Alan Silberberg

THE MARKET NEEDS PASSOVER BOOKS: There's a dearth of Jewish holiday content in the marketplace, and what there is tends to be Hanukkah-focused, even though there are a number of Jewish holidays that families and gatekeepers want to share with their readers. There's a real opportunity to meet the need for Passover books the same way we do with our Easter books.

THE MARKET NEEDS *FUNNY* PASSOVER BOOKS: The few Passover books that are out there (and Jewish-themed content in general) tends to be somber and serious. But Meet the Matzah is wacky and fun-like a Jewish Here Comes the Easter Cat or How to Catch the Easter Bunny.

APPROACHABLE CONTENT: Readers need not be Jewish to enjoy Alan's laugh out-loud-writing and this zany re-telling of the Passover story. No previous knowledge of the holiday required-just a sense of humor!

MUCH NEEDED MESSAGE ABOUT BULLYING: Alan deftly weaves in a lesson about a bully in Alfie's class who doesn't know that he's bullying Alfie, which is an issue readers might recognize in themselves. Not all bullying comes from a place of malice, but sometimes from a place of misunderstanding, and this is a gentle reminder to readers to consider how their actions affect their peers.

FUNNY AUTHOR: This is the second book in Alan's humorous holiday retellings, and he's also written and illustrated very funny (and Sid Fleishman Humor Award-winning) middle grade novels. Alan's background is in children's cartoons, where he's written for Double Dare and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. His claim to fame is writing the song "Killer Tofu" for the Nickelodeon show Doug.

MISTOLD HOLIDAY SERIES: We will have a complete holiday series from Alan in Spring 2022 with Meet the Latkes, Meet the Matzah, and the new Meet the Hamantaschen, making this the perfect time to cross-promote the complete collection.