The debut picture book of local author Caroline Kusin Pritchard illustrated by Ariel Landry titled Gitty and Kvetch is a fun story of friendship and Language learning. Pritchard’s fun and heartwarming friend focused words match Landry’s laugh out loud cartoony illustrations perfectly. The use of Yiddish alongside the English in every scene is a creative and fitting use of language for Gitty and Kvetch’s story.
The story focuses on a relatable and quirky young girl Gitty and her pessimistic complaining bird friend Kvetch as they travel to a tree house on what starts as a what Gitty declares is a picture perfect day. Kvetch is pessimistic about Gitty’s outlook to start the day. Soon we are shown that stormy weather gathers around them and another storm gathers in Gitty as she goes from excited to sad quickly. Kvetch must help Gitty or the day may be completely and totally ruined.
Will Kvetch and Gitty be able to calm the storms before things get worse? Exactly how and why do the emotions of our Yiddish English speaking dynamic duo change from page to page? What role does language play in describing the characters and their storyline? Read this expressive and endearing debut picture book to explore friendship, discover feeling changes and laugh along with the clever language play. Back matter includes a helpful glossary of the Yiddish words used in the book.
Yours Drewly and my son Ryan, Gittty and Kvetch storytime
Below is my interview with the books creators: Author Caroline Kusin Pritchard illustrated by Ariel Landry, their answers are in bold below!
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1. Please introduce your wonderful newly released work in your own words….
[Caroline] At its heart, I think GITTY AND KVETCH is about connection and the ways we show up for the people we love— with humor, with loyalty, with surprises. And with a whole lotta Yiddish!
[Ariel] GITTY AND KVETCH is the story of two close friends with very different perspectives on life. Gitty is upbeat and always looking on the bright side, whereas her bird friend, Kvetch, well, he likes to kvetch! Throughout their adventure the characters teach each other that neither perspective is perfect, and in fact, we don’t need to be searching for perfection.
Gitty and Kvetch Cover!
What was the process from draft to final process? How was this book's creation impacted by Covid?
[Caroline] I drafted the story in the middle of teaching a summer creative writing course to middle schoolers. We were all splayed out across the lawn free writing and Gitty’s character smacked me right in the face! I have pages and pages of me trying to keep up with her effusive ramblings to show for it. About three months and fifty full-blown revisions later, I submitted the manuscript to Atheneum Books for Young Readers and received a revise and submit request from my future editor, Alexa Pastor. Her notes were wildly intimidating… and absolute magic! Once Alexa made an offer and I picked my jaw up off the floor that this was really happening, it was months more of dreaming, revising, and copyediting.
[Ariel] As the illustrator, I’m given the manuscript by Becca Syracuse, the designer from Atheneum and my contact person throughout the work. Then my favorite part begins: designing the characters. Sometimes it’s a challenging process and I go through many iterations, but for Gitty and Kvetch it was easy! The book gets a lot of positive feedback from readers that they know people just like Gitty and Kvetch and I felt the same way. The characters felt so real (even though one is a talking bird) and so I came up with the final designs pretty quickly. After I receive feedback on my sketches from the publishers, I create the color palette and paint the final images. My color palette all began with the purple treehouse-- since this is the only color explicitly stated in the manuscript. I wanted bright, joyful colors to reflect Gitty’s perspective of the world, but to have darker undertones to the storm that comes to mirror Kvetch’s perspective. I believe the only major impact that COVID had was that the launch of the book was delayed due to shipping delays.
Please explain how you worked together. Any highlights? Any most problematic moments?
[Caroline]: Ariel’s work is totally and completely irresistible— the Atheneum team knew right away that she was the person for the job. The first time I laid eyes on her expressive character sketches for Gitty and Kvetch I SHRIEKED. Very, very loudly. I felt like I was meeting the characters for the first time! While I never connected with Ariel until after her artwork was complete, the experience was a testament to how picture books are an absolute partnership. She breathed life into our ebullient Gitty and curmudgeonly Kvetch in a way only Ariel could.
[Ariel] Usually in traditional publishing authors and illustrators do not have any contact until after the book is completed. People are sometimes surprised by this because, when done well, the story and the images should look like they go together effortlessly. The editorial and design teams are our go-betweens and I think it works well for everyone. However, it was a delight to get to know Caroline afterwards, largely through instagram. She is a dream author to work with because she is incredibly passionate about, not only her work, but the work of others. She uses her platform to push for more inclusive kidlit and to lift up the works of other authors and illustrators doing the same. And she seems genuinely just like Gitty!
Gitty and Kvetch are Characters that are relatable. Please explain their creation and development?
[Caroline] I kept channeling memories of my siblings and extended family sitting around the dinner table, all of us talking over each other and pushing each other’s buttons with a relentless conviction. Around that table, everyone was given the space to move in and out of a wide range of moods and opinions— caricatures don’t exist in real life, so I wanted to keep them off the page, too. Even Gitty can’t stay permanently upbeat; Kvetch’s eyes do eventually get tired from rolling all day long. The unlock for me was playing with how we push ourselves beyond our comfortable tendencies in the name of showing up for our people. For example, I shared an early manuscript with my endearingly Kvetch-like older brother to get his take. He helped me realize that Kvetch wasn’t a two-dimensional grumpy pessimist at all. Instead, our beloved bird is a practical realist who’s genuinely motivated to protect his loved ones, namely Gitty. This compassion-filled reframe led to me to amp up Kvetch’s loyalty as a key counterbalance to his curmudgeonliness.
[Ariel] I wanted Gitty’s physical appearance to reflect her buoyant personality, but also to look like the Jewish children that I know. I looked at my friends’ children, photos of my own father when he was little, and I looked at Caroline’s children (sneakily through instagram). The messy, curly mop of dark hair came first. I wanted it to be bouncy and a bit unruly. As for color, since I knew there would be many shades of purple throughout the story, I wanted Gitty to wear a bright, happy color that would pop-- so I put her in the canary-yellow top. Kvetch went through several different bird shapes, but I wanted something that would give him the crotchety-but-loveable, old man vibe that Caroline created through his dialogue. So he got a little round paunch, expressive eyebrows, a long, thin beak for kvelling. And of course the tiny panama hat!
What were the most important influences on the book's creation and what sustained you both through all the revisions?
[Caroline] Let me first say that I’m currently SHRIEKING at the revelation that Ariel based Gitty in part on my children. I’ve always thought Gitty looks just like my oldest son, but now I have cold, hard evidence to back me up! Messy, curly mops of hair for the win!!! Which brings me to my answer for this question: my kiddos and husband offered all kinds of patient, unconditional love throughout the writing process. At any given moment, it was their energy mixed with a combination of green tea, noodle kugel, connecting with friends and family and their gentle reminders not to take myself too seriously that kept the wheels turning.
[Ariel] A major theme of the book is the fruitlessness of searching for perfection, so I was inspired by artists with a loose, sketchy style. I wanted the art to have a splashy, spontaneous feel, which is why I let some color go outside the lines and didn’t try to fix every little mistake-- which is so tempting to do when working digitally! I don’t struggle too much with making revisions. I like to put trust in my editors and feel like we’re working together to make the best book possible. That being said, I am addicted to matcha lattes and they did get me through the most frustrating part of working digitally-- sending large photoshop files from an incredibly slow internet. My neighborhood dates back to medieval times and the internet speed does too.
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| Author Caroline Kusin Pritchard |
Why use Yiddish as the focus? Amazing back matter seems to add another dimension to the book!
[Caroline] The truth is that Kvetch’s character came to me spouting Yiddish off the bat! His voice sounds exactly like my Dad’s in my head, which is important for me to name whenever reading the book to kids. I initially found myself slipping into a stereotypical New York accent when reading his character, which was a big wake up call. It helped me realize how deeply entrenched that single story is of what it means to be Jewish in America. My mom’s great, great grandparents and my dad’s grandparents immigrated to Texas from Poland and Russia speaking only Yiddish. I grew up hearing Yiddish spoken in a thick Texas drawl and that’s exactly how I hear Kvetch’s voice now. Jews come from every geography, in every color and have wide-ranging, unique stories to share— and they are all critically valid. Exploring my Yiddish roots has cracked open an even deeper personal connection to my family history and Jewish identity. And hearing from adults about their own joyful experiences celebrating Yiddish with their kids through the book? It’s been the most delightful, unexpected gift. For anyone wanting to explore Yiddish as it relates to children’s stories in more depth, I can’t recommend Dr. Miriam Udel’s book more highly: HONEY ON THE PAGE: A TREASURY OF YIDDISH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.
[Ariel] I can’t speak to why Caroline chose Yiddish as a focus, but I can say how grateful I am that she did! My great-grandparents only spoke Yiddish when they set up their butcher shop in New York City. Words and phrases have passed down from my grandmother to my father to me. They are a cultural bond I share with my mishpocheh (extended family) in New York. Sometimes there is no replacing a good Yiddish word-- and I want them to endure.
Explain how the characters' use of language and visual spacing add to the brilliance of the story?
[Caroline] Gitty and Kvetch’s voices always seemed to talk over one another in my head, which is my favorite chaotic flavor of friendship! I wanted to find a way to share that playful rhythm on the page without confusing or overwhelming the reader. We went big with using the ellipsis to show how their interjections offer contrasting insights that somehow build towards a unified, albeit topsy-turvy, dose of love.
[Ariel] From the first moment Kvetch agrees to join Gitty on another adventure, he’s by her side. Readers can hopefully see how important their friendship is by how closely Kvetch sticks to Gitty, despite his relentless complaints. At one point he even uses his body to shield her from the rain during the shprits.
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| one of Authors favorite book Spreads! |
What’s your Favorite spread from the book?
[Caroline] Without a DOUBT it’s the “ruined, ruined, ruinedddd” spread where Gitty ends up flat on her face. I can’t share more without giving it away, but Ariel hit this one out of the ballpark. A parent reached out to share that her kid now refers to it as “the ruined book,” which makes my heart burst!
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| Pritchard's other favorite spread |
[Ariel] My favorite spread is when Gitty and Kvetch are skipping (shlepping) through the forest and we get an excellent example of their differing perspectives. Gitty hears a “symphony of buzzes” and Kvetch sees mosquitoes. Also, I got to draw a beautiful, shiny cow poop!
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| Artist Ariel's favorite Spread from Gitty and Kvetch |
What is next for you professionally?
[Caroline] I have two unannounced picture books on their way— I can’t wait to share more! My brilliant agent is in the process of submitting a few more manuscripts, and I’m busy with all kinds of new story ideas filling up my journals and Notes app.
[Ariel] I’m continuing to work on illustrating two chapter books series: GOOD DOG, published by Simon Kids and CLASS CRITTERS, published by Abrams Kids. I’m also illustrating another picture book with a central jewish character.
What is the non spoiler take home message from the book? What would Gitty and Kvetch say to readers today?
[Caroline] Gitty: “Oh, what a delightful question! But Kvetch, how will we ever come up with just one majestically meaningful message?”
Kvetch: “Oh, come on, Gitty. Just pick one. Heavy-handed messages are didactic, anyway. And besides, you think anyone is still reading this far?”
Gitty: “Okay, let’s see. There’s the message of true friendship, of course...”
Kvetch: “Great. Done.”
Gitty: “... and adventure. And releasing perfectionism. And apologies. And pushing outside your comfort zone. And…’
Kvetch: “Oy vey, here we go again...”
Thank you for reading this big shout out to the creators of Gitty and Kvetch author Caroline Kusin Pritchard (link there) llustrated by Ariel Landry (link there)
Thanks to Atheneum and Simon and Shuster publishing
and above all Thanks Books Inc!
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