmurah matzah, eaten by observant Jews during Passover. A cheerful mouse in denim overalls has his curiosity whetted when some men build a fence around a field of wheat and carefully watch over it. The little creature follows along as the wheat is taken to a mill, trucked to a city, and taken to a room to be mixed, rolled, and baked. After he sees families lined up to buy the boxes of "baked circles," he reads a box label that describes how the matzah "has been watched from the time of harvest through the time of baking." The mouse, too, has viewed the entire process and feels "very important." The writing is pedestrian and the full-page watercolor illustrations are uninspired. This title, with its mix of fact and fiction, will not be useful in Jewish schools and does not contain enough information for others who might want to read about the holiday.-Susan Pine, New York Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal