Paula L. Freedman, My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, New York: Amulet Books, ISBN 978-1-4197-0806-0, 256 pages, $16.95. Ages: 10-14.
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Avirama Golan, Little Naomi, Little Chick, illustrated by Raaya Karas, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, ISBN 978-0-8028-5427-8, 34 pages, $17. Ages: Preschooler
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Grandfather that I am, I enjoy learning what kind of books are out there for Jewish children. I have two sets of grandchildren, the older two being of mixed Ashkenazic and Yemenite-Israeli backgrounds; the younger two being of mixed Ashkenazic Jewish and Taiwanese backgrounds. So, My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, which examines the fictional life of a 12-year-old Tara Feinstein whose mother converted to Judaism from Hinduism, but whose maternal side of the family remains fully identified with Indian culture, resonated with me.
One of the problems that Tara must solve is how she can honor the maternal side of her family — her Indian culture — on the day of her bat mitzvah, when for the first time in her life she will participate in Shabbat services not as a seated member of the congregation, but as one of the leaders standing on the bimah. She will read in Hebrew a portion of the Torah dealing with Joseph and his many coats, and also chant a Haftorah portion. And then she will give a speech extrapolating lessons from the Torah portion as they apply to her own life.
The bat mitzvah ceremony is only one of Tara’s problems. Author Paula L. Freedman provides us with insight into the many other kinds of issues that occupy a 12-year-old girl’s mind. For example, there’s a certain blunt talking, hypercritical girl in her class whom she doesn’t like, but now her best friend and that girl are becoming friends. Will she lose her friend’s friendship? There’s a neighbor boy whom she has known since she was a little girl, who is almost part of her family, but now are they developing different kinds of feelings for each other? There’s another boy, something of a cut-up, with whom she has been paired on a science project. He seems to have a crush on her.
This G-rated book deals with a myriad of relationships as Tara navigates her way from childhood to adulthood.
For older readers, this book is a fine reminder that in the complicated world of middle school students, a bar or bat mitzvah is just one of the many matters that occupies their thoughts.
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Avirama Golan writes sometimes controversial columns for Ha’aretz, but as a children’s book author, she may have appeal to parents along the entire political spectrum as they read to their children a story likening the life of preschooler Naomi to the baby chicken Little Chick.
With artist Raaya Karas’s drawings making the analogies clearly understandable, the story follows Naomi and Little Chick through their respective days. A passage at the beginning of the book sets the tone. On one page, Naomi is pictured talking to two friends, while Little Chick is surrounded by ducks, grown chickens, sheep and a gopher. Writes Golan:
At school
Little Naomi meets all her friends–
Sofia, Max and Emma.
Lily, Daniel, and Ella.
Mrs. Kim, her teacher, greets them all
with a big hello.
Naomi puts her backpack away.
Says good-bye to Daddy, and goes to play.
But not Little Chick.
The last phrase “But Not Little Chick” is a recurring piece of humor. In fact, Little Chick’s routine is very similar to Naomi’s. Children will catch on to this very quickly, and there’s almost nothing a child likes better than to know something that seemingly is undetected by an adult, in this case the narrator.
This book was written in Israel, but it as easily could have been produced by a writer living on a farm in America’s heartlands. The tale has a global quality to it, which, perhaps, is why there is something satisfying about an Israeli book being translated into English, and printed in Malaysia!
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
lovely tale !