Review: Jewish Cats All Year Round

Jewish Cats All Year Round

by Varda Livney

PJ Publishing, 2024

Category: Picture Books

Reviewer: Rachel Aronowitz

Buy at Amazon.com

This cute board book, full of pastel colored, cartoonish illustrations, highlights cats celebrating different Jewish holidays with symbols and simple text. Young children will enjoy seeing the smiling cats and a mouse friend on each page. 

 
Since this book is so simple and the only text is the name of the holiday accompanied by a few illustrations symbolic of each holiday, it would be necessary for someone with more knowledge of Jewish holidays to be present to provide more context. For example, the page for Passover only shows a pile of matzoh. If a person unfamiliar with Jewish holidays or culture was reading this book, they might not understand the meaning conveyed by the page. I think this book is only useful in a Jewish setting since non-Jewish readers will be at a loss to explain the text and illustrations. I don't believe it increases the reader's understanding of the Jewish experience because of the lack of explanation and the lack of even a glossary at the end of the book. However, it will do a good job of reinforcing those symbols for children already familiar with them.

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Reviewer Rachel Aronowitz currently works as a librarian at the Springfield Public Library near Eugene, OR, and spends many delightful days each week working in the children’s room. Before that, she spent almost a decade working as a librarian in her hometown of San Francisco, CA. When not at work, she enjoys baking, playing music, gardening, listening to political podcasts, and spending time with her husband and daughter.