YIDDISH SAVES THE DAY

Toss some Yiddish words into your everyday conversation and all will be well.

In singsong rhyming couplets, the author encourages readers not to fret (“Oy vey!”) over everyday “tsuris,” because a sampling of Yiddish words will bring “mazel.” The protagonist’s teacher has asked the “kinder” to compile a list of words “that show spirit,” and the child is distressed at having lost the notebook with the words to study. The whole “mishpocha”—parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.—reassures him as they “schmooze.” Over dinner that evening with the mishpocha, the child eats like a “chazzer,” piling the plate with a “knaidel,” a “kugel,” and a “knish”—to the point of “plotzing.” “Feh!” The child’s tummy may be in bad shape, but the resultant list of words is long—“like jewels in a vault!” Happiness is achieved! The Yiddish words incorporated into the verse are capitalized in boldface type, and at the bottom of the page a decorative box provides an English pronunciation and a translation. Borlasca’s illustrations, using digital tools, pencil, and acrylic paint, depict an early-20th-century urban setting and family, all of whom are round-faced and white.

Old-fashioned nostalgia—a natural for grandparents who would like to share their Yiddish with their kinder.