Review: Mazel Toes!

Mazel Toes!

by Audrey Barbakoff, illustrated by Annita Soble

Collective Book Studio, 2025

Category: Board Books

Reviewer: Rochelle Newman-Carrasco

 

Buy at Bookshop.org

This sweet board book uses rhyme and memorable Yiddish phrases to celebrate all things baby. Each page has a short rhyming expression of love and playfulness. Each page shares a way a family might gather round and let a baby know how loved they are and how much joy they are bringing into their homes. The beautiful illustrations are a really powerful part of this book. It's as if the reader is invited into the homes of a series of different families, from different generations and walks of life. These diverse families are united in their focus on a newborn and the smiles and tenderness that brings. The illustration style is so vibrant and alive, you can almost hear the cooing, the giggling, and the baby talk. The Yiddish expressions are explained in a Glossary, and they're such great words. Exactly the kind of Yiddish words that babies bring forth from their doting, delighted families.

Having grown up in a Yiddish-speaking home, a language shared by parents and grandparents, I was struck by how the word choices brought back memories. Peppering the poetry with these Yiddish words brings an authenticity to this piece that would be relevant to Jewish readers from many backgrounds. The illustrations are very inclusive, reflective of Jewish history (shtetls), a vibrant Jewish diaspora, and even family structures, all of which make this book feel welcoming to any reader. New baby energy in a home has a universal appeal and this cultural sprinkling of Yiddish joy makes Mazel Toes! an extra fun read. Even little siblings would enjoy reading this to the new baby in their home. 

 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN REVIEWING BOOKS FOR THE SYDNEY TAYLOR SHMOOZE? CLICK HERE

 

Reviewer Rochelle Newman-Carrasco credits her New York Lower East Side childhood with her love of language, culture, and storytelling. She is an award-winning playwright, published poet, essayist and children’s book author. She wrote, produced, and performed the solo show Hip Bones and Cool Whip and has done stand up, spoken word, and theater in NY and Los Angeles. Rochelle also has an extensive background in advertising and marketing with an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. She has a BFA in theater from UC Irvine and an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from Antioch, Los Angeles.