Max Makes a Cake

Introducing a Passover PJ library book!

Meet Max, who wants to bake a surprise Passover birthday cake for his mom. Max is a big boy, he can almost tie his shoes, and he even knows the four questions for Passover in Hebrew and English. But everyone knows that baking a cake during Passover is not so easy and one must get really creative. So Max gets to work, only he really needs the help of his dad to pull this off. But dad is too busy with Max’s fussy baby sister and so Max decides to take matters into his own hands. And that is exactly what Max does, starting with the frosting first, just in case dad makes it down in time to help.

“Why is this cake different from all other cakes?” asks Max at the end of the story. The author ties this question in beautifully with the importance of the Four Questions during the Passover Seder. This is a sweet and clever story about baking a cake with lots and lots of matzah as well as capturing a moment when a young boy realizes he can be independent. The author, Michelle Edwards, includes Max’s ingenious cake recipe along with a very brief description of the Passover Story.

Illustrations by Charles Santoso are adorable with warm and cheerful animated expressions. The illustrations were rendered with pencil on paper and then scanned and colored digitally.

Max Makes a Cake is a wonderful story that is perfect for story time during the Passover holiday and welcome in any Jewish library as well as Public libraries collections too. Recommended for ages 3-6.

What is PJ Library®?  It’s a program that mails FREE, high-quality Jewish children’s books and music to families in the San Francisco Bay Area (and across the country!) on a monthly basis.  Sign up here: http://pjlibrary.org/Communities/Enroll-in-a-Community.aspx?id=12 to enroll.  More info at www.pjlibrary.org