Tyrannosaurus Tsuris: A Passover Story by Susan Tarcov, with illustrations by Elissambura; Minneapolis: Kar-Ben Publishing; 2024; ISBN 9781728-492377; 22 pages; $18.99.
SAN DIEGO –In this book for children aged 3 to 6, a tyrannosaurus is very sad because no one wants to come to his Passover seder, so terrible is his reputation for eating everyone.
Meanwhile, other dinosaurs were having troubles of their own. Allosaurus couldn’t find a brisket big enough to feed all his relatives. Stegosaurus couldn’t find enough parsley for his seder plate. Ankylosaurus inadvertently broke all his matzahs.
“I have tsuris,” tyrannosaurus kept thundering. Finally the other dinosaurs asked what exactly was his problem. “I have no guests for my seder,” he explained.
The various dinosaurs understood that this was a big problem. Triceratops, diplodocus, velociraptor, brachiosaurus, brontosaurus, Iguanodon, pterodactyl, apatosaurus and the others decided that there would be safety in numbers and if they combined their seders with that planned by tyrannosaurus, they all could have a wonderful Passover together.
So, this book teaches not only about some of the Passover traditions, it also teaches children about the many different kinds of dinosaurs that roamed the earth.
Imagine, they were all Jewish!
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com