Review: P is for Pastrami: The ABCs of Jewish Food

P is for Pastrami: The ABCs of Jewish Food

written and illustrated by Alan Silberberg

Penguin Random House, 2024

Category: Picture Books

Reviewer: Mirele Kessous

Buy at Bookshop.org

Food alphabet books for children have been trendy for some time, but now we can all celebrate Jewish heritage with P is For Pastrami: The ABCs of Jewish Food. Each page presents a Jewish food that begins with a letter from A to Z. Bright, humorous illustrations will appeal to young children, and the bubble captions help explain unfamiliar foods to newbies. The book bills itself as portraying foods all over the world (injera makes an appearance), but it does lean Ashkenaz. The main focus is Jewish food, but it would be relatable to non-Jewish readers and educational too. It’s cute and snappy and delightful–exactly what you’d want in a board book for the younger kinderlach. I even learned a thing or two.

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Reviewer Mirele Kessous is a Library Media Specialist at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland. She is a certified librarian with a specialty in youth library services, and she moonlights as an illustrator. She married an Israeli and has four young children.