While helping her parents prepare for the Passover seder, nine-year-old Sarah cannot resist nibbling on the chocolate-covered matzoh. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

This childlike and wryly funny story focuses on two special aspects of every Jewish holiday celebration: family relationships and food. While straightening up the boxes of kosher edibles that her mother has bought for Passover, Sarah notices her favorite Seder treat--chocolate-covered matzoh. ``The temptation was overwhelming,'' and over the next few days Sarah nibbles her way through nearly the entire contents of a box. At the first Seder, Sarah is embarrassed and worried, but when her relatives notice the absence of chocolate-covered matzoh, they gently tease her about the ``matzoh mouse'' in their midst. In her first book, Wohl provides a sweet treat--her unadorned telling brims with familial warmth. Keavney's paintings, however, are uneven--characters seem posed, and her palette sometimes is too somber to sustain the story's lighthearted tone. Ages 5-8. Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 1-3-- A pleasant story that projects a close-knit family's joy in one another and in celebrating Passover together. For weeks nine-year-old Sarah has been eyeing the two boxes of Passover foods stored behind a chair in the living room, and finally she can no longer resist temptation. She starts to nibble on a box of chocolate-covered matzoh in secret installments until, on the night of the first seder, there is only one small piece left. Dessert is served, and as Sarah has feared, the chocolate matzoh is missed. The elders joke about a ``matzoh mouse'' being present just as it was in their youth. Sarah confesses the misdeed to her parents later, and they are loving and forgiving. The seder is described briefly but gracefully. Much credit for this goes to Keavney's sensitive use of soft, glowing color, and her rendering of the people and their facial expressions. A good addition to early elementary fiction collections, Matzoh Mouse will supplement other Passover titles such as Evelyn Zusman's The Passover Parrot (Kar-Ben, 1984), Barbara Cohen's The Carp in the Bathtub (Lothrop, 1972), and The Magician (Macmillan, 1985) by Uri Shulevitz. --Marcia Posner, Federation of New York and the Jewish Book Council, New York CityCopyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information