{"id":5561,"date":"2022-04-03T00:01:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T06:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5561"},"modified":"2022-04-03T19:39:38","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T01:39:38","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-789-featuring-yevgenia-nayberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5561","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #789: Featuring Yevgenia Nayberg"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n“In Ukraine,” writes Yevgenia Nayberg<\/a><\/strong> in her new picture book I Hate Borsch!<\/a><\/strong>!<\/em> (Eerdmans, April 2022), “you were supposed to love borsch from the first moment you picked up the vegetables.” But as a child, Yevgenia hated<\/em> borsch. In this very funny \u2014 and ultimately touching \u2014 story, she learns to appreciate it after she discovers that “there was something missing” in American food. <\/p>\n

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In spreads in which the exaggerated scale amps up the humor (a huge wave of the “red, thick disgusting soup” with a massive spoon that says “UKRAINE” near it threatens to overcome young Yevgenia), Yevgenia makes her disgust clear. The beets, the cabbage, the carrots, and the “slippery, slimy tomato!” \u2014 she hated it all. She especially hated the dill, the brunt of the joke on many spreads. Life was hard, she adds, if you lived in Ukraine and didn’t likew it. “Everything that grew in Ukraine” went into the borsch pot, and she wonders: Sunflowers grew everywhere, so why not throw them in? <\/p>\n

Many of these spreads make a link between the dish itself and the heritage and culture of Ukraine. There’s mention of a Ukrainian legend involving borsch and the fact that “every grandma in Kiev owned the only true borsch recipe.” In fact, Yevgenia received multiple recipes on her way to live in the United States (she stuffed them deep into her suitcase), where she discovered that it was called “borschT!” Her determination to eat only American foods (another very funny spread involving “the mysterious pumpkin spice latte”) falls flat on its face when she realizes that the “something missing” is everything about home and her culture, everything about the way Ukrainians embrace the dish. That’s when she digs up that suitcase and reads those old recipes and is “transported back home” \u2014 with “dill…blooming everywhere.” Of course! <\/p>\n

There’s a lot to love here \u2014 the bright tomato-red color that dominates the palette; the photocollage elements; the exaggerated perspectives; the tender humor that makes a deeply felt point about cultural identity; and the subtle incorporation of Ukrainian text into some of the images. Don’t miss the detailed elements of design, including the cover art under the dust jacket and the funny dedication.
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“When I was little, I hated borsch …”<\/em>
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“I hated everything about it! …”<\/em>
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“You will not leave the table until all the borsch is gone!”<\/em>
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“Maybe it was the red beets, dark and stormy against the white bowl. …”<\/em>
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“And suddenly, I am transported back home. …”<\/em>
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\nI HATE BORSCH! Text and illustrations \u00a9 2022 Yevgenia Nayberg. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, Michigan.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * Jules’s Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> The poem “A Lot About Undoing” by William Bortz<\/a><\/strong>. (You can read it here<\/a><\/strong> if you scroll down a bit.) <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Long walks with friends. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> The oldest is off visiting a college, and we are closer to knowing where she will be next year … <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> … so the youngest and I are hanging out all weekend, watching movies and playing chess. (I am very bad at chess.)<\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Troy Kotsur in CODA<\/em><\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> This new song<\/a><\/strong> from Soccer Mommy. It’s a perfect pop song, and it’s been playing in my head all week. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Plans next week to hop a plane \u2014 first time since the pandemic. <\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Click spread to enlarge)   “In Ukraine,” writes Yevgenia Nayberg in her new picture book I Hate Borsch!! (Eerdmans, April 2022), “you were supposed to love borsch from the first moment you picked up the vegetables.” But as a child, Yevgenia hated borsch. In this very funny \u2014 and ultimately touching \u2014 story, she learns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}