Benjy’s Messy Room by Barbara Diamond Goldin

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Illustrator: Rita Tan

Passover starts tomorrow, and Benjy’s room is a mess. His race car set, his superheroes, and his firetruck are spread across his room, along with all his other toys. He knows he needs to clean them up, especially with Passover and the breadcrumb hunt starting tonight. But it’s much more fun to have a pretend hunt with his little sister, Shira. Benjy crumbles up pieces of paper to be the crumbs. He hides one under his race car, and under his firetruck, and all around his room. They get so caught up in the game, Benjy doesn’t notice it was almost sundown. Now he’ll never finish in time! That is until he realizes that cleaning might not have to be a chore.

This story about making chores fun, and the bonds between siblings, introduces readers to bedikat hametz, a fun pre-Passover ritual in which families hunt for bread crumbs throughout the house on the night before Passover.

Year first published: 2024