Sammy Spider's First Purim

Before the story starts there is a page of loud-noise words. The illustrations are also loud and busy, perhaps in keeping with a holiday that requires noise loud enough to drown out the name of Haman. Ms. Rouss manages to include the main points of Purim---reading Megillat Esther and making noise

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(see above), making and distributing mishloach manot, dressing in costume. She leaves some things out---the second kind of food in mishloach manot, whether Esther deserves exclusive credit for saving the Jews, other mitzvot---but this book is meant for 4-year-olds, not adults. Sammy gets into a dangerous situation and his mother rescues him. There is a refrain by his mother, "Silly little Sammy. ... Spiders, don't . Spiders spin webs." so kids can chime in and feel more involved in the story. All in all, a very reasonable, nicely structured book for a topsy-turvy holiday.

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