Beautiful Yetta's Hanukkah Kitten

by Daniel Pinkwater, Jill Pinkwater (Illustrator)

Overview

Yetta, beautiful Yetta, manages to escape from the butcher's shop. But now she is lost in Brooklyn—a strange place filled with rude rats and dangerous buses!

!??????

geVAHLT!

Oh, dear!

But then, brave Yetta saves a small green bird from a sneaky cat, and his friends, the wild parrots of Brooklyn, are very grateful.

¡Muchas gracias, gallina hermosa!

¡mooCHAS grahSEEas, gahYEEna ehrMOsa!

Thank you very much, beautiful chicken!

Has beautiful Yetta found her new home?

Inspired by real events, this multilingual story by Daniel Pinkwater is a witty, warm, and wonderful read-aloud for any age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466877832
Publisher:	Feiwel & Friends
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	47 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

DANIEL PINKWATER is the author of over 80 (and counting) acclaimed books for children. His wife, JILL PINKWATER, is an award-winning author and illustrator who has collaborated with Daniel on many fine books, including the beloved Hoboken Chicken Emergency.

Daniel Pinkwater is the author and sometimes illustrator of more than 80 (and counting) wildly popular books. These books include Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken, 5 Novels, The Yggyssey, Lizard Music and Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl. He is also an occasional commentator on National Public Radio's All Thing Considered and appears regularly on Weekend Edition Saturday, where he reviews exceptional kids' books with host Scott Simon. Daniel also contributes to Wondertime, and has in the past been spotted on the pages of The New York Times Magazine, OMNI, and many other fine publications. In collaboration with Tony Auth, Daniel wrote an unfortunately short-lived comic strip, NORB, which was critically acclaimed by Jules Feiffer and Chaim Potok, and no one else. (It was really good, though.) Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Pinkwater grew up in Memphis, Chicago and Los Angeles, and studied art at Bard College. He lives in New York.

Jill Pinkwater is an award-winning author and illustrator who has collaborated with Daniel Pinkwater on many fine books, including The Hoboken Chicken Emergency and Beautiful Yetta's Hanukkah Kitten. They've also worked together on "Superpuppy," the world's best guide to owning and caring for a canine companion.

Comprising the collection of much-loved novels Jill has written are Cloud Horse, The Disappearance of Sister Perfect, Buffalo Brenda, Tails of the Bronx, and Mr. Fred.

Editorial Reviews

09/15/2014
Yetta, the Pinkwaters’ inimitable Yiddish-speaking, Brooklyn-dwelling chicken, is back in her second picture book, this time playing figurative mother hen and adoption agency for a stray kitten that she finds lost in a snowdrift. Yetta’s Spanish-speaking wild parrots friends/nest mates are dubious at first: “Es un gato!” they exclaim. “Es iz a kind!” Yetta insists. “Lomir es geb esn” (“It is a baby! Let’s feed it”). But they quickly come around and help Yetta find a good home during Hanukkah (“when the humans are in a good mood”) for the kitty—who in turn reveals it can teach the parrots a thing or two about latkes. Jill Pinkwater’s bright, freestyle drawings are as bighearted and chatty as the multilingual, multispecies text. Ages 3–7. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

This is a book that begs to be read aloud.” —School Library Journal

“Jill Pinkwater's bright, freestyle drawings are as bighearted and chatty as the multilingual, multispecies text.” —Publishers Weekly

“The Pinkwaters have crafted a tale of friendship and caring, this time with a festive holiday touch . . . A Hanukkah gift for readers and eaters.” —Kirkus Reviews

“It's classic Pinkwater: funny, weird, touching, and all about the joys of being sideways to reality...Daniel Pinkwater is a genius.” —Cory Doctorow on Beautiful Yetta

“Fresh and nostalgic, the story is told in three languages—English, Yiddish (Yetta's native tongue, so to speak) and Spanish (those real-life Brooklyn parrots had to come from somewhere). Pluck is really the name of the game.” —The San Francisco Chronicle on Beautiful Yetta

From the Publisher

The polyglot birds of Prospect Park in Brooklyn are back with an endearing story about loving families, kindness to animals, and the underlying warmth of the December holidays. Long-lashed Yetta, the truly “free range” chicken, is now the matriarch of a flock of Spanish-speaking parrots. Like Wendy and the Lost Boys, Yetta entertains her adoptive family with nostalgic stories of what it was like to live on a farm. Living in the wild obviously agrees with Yetta since she is notably plumper than in her last book, Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken. Particularly large is the heart that beats in her plump breast and when she finds a lost kitten, she wants to take care of it. The parrots protest. Not only is a cat their natural enemy, there is also no common ground that a cat and birds can inhabit. Then Yetta remembers that it is Hanukkah, the time when “humans are in a good mood,” and she decides to use the holiday spirit to her advantage. Yetta calls on an old woman and asks if she will adopt the kitten. Of course, no one can resist the darling, striped kitty and the woman takes in the foundling. She also provides the birds with a delectable meal of potato latkes and discovers that her new pet speaks English. The story itself is told in English, Yiddish and Spanish, which is helpfully translated for brave narrators. Pinkwater is well-known for his talks on National Public Radio. As you read this cozy tale, it is impossible not to hear the author’s familiar radio voice in your head. The drawing-and-collage illustrations are loveable, and children will return again and again to the puffed up picture of the adorable kitten. This book’s natural audience may be Jewish great-grandparents, but the universal story of warmth and shared love, without an overt religious message, makes it a multicultural winner. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross; Ages 4 to 8.

Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross

10/01/2014
K-Gr 2—First introduced in Beautiful Yetta, the Yiddish Chicken (2010), the hen is still living in Brooklyn, the honorary mother to a flock of wild, Spanish-speaking parrots. One winter night, Yetta's maternal instinct kicks in again when she discovers a kitten in a snowdrift. "A ketseleh! A little cat!" says Yetta. "Helf mir mit ir. Help me take care of it," she says to the parrots, but they don't know what cats eat or where to take it. Besides, aren't they dangerous? Then they remember that it's Hanukkah, "cuando los humanos están de buen humor! When the humans are in a good mood!" They take the kitten to an old grandmother who says to Yetta, "Redstu Yidish, hinel? You speak Yiddish, chicken?" and then feeds them all latkes. Not much more happens, but that's hardly the point. Aside from the obvious nod to a mingling of languages and cultures, this is a book that begs to be read aloud, if for no other reason than the humor that emerges from a recitation of the multilingual transliterations. Large, brightly colored illustrations in marker and ink set against a white background have a comic quality that complements the minimal text. With almost no information about the actual holiday, this is not a book for Hanukkah novices, but for those looking for something fun to read during the festivities (think reader's theater.) It should have everyone saying "A frayleken Chanukah! ¡Un feliz Hanukkah! A Happy Hanukkah!"—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

2014-08-12
Winter holiday joy and felicidad! Yetta the chicken had previously found a home in Brooklyn with wild green parrots (Beautiful Yetta, 2010). She nurtures them, loves them and tells them stories. But now winter has arrived, bringing bagels and pizza crusts for food and a warm home atop a streetlight. Suddenly one night there is a noise, barely audible. Yetta finds a tiny mewing kitten and enfolds it in her wings for warmth. The parrots are not happy about a cat in their midst, but Yetta implores them to help. What to do? Yetta has the answer. Bring her to an old grandmother in the neighborhood who happily takes her in, in exchange for latkes—potato pancakes. Yes, it is Hanukkah, and latkes are the plat du jour. As they did in this book's predecessor, the Pinkwaters have crafted a tale of friendship and caring, this time with a festive holiday touch. The narrative is peppered with speech bubbles that translate and transliterate Yetta's Yiddish and the parrots' Spanish phrases. The illustrations, in markers, brush pens, and pen and ink against a white background, are colorful and softly textured. A Hanukkah gift for readers and eaters. (Hebrew alphabet) (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews