Memories of Babi

by Aranka Siegal

Book Overview

Piri is a city girl, but every year she goes to visit her grandmother Babi on her farm in the Ukrainian village of Komjaty. There is a lot that Piri finds strange, even scary, in Komjaty, such as the ghost in the form of a rooster who supposedly haunts the cemetery But Piri loves country life: making corn bread, eating plums right off the tree, venturing out with her grandmother in the early morning to hunt for mushrooms. And during her time with...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374399786
• ISBN13: 9780374399788
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 8 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 6

Customer Reviews

2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Older Readers

Endearing memories of a little Hungarian girl's summertime visits to her grandmother's pre-W.W.II Ukrainian country home incorporate Jewish values of kindness, generosity, honesty, help for the less fortunate, lessons of mitzvot, and special moments filled with a little adventure, amusing escapades, and lots of love. Siegel's eight short episodic stories reflect her own childhood experiences of country life in a Jewish village where she learned farming skills, chicken plucking, mushroom hunting, superstitious-based activities, cooking and the communal annual Lekvar (prune spread) making. The certainty of death through a loved-one's annual remembrance is addressed in a final piece entitled "Yahrzeit", adding a second dimension to life to a wondering child's knowledge. Old world dialogue and descriptive passages provide insight into yesterday's good honorable ways with themes transcending to a modern, meaningful Jewish life. RITA SOLTAN - WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI