Kvetchy Boy complains almost all the time and about almost everything. Even at his birthday party, Kvetchy Boy kvetches so much that his friends, Noshy Boy, Klutzy Boy and Shluffy Girl ignore him at school the next day. When Kvetchy Boy tells his Bubbe Kvelly, “My friends are mad at me. They say I complain too much,” Bubbe Kvelly suggests, “Many things are less than perfect, but if you kvetch all the time, people stop listening. Then when you have something important to complain about no one will help.” The next day, after Kvetchy Boy tells his friends he will stop kvetching about the little things, his friends play with him again.
This little book will help children realize how their complaining affects their relationships. A glossary of Yiddish words appears in the back of the book. With the help of the glossary and the easy-reader format, this simple story is appropriate for early readers. The illustrations are childlike, brightly colored, and fill the top half of each page. Preschool children will enjoy having this story read to them. On a cautionary note, however, one might question whether this series is enabling children to use these Yiddish labels in a demeaning way. Ages 3 – 5.