This follow up to Yiddish with Dick and Jane takes another step in doing something different - putting Yiddish words into the mouths of George Bush and family, a well-known WASP crew. In Yiddish with George and Laura, the Bush clan gathers to celebrate Bar (Barbara Bush) and Poppy's (George) birthdays with a few adventures on the way.
We meet the family and learn Yiddish words describing each one. Do you think the Bush twins are sheyna maydls? In reading the story, the reader can figure out what many of the Yiddish words mean and may even recognize a couple as they've become a mainstay for English speakers. Don't know what sheyna maydl means? Check the glossary in the back of the book for its definition, which is "pretty girls."
The story, of course, pokes fun at the family and their characteristics, such as George and one of his daughter's problems with drinking, and George's brothers' abilities to make lots of money. The story's illustrations have a similar watercolor style to the original Dick and Jane as well as the Yiddish parody version.
George calls his brother, Neil, a tuchas leker. Don't think that one needs an explanation. The family's arguments with Yiddish words thrown in every sentence are a hoot. Even those who never went through the torture of reading Dick and Jane in grade school will get a kick out of George and Laura. The story moves quickly and prompts plenty of grins.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Meryl
Vos ihr hat geshriven is a zei shayn un zei gemitlich. Iber ich kennisht farstayn far vos menshen vet vissen fun George Bush, a putz, a menuvel, a shtik drek vie zoll bloiz kimmen tzu a shvartzen sof.
Translation for the Yiddishly challenged...
Meryl,
What you have written is so nice ans so enjoyable. But I cannot understand why anybody would want to know anything about George Bush, a putz, a rascal and a piece of shit who should only come to a black end.
2 - meryl
I understand what you're saying, Ruvy. I guess the authors thought it would be funnier to do a story with a controversial family and exaggerate / make up problems.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Just curious, Meryl. Was it the Yiddish you understood, eppes?
4 - meryl
I understood a little -- not all of it.
5 - Erica
Admittedly, I'm on the fence about Bush, but I understood every word .... it really was very funny ....