Editorial Review

“Forget the candle and the feather—here is a charming book for children that tackles the topic of chametz cleaning through a feat of magical engineering. It’s a funny, rhymed tale of a whiz kid, named Izzy, who wants to give his harried mother a break from Passover cleaning. He invents a robot-like Passover cleaning machine that he names ‘Passover McClean’ and then tells her to go rest while the machine does its work. (She complains she has a bit of a ‘bread-ache.’) With somewhat of a nod to Sylvester McMonkey McBean, Dr. Seuss’ ‘Fix-It-Up-Chappie’ who invents a ‘star-off’ machine, the author imagines young Izzy as the same sort of mechanical genius. At first his machine performs admirably, but by the time he lets it loose on the living room, Izzy finds it necessary to locate the emergency hatch and press the red button to set things right for Passover McClean. It’s an entertaining story with clever rhythm and wordplay, and appealing cartoonish illustrations. A simple author’s note at the end explains the concept of searching for chametz before Passover.” —Jewish Journal