You're the Cheese in My Blintz

February 15, 2020
This rhyming ode to a caregiver's love for a baby includes touches of Jewish traditions and symbols. In this board book, it's all about the baby, each page showing a caregiver and their little one sharing meals, dancing, and embracing. Kimmelman's easy verse manages to steer clear of forced rhymes and awkward phrasing, impressively rhyming such words as "knish," "hora," and "Shabbat." The book clearly conveys the warmth of love that ties caregiver to child: "You're the warm in my hug." Kaulitzki's illustrations are full of detail and life: Books on the shelf have clear titles on their spines, and there are patterned stars on one baby's pajamas. Most of the adults and children in the book present white with the exceptions of one black-presenting woman-and-child pair and one white woman holding a dark-skinned child. In addition to its inclusion in the text, there are elements of Judaism in the illustrations as well: building blocks with Hebrew letters, a Star of David necklace, a man wearing a kippah, and others. These are mostly subtle, inclusive of Jewish traditions without being exclusively about them. Overall, this is a celebration of the love and joy that a baby brings to the world, just right for enjoying during a snuggle on a lap. Like a blintz, irresistible. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.