Illustrated by Neil Waldman with drawings of warm pastel colors that recall the temple art of Ancient Egypt, "The Passover Journey" is divided into two parts. Part One, The Israelites' Journey: The Story of the Exodus, goes back to the enslavement of the Israelites and the birth of the baby Moses. The story tells of the ten plagues that befell Egypt and ends with the Israelites walking through the parted Sea of Reeds to freedom. Part Two, Making the Israelites' Journey Our Own that tells us all about the Seder and then details its Fourteen Steps. The first part is fairly familiar to those who have read the book of Genesis or seen either "The Ten Commandments" or "The Prince of Egypt." Obviously the second part is going to be the most informative and Goldin explains everything from haroset (an apple and nut mixture that looks like the bricks and mortar the Israelites used to build Pharoadh's cities) to the well known Seder song, "Dayyenu." The Fourteen Steps of the Seder are laid out and Goldin makes a point of anticipating and answering the questions that could be asked (by any one of those aforementioned four children).
The strength of this book is that it asks and answers questions about Passover that not only lead to an understanding of its rituals and symbols, but also provides an appreciation of their historical context. I knew that as much as I knew about the story of Passover that I knew little about the Seder; this book simply proves how little I knew. This book is ideal either for children who have questions about Passover and the Seder, or for their parents, who would like to be able to answer their children's questions on their own.