8 | JANUARY 28 • 2021

for openers
Picture Book Parodies
T

hey say hindsight is
20/20.
Thank G-d for that,
right? I think we’re all glad
to see that toothache of a
year from the
rearview mirror
fast receding
into history.
There were a
couple of per-
sonal gains last
year, though.
For example,
last year I read more books
(ahem … and watched more
Netflix and ate more choco-
late and gained more weight
…). One genre I happened
to be introduced to last year
was picture book parodies.
Here are some of my favor-
ites:
• Move over, Cinderella!
Now there’s Cinder Edna by
Ellen Jackson, which tells
the story of the girl next
door, who also has evil
step-relatives. Unlike Ella,
Edna makes the best of it
and is much more inde-
pendent. There are no fairy
godmothers in this girl-
next-door’s life, so she hap-
pily buys a dress on layaway
and takes the bus to the ball
… The prince bores her to
tears, but she bumps into
the prince’s younger brother
who’s into telling jokes, recy-
cling and adopted kittens.
“Guess who lived happily ever
after?”
• Perhaps Good Night Moon,
which describes the peace-
ful, quiet bedtime routine
of what’s got to be an only
child (OK, rabbit) while the
unrushed mother calmly
knits in the rocking chair
and whispers “hush” doesn’t

quite resemble bedtimes
at your house. Welcome to
the bookshelf, Good Night,
Bubbala by Sheryl Haft. This
“joyful parody” describes
the chaos when the extend-
ed family rocks up for some
Chanukah celebrating at
bedtime (“… there were two
little bubbies schlepping their
hubbies … and one dozen
bagels and a pot of kneidels
…
”) causing “Bubbala” to be
illustrated bouncing around
on his bed, most certainly
experiencing the sugar high
of his cheek-pinching grand-
parents.
• Oh, the Places You’ll Go
by Dr. Seuss has been a
bestseller since its release in
1990, has sold more than 10
million copies to date and
is a popular graduation gift.
Now there’s a new doctor
in the ward, and he serves
up a healthy dose of reality.
Attributed to “Dr. Suits,”
Oh, the Meetings You’ll Go
To describes in frank tones
what happens to even the
smartest grads and valedic-
torians out there. (“Despite
your clear brilliance, you won’t

be the top. And bleary
and weary, you’ll work
till you drop…” “Some
meetings are loud and
some induce groaning,
sometimes you’ll get
tired of the PowerPoint
droning…”)
• If you’ve always
found it hard to relate
to the birds in Are You
My Mother?, try read-
ing Are You My Uber? by
Sarah Amelia Dooley.
(“He looked up. He did not
see it. He looked down. He
did not see it. I will go and
look for it, he said. And
away he went …”) The poor
fellow did not know what
a Ford Taurus looked like
though, so he walked right
by it. Don’t worry, he did
get to his location in the
end; there’s always a happy
ending in (most) children’s
books.
• Everyone knows a cook-
ie alone doesn’t do the trick
anymore; now if you want
a moment of peace, you
have to give a mouse some
mind-numbing technology
… What’s the worst that can
happen? You’ll find out in
If You Give a Mouse an iPhone
by Ann Droyd. (“If you give a
mouse an iPhone, he’s not going
to ask for a cookie. Or a glass
of milk. Or anything at all. In
fact, he won’t hear a word you
say.”) Spoiler alert: things go
south really fast when the
battery runs out!
I love the twists, the fun
and the endless possibili-
ties of these picture book
parodies! There’s even a life
lesson in there: If you don’t
like the original ending, just
rewrite your own!

Rochel
Burstyn

letters

Jewish Working
Women’s Network
I was so happily surprised
to read the article in the Jan.
7 edition of the Jewish News
“The Art of the Dance” (page
33) where Danny Schwartz
reported that Cheryl Widener
reached out to Shanon Stibor
through a “Facebook Jewish
women’s networking group.”
We were able to confirm
via Cheryl that the two
met through the Jewish
Federation’s Women’s
Philanthropy “Jewish
Working Women’s Network”
Facebook page. The Jewish
Working Women’s Network
(formerly Jewish Working
Women’s Series) started in
the early 2000s by community
leaders who were looking for
relevant programming for
Jewish working women living
in Metro Detroit. The JWWN
Facebook page now has over
1,400 members currently and
grows daily!
The Jewish Working
Women’s Network’s mis-
sion is to provide engaging
educational opportunities,
enriching programs and the
chance to connect with other
Jewish working women in
our community. Through the
Facebook page, we provide
“Plug Your Business Tuesday”
— where women can promote
their own businesses and the
opportunity to connect. The
page also hosts community
job postings, special events
and highlights JWWN pro-
grams. We often hear stories
where women, like Cheryl
and Shanon, have developed
meaningful connections. We
invite any Jewish woman

VIEWS

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