Do Not Eat This Book! Fun with Jewish Foods & Festivals: Fun with Jewish Foods & Festivals

by Beth Kander, Mike Moran (Illustrator)

Overview

With a little Yiddish and a lot of humor mixed in, this bubbly read-aloud picture book about holiday foods and traditions emphasizes the joy of the Jewish experience. Rhyming text takes readers through Jewish holidays, including Tu B'Shevat, Purim, and Chanukah, and their related special dishes. Colorful artwork brings the mouthwatering foods to the page and the table. But no matter how delicious the foods look, do not eat this book! Back matter includes a glossary describing each holiday, along with easy, kid-friendly recipes for the featured dishes, kitchen-tested by the author and her family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534111882
Publisher:	Sleeping Bear Press
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	664,313
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	600L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 7 Years

About the Author

Beth Kander is an award-winning author and playwright with tangled roots in the Midwest and the Deep South. The granddaughter of immigrants, she loves exploring how worlds old and new intertwine. Beth earned a master’s in social work from the University of Michigan and an MFA in creative writing from Mississippi University for Women. She’s the resident playwright and a frequent teacher/guest artist for the Ashland New Plays Festival in Oregon, and a former Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Fellow. When she’s not writing or reading, Beth enjoys traveling, Chicago staycations, cooking, yoga, and adventures with her favorite characters: her two brave, hilarious kids.

Mike Moran is a left-handed award-winning illustrator. His work has been used for children’s books, magazines, newspapers, toy packaging, animation, greeting cards and more. One day he hopes to play first base for the New York Mets or become the fifth Beatle.

Editorial Reviews

2023-06-08
Mouths will be watering as soon as readers open this book.

Lilting, humorous, four-line verses on each page introduce Shabbat, Purim, Hanukkah, Passover, Shavuot, and Tu B’Shevat, providing a hint at their themes and showcasing some delicious foods, described lovingly. Several verses use the loving Yiddish endearment “bubbeleh,” ending with the title admonition, “But please remember, bubbeleh, / DO NOT EAT THIS BOOK!”—no matter how enticing the tasty treats mentioned within may be. An image of a child overcome with the array of fabulous fare, ignoring all the warnings and hungrily about to devour the book, will elicit laughter. Large-scale illustrations set among the text depict joyful children, diverse in skin tone, licking their lips, sampling these wonderful delicacies, and sharing them with family and friends. Several male-presenting characters, one of whom uses a wheelchair, are seen wearing yarmulkes. Except for challah and Hanukkah latkes, the displayed foods are not specifically named, although more facts about the holidays and their associated cuisines appear in the backmatter along with crafts and recipes. An author’s note emphasizes that every culture has its own holidays with festive foods that reflect its history and beliefs. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A lighthearted introduction to traditional Jewish holiday foods. (glossary) (Religious picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews