B is for Bagel by Rachel Teichman with photographs and food styling by Rebecca Wright; Oakland, California: The Collective Book Studio; © 2021; ISBN 9781951-412470; 36 pages of text, plus appendices; $15.95.
SAN DIEGO – This book serves to introduce children to rhyming couplets and to the world of bagels—a different variety for every letter of the alphabet.
The initial couplet, with photos that make me hungry just looking at them, reads:
A is for Asiago, cheesy, sharp and creamy.
B is for Blueberry. Purple foods are dreamy.
It plunges from there through the alphabet… Cinnamon Raisin, Dark Rye, Everything, French Toast, Garlic, Health Grain, Italian, Jalapeno Cheddar, Kettle Boiled, Lox, Marble, New York Pretzel, Onion, Poppy Seed, Quick, Rainbow, Sesame, Toasted, Unicorn, Vanilla Berry, Whitefish Salad, X-tra Schmear, Yeast, and Za’atar.
At the beginning of the book, there are rhyming couplets on how to make a bagel from flour, yeast, and water. In the appendix, there are recipes in traditional format for bagel-making.
At our home, Lox and Bagels are staples. I had never heard of a Rainbow Bagel, Unicorn Bagel, or a Vanilla Berry Bagel, but I’m willing to try each of them.
All 26 bagels may be consumed in kosher homes, a welcome relief from the combinations served at McDonald’s, which introduced bagels covered with a variety of pork products.
*
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.