That Yiddish-speaking chicken returns in this second picture-book devoted to her adventures, following upon her eponymous debut in Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken. Now living in Brooklyn with some colorful wild parrots, the motherly Yetta is dismayed to find an orphaned kitten in the snow. What should she and the parrots (who initially want nothing to do with a cat!) do? Then she recalls that it is Hanukkah, and that the humans will be in good spirits. She will take the kitten to the "grandmother" who feeds all the birds in the vicinity...

Although I have not read the first story about Yetta, I am a long-time Pinkwaters fan, and think their Bad Bears picture-books are some of the most hilarious examples of the form, so I picked up Beautiful Yetta's Hanukkah Kitten with a great deal of anticipation. Although by no means as amusing as I'd hoped to find it, I did think it an engaging tale, and appreciated the opportunity it offered to learn a little Yiddish and a little Spanish. Yetta's dialogue is given in English, with Yiddish below it, and a transliteration of the Yiddish (which is written using the Hebrew abjad) below that. The parrots' dialogue is given in English, Spanish, and a phonetic pronunciation of the Spanish. A brief explanation of the Hebrew writing system is given on the final page, which (unfortunately) describes it as an alphabet. Leaving that aside, I enjoyed this one, and think that the amusing exchanges between Yetta and the parrots and Yetta and the grandmother, as well as the colorful artwork from Jill Pinkwater, will keep young listeners entertained. Recommended to Pinkwater fans, and to anyone looking for children's stories featuring Yiddish. ( )

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!

I really like that the dialogue is in three languages, and that a phonetic translation is included in each speech bubble.  The first book is probably wonderful, as it introduces readers to the understanding of feral parrots, and even a chicken, living free in Brooklyn.  This story is pure syrupy fantasy. ( )