Gitty and Kvetch

In this hilariously sweet story about an opposites-attract friendship, chock-full of Yiddish humor, a girl and her best bird friend’s perfect day turns into a perfect opportunity to see things differently.

Gitty and her feathered-friend Kvetch couldn’t be more different: Gitty always sees the bright side of life, while her curmudgeonly friend Kvetch is always complaining and, well, kvetching about the trouble they get into.

One perfect day, Gitty ropes Kvetch into shlepping off on a new adventure to their perfect purple treehouse. Even when Kvetch sees signs of impending doom everywhere, Gitty finds silver linings and holds onto her super special surprise reason for completing their mission. But when her perfect plan goes awry, oy vey, suddenly it’s Gitty who’s down in the dumps. Can Kvetch come out of his funk to lift Gitty’s spirits back up?

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

Release date: August 31, 2021

“Debuting author Pritchard’s sweet-natured storytelling makes a strong case for friendship’s resilience”

– Publisher’s Weekly

 

“The bad weath­er, which he [Kvetch] cor­rect­ly pre­dicts, does damp­en Gitty’s art­work. Yet, like Yid­dish itself, Kvetch is flex­i­ble. Dis­ap­point­ment can be trans­formed into new alter­na­tives. The fact that the book cen­ters this gen­tle les­son in the con­text of an ordi­nary child­hood event, not a moment of real trau­ma, is impor­tant. Kvetch the owl may not share Gitty’s intense sense of adven­ture, but he helps her to under­stand the impor­tance of hav­ing a friend.”

– Jewish Book Council

“The optimistic Gitty and her cynical avian sidekick Kvetch will bring smiles to both children and the adults who read to them… And I loved that Kvetch’s essential nature remains the same at the end of the book—no feel-good transformation here.”

– Tablet Magazine Best Book of 2021

“As a human that struggles constantly with perfectionism, I loved every moment of this story of friendship!”

– Inclusive Storytime