52 Mondays

by Anna Ciddor

reviewed by Zewlan Moor

Longing for Milly-Molly-Mandy for older readers? This is the book for you!

Inspired by the author’s childhood 52 Mondays is a  collection of short gentle vignettes with a narrative arc, tracing young Anna Lewison’s quest for an antique doll. In its own quiet way  (highlights of their life include eating jelly at the Myer cafeteria!), the plot is suspenseful and engaging.

Anna’s parents are loving and indulgent and help her search for the perfect doll. Her immediate family don’t consider themselves religious, but they still participate in Jewish cultural traditions.

The only mention of the family’s traumatic past is a page of description about her father’s childhood in Poland, the war years and a log hut in Siberia, which Anna considers ‘much too complicated’.

Many non-Jewish children would be fascinated to read about the Seder plate of symbolic food at Passover which includes…