Beautiful Yetta's Hanukkah Kitten

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.)

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 estan 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