Review: I Like Your Chutzpah & Other Yiddish Words You'll Like
I Like Your Chutzpah, and Other Yiddish Words You'll Like
written and illustrated by Suzy Ultman
Rise+Penguin Workshop, 2024
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Eva Weiss
Buy at Bookshop.org
This pleasingly illustrated board book offers a playful way to introduce young children to twelve beloved and familiar words in Yiddish. Each Yiddish word, from punim to bubbeleh, is highlighted in transliterated English, with adept translations on every page. The colorful and whimsical images do justice in bringing a thousand-year-old language to life for twenty-first century families. The well-chosen words are pronounceable, though a few may require introducing new phonemes. In nearly all cases the words reflect the situations in which they would naturally be used in the life of a toddler. From mishpocha and seychel to mishogas and schpilkes, the words are illustrated with humor and whimsy in universal contexts. On her website, the author describes herself as a born storyteller, illustrator, product designer, toy creator, and bookmaker. This book affirms that she is adept in the talents she claims.
This young children's board book is a worthy effort to introduce young children to the Yiddish language, a cherished legacy of Ashkenazic Jewish heritage. . The Yiddish words are meaningful and thoughtfully chosen, including several that have found their way into the broader American lexicon over the years. But beyond the words themselves, the book does not offer any images or hints of Jewish culture in the illustrations. This makes the book more accessible to Jewish readers of all streams, those completely unaffiliated, and perhaps also to non-Jewish readers. But absent are visual clues to honor Jewish heritage and folklore. In these fraught times, a new children's book celebrating the Yiddish language is more than welcome and appreciated. That said, our pride in Jewish heritage deserves images that offer evidence of our culture and folklore, which have been preserved only by virtue of unflagging devotion and against all odds.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
Reviewer Eva Weiss is a writer, editor, and translator. She was born in New York City and worked in the publishing industry there before making her home in Israel many years ago. She writes cultural and human interest stories and is the author of the children's book I Am Israeli (Mitchell-Lane, 2016).
This pleasingly illustrated board book offers a playful way to introduce young children to twelve beloved and familiar words in Yiddish. Each Yiddish word, from punim to bubbeleh, is highlighted in transliterated English, with adept translations on every page. The colorful and whimsical images do justice in bringing a thousand-year-old language to life for twenty-first century families. The well-chosen words are pronounceable, though a few may require introducing new phonemes. In nearly all cases the words reflect the situations in which they would naturally be used in the life of a toddler. From mishpocha and seychel to mishogas and schpilkes, the words are illustrated with humor and whimsy in universal contexts. On her website, the author describes herself as a born storyteller, illustrator, product designer, toy creator, and bookmaker. This book affirms that she is adept in the talents she claims.
This young children's board book is a worthy effort to introduce young children to the Yiddish language, a cherished legacy of Ashkenazic Jewish heritage. . The Yiddish words are meaningful and thoughtfully chosen, including several that have found their way into the broader American lexicon over the years. But beyond the words themselves, the book does not offer any images or hints of Jewish culture in the illustrations. This makes the book more accessible to Jewish readers of all streams, those completely unaffiliated, and perhaps also to non-Jewish readers. But absent are visual clues to honor Jewish heritage and folklore. In these fraught times, a new children's book celebrating the Yiddish language is more than welcome and appreciated. That said, our pride in Jewish heritage deserves images that offer evidence of our culture and folklore, which have been preserved only by virtue of unflagging devotion and against all odds.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
Comments
Post a Comment