EXCLUSIVE: Passover-Themed Graphic Novel, One Little Goat, Excerpt

Dara Horn has won three National Jewish Book Awards, and she has now released her first graphic novel, One Little Goat, drawn by Theo Ellsworth, and CBR has an exclusive excerpt from the acclaimed new Passover-themed graphic novel for middle-schoolers, which is out in plenty of time for this year's Passover.

The book is a celebration of Jewish tradition, and shows the history of the Jewish faith, which, in turn, is a spotlight on the power of Jewish resilience throughout history, but obviously framed through a story involving a talking goat so that the comic can appeal to its young audience (while, of course, also appealing to audiences of all-ages).

How does Norton describe One Little Goat?

The official description of One Little Goat, courtesy of Norton Young Books, is as follows:

At the Passover seder, an out-of-control family cannot find their afikoman—the hidden matzah required for the seder’s ending—and as a result, they are trapped at a seder that cannot end. Six months in, a wisecracking talking goat shows up at their door with bad news: Thousands of years of previous seders have accumulated underneath their seder, and their afikoman is stuck in one of them.

Now the family’s “wise child” must travel down with the goat through centuries of previous Passovers to find it—and to discover the questions he needs to start asking.

What are some of the praise that One Little Goat has received?

Acclaimed author Lemony Snicket said of the graphic novel, "At long last, here is the time-traveling goat-centric Passover adventure my people have been awaiting for thousands of years."

The Publishers Weekly review for the book notes, "Irreverent and moving... Intricate lined textures and wide-eyed characters evoke Mark Alan Stamaty and Edvard Munch, conveying cosmic wonder and comedic anxiety... The narrator comes to see his family’s seder, however messy and querulous, as one link in an unbroken chain of survival, celebration, and identity."

Finally, in a starred review, the School Library Journal wrote of the book, "What happens when you put together an endless Seder, a talking (scape) goat, and one not-so-wise teen boy? A trip through 3000 years of Seders and a new appreciation of holiday and family… This Passover story is written with nimble tongue-in-cheek humor. Readers won’t want it to end."

One Little Goat is on sale now.

Source: Norton Young Readers