jaelikes's review
4.5
book designers take notes. the story is good too, but the way the text and illustrations are integrated on the page is top notch.
rhodesee's review
4.0
This is a delightful book. I love plucky little Shirley, (who is *not* too little to help!) and her family and community. The Yiddish words sprinkled throughout bring great depth and authenticity to the story. And boy, do I want some gefilte fish and horseradish now!
backonthealex's review
4.0
Taking place sometime in the 1930s, Shirley's family has moved to a new country where they have high hopes for their new store. So does their young daughter Shirley. But everyone thinks she's too young to help, let alone have ideas about selling groceries, let alone their specialty gefilte fish. Everyone loves Mama's noodle kugel, but no one is even willing to try her gefilte fish. When Aunt Ida's baby decides it time to be born, everyone head to the hospital, leaving Shirley and Mrs. Gottlieb in charge of the store. That's when Shirley gets a brilliant beyond brilliant idea about how to get their non-Jewish customers to try Mama's gefilte fish. But will it work? Or will Shirley just get into trouble? I had just read this book for the first time when I heard that the author of this debut picture book had suddenly passed away less than a week before its publication. What a shame that she didn't live to see its reception. Cohen has left us a charming story about Jewish culture, family, clever ideas and taking a chance. I found Shirley to be a spunky girl, with a fair amount of the best kind of chutzpah. The story is sprinkled with Yiddish words, and given the timeframe, I wondered if the story is based on Cohen's own family and if they might have left eastern Europe as fascism moved closer.
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