Mrs.Katz and Tush

Mrs.Katz and Tush

Title: Mrs.Katz and Tush

Genre: Multicultural

Author and illustrator: Patricia Polacco

Awards: Jane Addams Children's Book Award

Age Group: 6-10 year olds

I personally loved this book and felt a connection to its story, I loved how this book made you have a feel good sort of feeling, and I would definitely recommend it in the future.

Summary:

Larnal didn’t know Mrs.Katz a lot at first but his mother visited her almost every day. Mrs.Katz had lost her husband and was alone, so she was sad. One day Larnel stopped by with a kitten he had found and asked her if she wanted to adopt it and she agreed only if he would help her take care of it. They named the cat Tush. She did everything for Tush and she was in love with the cat and treated it like a human. Larnel kept his promise and visited Mrs.Katz every day after school and he loved to listen to Mrs.Katz talk about the old country; She is from Poland and is Jewish. After Mrs.Katz and Larnel spent a lot of time together they had become like family so she invited him to say Kaddish to her husband. But when they came back, Tush was gone and the window had been left open, Mrs.Katz was so worried but Larnel said he would find Tush. They looked everywhere but no one had seen Tush. That night it stormed and Mrs.Katz couldn’t sleep worrying about Tush. Then the next morning Larnel’s father came over and he had found Tush. Then Mrs.Katz invited Larnel over for Passover dinner, and she explained what Passover was to Larnel. Tush ended up having babies the very next night. Years passed and Ms.Katz, Tush and her descendants became a part of Larnels family, there were graduations, weddings, and new babies. In the end, Larnel stood in front of the headstone of Mrs.Katz and his wife and his children read the inscription together, Mrs.Katz, our Bubee...such a person.

I believe could use this book in my classroom because this book is a great way to show some traditions of Jewish culture and how you can learn things from older people about tradition.

I believe the appropriate grade level for this book is 2nd-4th grade. Though, I believe any age would enjoy this book as well. This book is quite easy to follow but does have a good chunk of words to a page but a bigger font so easy to read.

This book can be used in the classroom in a unit about different cultures and traditions, because throughout this book she talks about Jewish traditions and phrases.

HAVE FUN READING!💙-Lacy