Brave and clever Yetta, an English and Yiddish-speaking chicken, has escaped from a poultry market, and now lives happily in Brooklyn with a flock of wild parrots. “We love this chicken! She is like our mother,” say the parrots (whose dialogue is also translated into Spanish). One winter night, Yetta discovers a tiny kitten almost buried in a snowdrift. Yetta and the parrots want to take care of her but they don’t know how. Then Yetta notices a lighted menorah in old grandmother’s window, and remembers that it’s Hanukkah — the Festival of Lights. Yetta taps on grandmother’s window and tells her about the lost kitten (grandmother and Yetta converse in Yiddish). Grandmother agrees to take the kitten and then, rewarding one good turn with another, she treats Yetta and the parrots to a plate of fresh latkes.
A chart of the Yiddish and Hebrew alphabet is included. The letters for both languages are the same but Yiddish words are pronounced differently from Hebrew words. A transliteration of Yiddish and Spanish is also included. The lively, brilliantly-colored illustrations were created with Prismacolor indelible markers and pen and ink.
Recommended for ages 4 – 9.
Susan Kantor was a senior writer/editor for Girl Scouts of the USA, a children’s book editor, and a past judge for the National Jewish Book Awards in the illustrated children’s book category. She is a writer and a docent at the Rubin Museum in New York City, where she leads public and private tours.
