Writ­ten by a nine­ty-six-year-old for­mer child star in the Yid­dish radio the­atre, this enchant­i­ng piece of Jew­ish Amer­i­can his­tory is a slice of life of ear­ly twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry New York. It is pre­sent­ed through the eyes of Rif­ka, a young girl whose par­ents are actors in the Yid­dish the­ater. After rid­ing the sub­way and eat­ing at the Automat, Rif­ka accom­pa­nies her moth­er and father to the the­atre where Papa reveals many mag­i­cal secrets of make­up and props. When it’s time for her par­ents to take the stage, Rif­ka sits qui­et­ly in the wings until she gets bored and inad­ver­tent­ly ends up becom­ing part of the play. But as her Papa always says, ​“Piff-paff. Not to wor­ry!” The delight of this book is the sense one has of observ­ing a vibrant yet bygone era, a feel­ing that is enhanced by the splen­did dig­i­tal illus­tra­tions. Enchant­i­ng two-page spreads have a naive and ethe­re­al qual­i­ty marked by a con­fet­ti-like sur­face which makes every scene seem mag­i­cal. This is a charm­ing look at a time we all wish we could vis­it our­selves, and a reminder of the his­tor­i­cal rich­ness of Yid­dish cul­ture. Includes a brief his­to­ry of the Yid­dish the­ater, with pho­tographs. Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 5 – 9.