What’s an appropriate age to teach kids a second language? When it comes to Yiddish, author Laurel Snyder believes no time is too soon.
Snyder’s new baby board book, Nosh Schlep Schluff: Babyiddish, is perfect for very young children, or for anyone else in search of a good time with a Jewish pidgin language. It’s written in the style of an early-learning book, but with humor that works on multiple levels.
Each page introduces a different Yiddish word by giving an example of that word that’s easy for kids to identify with: “Dolly hauling, crawling, stepping–babies do get tired of schlepping.” And one of the following pages will make adults smirk: “If you want to start a ruckus, wave your arms and shake your tuchus!”–especially those who catch the allusion to the 1970s disco song “Shake Your Booty.”
This book of junior Yiddishisms makes a great gift for a newborn or a preschooler. It might be a challenge, however, to actually give the book to the kid instead of keeping it yourself.
