Paulie's Passover Predicament

By: Jane Sutton

Narrated by: Book Buddy Digital Media

Paulie the moos-ician can hardly wait to host a Passover seder for his friends. Unfortunately, his seder doesn't turn out quite the way he planned. Will the hunt for the afikomen make the evening a success?

Please note: The original source audio for this production includes noise/volume issues. This is the best available audio from the publisher.

©2018 Jane Sutton (P)2020 Lerner Digital ™

Critic reviews

"Not since Bullwinkle has there been as charming a moose as Paulie. Paulie is a moos-ician who cuts his musical practice short in order to prepare a seder for his friends that evening. He is thoughtfulness personified, although a tad misguided, when he uses some unusual items on his seder plate: an ostrich egg for greater visibility, salt water with pepper added (so that the pepper wouldn’t be jealous of the salt), charoset made of apples and pine cones, grass instead of parsley, a radish carved in the shape of a horse to stand in for horseradish, and lamb’s wool instead of a lamb bone. Paulie’s eyes fill with tears when his guests laugh at his seder plate choices. Soon his friends reassure him when they say that 'Your seder plate is different, but each thing still reminds us of Passover - in a Paulie way.' All is well as the search for the afikomen ensues until Paulie finds himself and the afikomen stuck in the basement. 'What a predicament!' he thought. Paulie is released from his basement bondage when he thinks of a very clever way to signal his guests. Paulie declines a reward for the afikomen. 'I don’t need one,' said Paulie. 'My reward is being free, like our ancestors on Passover. And that’s enough for me!' Barbara Vagnozzi’s illustrations strike just the right tone. Paulie and his animal friends are colorful and full of expression." (Association of Jewish Libraries)

"A moose adds his own special culinary touches to the Passover Seder. Paulie, a moose, or 'moos-ician,' stops playing his guitar to do last-minute Passover shopping, during which he meets his friends, a rabbit and a hedgehog, who will be joining him. He adds some usual items to his cart such as grape juice and candles, then goes home to cook and set the table. His friends join him, including a skunk and a bear, but they notice that some food items are a little different from what they expected. The egg on the Seder plate is very large - from an ostrich. The salt water also has pepper in it. The charoset has apples and pine cones instead of apples and nuts. Parsley is replaced by grass, and the maror is a radish carved to look like a horse instead of horseradish. Finally, the lamb bone is a ball of wool from a lamb. Close...but... Searching for the afikomen adds drama and meaning to the evening celebration and makes it a happy Passover for the friends. Readers who are familiar with the spring holiday may find some of the antics amusing. Those who are new to it will likely be confused, particularly as a diagram of a Seder plate with the correct assemblage is not included to help orient them. The animals are all colorfully comic, however. Less than fun and more than silly. (Picture book/religion. 3-5)" (Kirkus Reviews)