Yettele's Feathers

Children's Literature - Barbara Disckind

Inspired by her Rabbi's telling of a Jewish folktale, Rothenberg uses fanciful and cheerful artwork to depict the slightly off-center town of Ostrow and its inhabitants. Yettele Babbelonski, all alone in her room, looks out on the town below. While not malicious, her habit of embellishing and creating "facts" about her neighbors hurts their feelings, making them angry. Soon, no one will talk with her, except, that is, for the town's Rabbi. He finds a rather gentle but highly persuasive way of showing, and thereby teaching, Yettele how words can injure and how difficult they are to take back once uttered.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3A felicitous adaptation of a cautionary tale told originally as a warning against leshon harah (slander/gossip). A widow without children, ``Yettele had a lot of time for minding other people's business,'' and mind it she does! Not only does she spread rumors from one neighbor to another, but she always has the facts wrong and surmises the worst. Eventually, everyone in Ostrow is afraid to talk to her, so she goes to the Rabbi. He advises her on the course of action that convices her never to gossip again. Rothenberg tells the tale in language redolent with Old World rhythm and with a few transliterated Yiddish expression inserted for emphasis. Her Yettele is a memorable character on a par with Carol Chapman's The Tale of Meshka the Kvetch (Dutton, 1980). Gouache on bristol board illustrations depict the village and its inhabitants in bright, almost tropical, colors. Leaning houses form a patchwork against cerulean skies and green hills; they are not authentically drab, but charming. A welcome, tellable addition to folktale collections from a talented newcomer to the world of children's books.Marcia Posner, Federation of New York and the Jewish Book Council, New York City