The Curious Case of the Pot Roast

‘Very colourful and beautifully illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt, this paperback book teaches young readers the importance of being curious, and never giving up until an answer is given, but its core is the story of Passover, the Four Questions, and family traditions. Ideal for ages between 4-7 years, and a perfect Seder present.’ – Hilary Schuman, West London Synagogue magazine

‘The illustrations are inviting and cheerful and reinforce the family camaraderie and warmth that are at the heart of a riddle that is probably familiar to the adults who will read aloud this tale… This book sheds light on values of Jewish culture that are both particular and universal. It may appeal to varied denominations and is also accessible to non-Jews.’ – Eva Weiss, SydneyTaylorShmooze.com

‘The illustrations are inviting and cheerful and reinforce the family camaraderie and warmth that are at the heart of a riddle that is probably familiar to the adults who will read aloud this tale.’ sydneytaylorschmooze.com

‘Why is this book about the Mah Nishtanah different from all other books about the Mah Nishtanah? Because The Curious Case of the Pot Roast by Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh (Green Bean Books) takes the zaniest roundabout route to the question of why we ask four questions at Pesach. The young protagonist bombards his family with esoteric queries. Who invented spoons? What kind of meal is matzah meal? And why oh why does his mother cut both ends off the Passover pot roast? To some enquiries he learns some quirky facts – Ancient Egyptians invented spoons, for instance. But to solve the pot roast mystery the curious kid needs to interrogate his grandmother and great-grandmother. The result is a brilliant, subtle exposition of the handing down of tradition and the importance of reflecting on the new relevance of Judaism to each generation. And watch out for illustrator Menahem Halberstadt’s fabulous visual jokes.’ — Angela Kiverstein, The Jewish Chronicle Accordion Content

‘One of the big frustrations with holiday stories is their limited scope. No matter how wonderful they are, they don’t often get read outside of the holidays they’re about. BUT… then you get a book like “The Curious Case of the Pot Roast: a Passover Mystery” (2025). While this energetic, laugh-out-loud story follows a family getting ready for Passover, it’s written in a way that really brings to mind any sort of holiday or celebratory preparations with family, and because of that would be a fun read year ’round. Which is a good thing, because this one doesn’t actually come out until next month (May 2025)! In a multi-generational home, as everyone prepares for the first night of Passover, a little boy runs up and down the stairs between his mum, and his grandmother and great-grandfather’s apartments, full of curiosity and silly questions about everything, but especially about an odd family tradition. This wonderful story celebrates family and intergenerational relationships, and encourages kids to always be curious!’ — noodlenutskidsbooks (Instagram)

‘Written by Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, this is such a fun book for children – a Passover mystery – full of questions, as is the norm at the Seder. But these are different questions, not religious, but full of curiosity, as young children have the need for answers to their myriad questions. The title of the book is the main question, and Sami, whilst watching his mother preparing the pot roast for the Passover Seder meal, asks her why she cuts off the ends. His mother answers: “It is because my mother always did.” Not satisfied with that answers, he asks his grandmother, who gives the same answer, so Sami then asks his great-grandmother. She is able to tell him why! There are many other questions, such as, who invited spoons? Is anything brighter than yellow” – to mention a couple. Very colourful and beautifully illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt, this paperback book teaches young children the importance of being curious, and never giving up until an answer is given, but its core is the story of Passover, the Four Questions, and family traditions. Ideal for ages between 4-7, and a prefect Seder present.’ — Hilary Schuman, West London Synagogue Review

‘The Passover seder is famous for its four ques­tions, but our unnamed hero in this delight­ful pic­ture book has count­less more. He vis­its the many gen­er­a­tions of his fam­i­ly who live on dif­fer­ent floors in the same apart­ment build­ing as each pre­pares a dish for the first seder. He seeks to dis­cov­er why his moth­er cuts off the ends of the pot roast she cooks for the Passover fam­i­ly meal. Mom does not know. He dash­es to ask Grand­ma Shirley, then Great-Grand­ma Lee, who tells him that the cus­tom orig­i­nat­ed with a pan too small for the meat. En route he receives sil­ly answers from a rel­a­tive in a near­by room.

‘Dynam­ic, joy­ful illus­tra­tions sup­port the protagonist’s deter­mined search to ask until he finds the right answer. Passover is not our hero’s only source of curios­i­ty; he has many sec­u­lar ques­tions to ask each rel­a­tive as well. Read­ers gain knowl­edge of who invent­ed spoons and who lived at the top of the Eif­fel tow­er as they seek clues along with the young nar­ra­tor of this light­heart­ed story.

‘The advice from Great-Grand­ma Lee is that peo­ple who do not ask ques­tions get bor­ing and stuck. The young hero notes that the impor­tant seder query: ​“what makes this night dif­fer­ent” means that on seder night we work togeth­er and pray togeth­er to stay con­nect­ed: fam­i­ly is the answer!’ — Ellen G Cole, Jewish Book Council

‘The Curious Case of the Pot Roast” by @jkiffel is a clever re-telling of an old joke about the Jewish habit of treasuring customs and traditions so much that we forget to ask “why.” Three generations of women cut the ends off the pot roast, but only the great-grandmother knows the reason: she had to do it to make the roast fit in her pan. The child in this picture book version exhibits a curiosity about all things, including every Passover tradition, reminding us to look deeper. I think this is one of the very best PJ Library books we’ve ever received – encore readings right away!’ — yidlitkidlet (Instagram)

‘In this light-hearted story, a young boy sets out to discover why his mother trims off the ends of the pot roast she cooks for their Seder. He dashes through their apartment building to his grandmother and great-grandmother, who solves the mystery and encourage him to keep asking questions. He feels a deep connection with his multi-generation family when they gather around the Seder table.’ — Penny Schwartz, Jewish Journal of Boston

‘[The book exemplifies] “the highest standards of authentic Jewish representation and holiday spirit in both writing and illustration.” – The Association of Jewish Libraries

‘The child at the centre of The Curious Case of the Pot Roast by Jamie Kiffel-Al-cheh is bursting with questions, from “who invented spoons?” to “why does my mother cut both ends off the brisket?”. Some questions are Jewish – what sort of meal is a matzah meal? This bright and witty picture book celebrates the enquiring mind, family traditions and their power to connect us’ — Angela Kiverstein, The Jewish Chronicle