Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco

Multicultural
5th Grade

This is a story of a friendship that developed between a young African American boy and an older Jewish lady. Their friendship began one day when Larnel (the young boy)decided to give Mrs. Katz (older lady) a kitten; he knew that she was a lonely lady that missed her husband. Mrs. Katz named her kitten Tush because the kitten was missing her tail. Larnel came over everyday to help Mrs. Katz take care of the kitten and because of this their friendship blossomed. When Mrs. Katz told Larnel about her heritage, he discovered that what her race went through was much like what his race went through. Larnel found himself having a lot of respect for Mrs. Katz and the two went through a lot together. They found Tush when she got lost, they visited Mr. Katz grave, and they enjoyed a Passover meal together. The two shared a lot of memories together. Their families stuck by each other and the story ends leaving readers with a picture of Larnel visiting Mrs. Katz's grave, showing how the two stayed close to each other through a lot.


This book discusses a lot about Jewish culture and the Passover. This is a culture that a lot of students probably do not know about but one that is important. I will read this story out loud to students and have them research more about Jewish and African American culture. And because Larnel compared his culture to Mrs. Katz's culture I will have students compare the events and traditions of the Jewish people to those of the African Americans using a Venn Diagram.