The Princess of Borscht

by Leda Schubert, Bonnie Christensen (Illustrator)

Ruthie's grandma is in the hospital, not surprisingly complaining about the food. All she wants is a nice bowl of borscht. Ruthie comes to the rescue, even though she hasn't the faintest idea of how to make it. With the help of a few well-meaning neighbors (including the Tsarina of Borscht and the Empress of Borscht and some ingenuity of her own), a soul-reviving brew is concocted…

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Food, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2011

About the author

Leda Schubert is the author of several picture books, including Nathan's Song, illustrated by Maya Ish-Shalom; Trailblazer: The Story of Ballerina Raven Wilkinson; Listen: How Pete Seeger Got America Singing, and Monsieur Marceau, which won the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. She lives in Vermont with her husband and two dogs.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the 2011 picture book The Princess of Borscht, which I found and read on Open Library (and with its contents prominently focusing both on Jewish American family life and also specifically on borscht and as such The Princess of Borscht being specifically Jewish Ukrainian food culture themed) young Ruthie’s grandmother is shown by both Leda Schubert's text and Bonnie Christensen's accompanying artwork as being in the hospital recovering from pneumonia, finding hospital food annoyingly unsatisfying and thus making one simple request when her son and her granddaughter come to visit, namely that Ruthie please bring her grandmother some traditional borscht by five o’clock this afternoon (so that she will not end up starving to death as Grandma claims, a bit humorously overly dramatic to be sure, but The Princess of Borscht does in my humble opinion for one point out how hospital food can often fall pretty short regarding in particular ethnic culinary needs and for two that Ruthie does indeed get just trifle worried and is thus going to try very hard to make some borscht for her grandmother).

But well, in The Princess of Borscht, the grandmother falls asleep before she is able to tell Ruthie the recipe for borscht. And since Ruthie's father does not like and has never liked borscht he is both unable and also rather unwilling to help regarding this (and I do have to admit kind of appreciating the latter and finding it rather refreshing how in The Princess of Borscht Schubert's text points out that just because Ruthie's father of course is like his mother Jewish Ukrainian, he does not automatically have to enjoy or even to appreciate borscht), upon returning to the grandmother's apartment to begin cooking borscht, Ruthie is naturally rather at a loss and somewhat stymied but is then and fortunately joined by three of Grandma’s neighbours (by Mrs. Lerman, Mrs. Rosen and Mrs. Goldberg) each of whom are shown as claiming to be the self-proclaimed expert on how to cook, on how to make borscht (or as is tongue-in-cheek stated in The Princess of Borscht, the three neighbours say they are the Empress, the First Lady and the Tsarina of borscht). And while Mrs. Lerman, Mrs. Rosen and Mrs. Goldberg in The Princess of Borscht do indeed nicely help Ruthie get started on her borscht (and with the bickering while they are cooking being both humorous and also demonstrating that there indeed are many different recipe variations and cooking traditions associated with borscht), Leda Schubert in The Princess of Borscht then wonderfully shows that for the final (and important) borscht ingredient it is in fact Ruthie’s own intuition that leads her to add dill at the last moment, which is in fact her grandmother's own secret ingredient for borscht (and with Grandma also being absolutely delighted with Ruthie's borscht and also requesting a noodle pudding for the next, for the following day).

Now Schubert's text for The Princess of Borscht presents a sweet and also nicely humorous family story, celebrating borscht, neighbours being helpful and of course also Ruthie's ingenuity finding the secret ingredient of dill (that it is not the neighbours but the granddaughter who ends up finding the culinary key for making the borscht truly special, but that both the three neighbours and Ruthie have collectively cooked up a wonderful borscht for Grandma to enjoy in her hospital bed instead of tasteless and unimaginative hospital food). And yes, Bonnie Christensen's heavily outlined, strongly coloured (and for me reminiscent of stained glass) artwork for The Princess of Borscht visually delightfully adds to the homey and family-friendly textual appeal, nicely mirrors and reflects Schubert's words (and leaves both my inner child and also adult me totally enchanted and hugely smiling regarding the combination of text and images for The Princess of Borscht). Five stars for The Princess of Borscht (and with my only mild complaint being that while I appreciate the inclusion of a borscht recipe I do wish it were located within the text proper and not on the dust jacket, and yes indeed, the borscht recipe for The Princess of Borscht is actually vegetarian and can also very easily be made vegan by either not adding sour cream or using a soy-based sour cream alternative as a garnish).

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, heart-warming, a little bit interesting. No actual recipe, but one can search online and combine with the text to make one close to this one. Oops! Found the recipe! On the dust jacket on the back, as Manybooks alerted me! But ultimately not that interesting a book.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations of this story seem just as if someone wrote it in a journal and then illustrated it. Happy, colorful sketching fills the pages around the words, of the young girl Ruthie, whose grandmother is in the hospital and says she must have borscht by 5 pm or she will starve! Ruthie gets no help from her father, who takes a nap, cannot find a written recipe, but gains help from a near neighbor, a Mrs. Lerman, who drops by to see how Grandma is doing. She claims to be the Empress of Borscht, and so the parade begins, as more neighbors drop in to add to the borscht recipe. Ruthie is overwhelmed, but manages the soup, adding a secret ingredient of her own. The deadline is met, with a surprise event at the end. It’s a happy book, about family recipes passed on, and those who care enough to be proud of their cooking!

[Marjorie Ingall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone recommended this because I was writing an essay for grownups about borscht. I hate borscht. But I loved this story. Elliptical, witty, funny, sly, charming. All these old yentas claiming to rule the world of borscht and no one really helping Ruthie with her simple quest to make it for her sick grandmother!

Alas, I LOATHE the art, which looks dated and amateurish; worse, the soft charcoal-y feel doesn't work with the text. Yes, borscht is an old-world food, but this story is about hard-edged opinionated old ladies and an emotionally absent (at least for the duration of the story) dad, and the wispy illustration totally has the wrong vibe. If only the publisher had gone in a Tell Me a Mitzi or Who Needs Donuts direction...

It seems to be out of print, and I'd love to see it reissued with new illustrations.

[Marilyn Wolpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jewish mitzvah of Bikur Cholim – visiting the sick – is explored in Leda Schubert’s The Princess of Borscht. While never using the word, it is clear that every character in this book is Jewish, from the way grandma talks in the hospital, to the signatures on the get well cards (including one from Neal), and to the fact that the secret borscht recipe is in grandma’s head – isn’t that where all the great Jewish recipes are? With a little help from the neighbors, little Rachel makes a life-saving pot of borscht for her grandmother recovering from pneumonia in the hospital who declared, “A person could starve to death here.” Bonnie Christensen’s art is fabulous, deep, rich, and expressive.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I, too, am a Princess of Borscht. Ruthie is an engaging heroine who thinks she may have bitten off more than she could chew after she promises Grandma that she will make borscht and bring it to the hospital (where Grandma may starve to death on hospital food). Cue a few too many helpful neighbors and some delightful illustrations, and you have a recipe for an interesting afternoon. Plus a real recipe for borscht on the back cover.

[Katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zoë loves it. Asks for it each night. Enough for me!

[Sarah Limb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had a few grandmas that are so sassy and silly that this story feels very familiar. There were some moments that were interesting like the random neighbors showing up. Sometimes the things they said didn’t make sense and then randomly all decided to leave before it was even done. So weird haha. And then randomly running into Mr. lee oh and also Ruthie said something tasted like it was missing but in the end there was nothing missing at all? It’s a cute story with SO much potential but it missed the mark just slightly.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story about one of my favorite foods.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book and, happily, the recipe is on the back.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruthie's grandmother is sick in the hospital and all she wants is some borscht. (Actually, I think all she wants is a few hours to rest so she sends her family off to make soup. But that's neither here nor there.) The grandmother's neighbors all stop by and offer advice about how to cook the best borscht but it turns out that Ruthie accidentally stumbles onto her grandmother's secret, special ingredient.

I thought the story fell a bit flat. Ruthie never ends up with the recipe and while there's a lot of talk about borscht, no one seems to actually like eating this soup except the grandmother. I'd skip this one unless borscht is important to your library community.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story--with illustrations in the vein of a Reading Rainbow book! :-) I'm amazed she ever figured out how to make the borscht. This could be a fun one to read aloud with all of the different ladies and their accents. Probably best with school-age.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruthie has a 5 o'clock deadline to deliver homemade borscht to her Grandma who is in the hospital. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the recipe, and the neighbors are very opinionated about the ingredients. Good choice for story time about recipes, collaboration, and time.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A borscht story that's hard to beet.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the cultural and family connections, but overall the story is a little hard to believe and the main character is gullible.

[Haim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the subtle homage to Gertrude Berg from the TV show "The Goldbergs".

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruthie's grandma wants Borscht soup to make her feel better so Ruthie and her neighbors help figure out how to make it without her grandma's recipe. A.R.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute--even with a recipe.