I have been a huge fan of Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Noa Kelner‘s Afikoman, Where’d You Go? ever since it first released two years ago. It’s bouncy, fun, imaginative, and right up my alley (an anthropomorphic afikoman version of = truly incredible stuff). This year, S was finally old enough to understand a bit about Passover, so I was really excited to be able to share the book as part of our celebration.
It was an immediate success. S got it as a prize for finding the afikoman on the first night of Passover (thanks, mom and dad!) and has wanted to read it multiple times a day since. As with Challah Day!, Afikoman, Where’d You Go? is representation at the level that means the most to kids. Finding the afikoman is (in my opinion) the most kid-friendly part of the seder, and the one that intuitively makes the most sense to a toddler (hide and seek! with a snack at the end!). So to be able to relive the fun over and over is exciting.
But it takes a lot more than a great premise to make a great book. So let’s take a deeper dive into some of the things that the book does so well:
Interactivity and Agency
The story brings the reader into the action immediately, opening with a question: “Have you seen the Afikoman?” We are not going to be passive participants in this story — we are going to be finding the afikoman too. The rest of the stanza further sets this up: “But together we will find him. We can do this — you and I!”
S is immediately hooked and ready to find the afikoman, pointing him out on the first page and every subsequent page. (“He’s over there!” “Right there!” [spoiler alert] “In the doggy’s bed!”)
The first page also immediately sets up Afikoman as a lovable trickster. He’s “silly” and “sneaky” — two words that immediately signal to S that this is going to be fun. S loves when things are “silly,” and now Afikoman has a personality matched by the delightful illustrations.
Extremely active illustrations
I have often written about how important active illustrations are to keeping S engaged with a story. Afikoman, Where’d You Go? has this going on in spades. Each illustration has tons going on, and the ability to point out so many different interesting things (Afikoman! the dog! bunnies! a basketball!) keeps S’s attention on every page.
A fun refrain that reinforces the interactivity
Every few failed attempts to find the afikoman there is a catchy refrain — “Is he hiding somewhere high? Is he hiding somewhere low? Afikoman? Afikoman? Afikoman? WHERE’D YOU GO?”
The refrain is incredibly effective. For starters, toddlers adore repetition. And this refrain reinforces the interactivity of the story, reminding us to check for Afikoman on every page. It also pushes the adult reader (*cough*, me) to ask the child where the afikoman is on other pages too, if they haven’t done so.
Plus, the refrain sets up two hysterical back to back payoffs at the end. I won’t spoil the first one, which is amazing, but the fact that the structure is parallel to the earlier refrain highlights the change for S.
And then S loves the last page, where Afikoman escapes in a car. (We’re still very into vehicles, so pointing out the car gets us a lot of mileage…bad pun only sort of intended.)
All in all, this book is a blast, and I’m glad I get to read it a lot.
Some random musings
Non-English Words
I have occasionally seen questions in writer’s spaces about the use of non-English or culturally meaningful words in picture books (and concerns about the book not being universal if they’re included). The narrator in Afikoman, Where’d You Go? uses Hebrew words for her family members — Imma (mom), Abba (dad), Savta (grandma), Saba (grandpa). This is a complete non-issue for S. S had never heard those words before, wasn’t bothered by it in the least, and figured out what was going on from the illustrations without my needing to explain anything. (Plus there’s a glossary, for anyone who needs it.) And now they’re familiar words for S, given that we’ve read the book about a gazillion times. So from my perspective, if you are considering using words that have meaning to you in your picture book, go for it!
Book Signings
My parents were able to get the book personalized for S at an event. I thought this was really cool, because I love Rebecca’s work. What surprised me was how much S loves it too. Every time we open the book, the first thing S does is point out the inscription and say, “That’s for me!” Obviously the personalization does not impact sales since we were already buying the book regardless, but I found it interesting. It certainly makes it feel even more special when we sit down to read it.
Afikoman, Where’d You Go? By the Numbers
Pages: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book
Word Count: 378
Words Per Illustration: 22.24
Words Per Sentence: 4.15*
*Since the book rhymes, it creates natural pauses that make it easier for S to pay attention to longer sentences. I therefore counted clauses as full sentences where they conveyed a full idea that S could understand (i.e., where they would likely have ended with a period rather than a comma if the book were written in prose). That occurred in about half of the book’s sentences (with the other half naturally being 6 words or less).