Now 2023 Previous Articles Road Essays Road Reviews Author Black Authors Title Source Age Genre Series Format Inclusivity LGBTA Portfolio Artwork WIP

Recent posts

Month in review

10 Best...
10 Best Cats
10 Best Graphic Novels
10 Best Nonfiction
10 Best Odd Balls
10 Best Picture Books
10 Best Scifi/ Fantasy
10 Best Tween Books

Reviews
The Adventures of Tittletom by Ellis Credle
Afternoon on the Amazon by Mary Pope Osborne
Alex and Lulu by Lorena Siminovich
Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel
Beautiful Yetta by Daniel Pinkwater
Boats: Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! by Patricia Hubbell
Boundaries of Home by Doug Aberley
Brownie and Pearl Get Dolled Up by Cynthia Rylant
The Chick and the Duckling by Mirra Ginsburg
The Fairy's Return by Gail Carson Levine
Forever by Rachel Pollack
Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 by Eric Wight
Harriet's Halloween Candy by Nancy Carlson
A History of Cadmium by Elizabeth Bourne
Knitty Kitty by David Elliott
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
The Long Retreat by Robert Reed
Looking for Jake by China Miéville
Maid of Murder by Amanda Flower
Make-Believe by Michael Reaves
The Octonauts and the Frown Fish by Meomi
One to Nine by Andrew Hodges
Raiders' Ransom by Emily Diamand
The Secret of the Old Clock by Caroline Keene
Sector 7 by David Wiesner
The Tarot Cafe #3 by Sang-Sun Park
Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
Waiting for the Phone to Ring by Richard Bowes
Waking Up Wendell by April Stevens
What Can You Do With a Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla
When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden



Rating System

5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish

Reading Challenges

Beat the Backlist 2023

Canadian Book Challenge: 2022-2023

Artwork
Chicken Art



Privacy policy

This blog does not collect personal data. It doesn't set cookies. Email addresses are used to respond to comments or "contact us" messages and then deleted.


Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken: 12/14/10

cover art

Daniel Pinkwater is another author my local library has introduced me to. Two of his books were sitting on their recommended children's books recently: The Neddiad (review coming) and Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken. Now since one is a middle grade book and the other is a picture book, I didn't notice that they were by the same author until I sat down to write my reviews.

Beautiful Yetta is about a Yiddish speaking chicken who breaks free from her cage and escapes the truck brining her into the city. While she's trying to figure out a safe place to be she saves a wild parrot from a hungry looking cat. The book is written in English, Yiddish (with transliteration) and Spanish.

The book is set in Brooklyn and at the end of the book Daniel Pinkwater includes a little background on the story. There are in fact wild parrots (just as there are in South Pasadena and San Francisco) and kosher butchers. He says he doesn't know if chickens speak Yiddish but thought it would be fun to suppose they could.

I read Beautiful Yetta before I read The Neddiad and I was skeptical at first. It's not that I don't believe in chickens or parrots in urban areas; I've seen both. It just seemed like an incredibly odd choice of story. Now having completely enjoyed Melvin the Shaman from The Neddiad I've come to realize that odd ball characters and plot lines are what he specializes in. I can certainly say that Yetta has stuck with me both as a story and as a character.

Comments (2) <

Lab puppy
Name:
Email (won't be posted):
Blog URL:
Comment:


Comment #1: Friday, December, 17, 2010 at 14:10:30

darla d

This one sounds like a lot of fun - I'll be on the lookout for it. I enjoy Pinkwater's sense of humor!



Comment #2: Sunday, December 19, 2010 at 10:13:41

Pussreboots

It is a fun book. It's worth reading Pinkwater's afterword where he explains the inspirations for the book.



Twitter Tumblr Mastadon Flickr Facebook Facebook Contact me

1997-2023 Sarah Sammis