In this charming story about a naughty little girl, Uri Orlev makes use of a wide range of idioms in their most literal sense. When Rachela refuses to answer questions and Mother asks if the cats’ got her tongue, the little girl imagines a cat walking away with her tongue. When Father irritably exclaims that his head is about to explode because of her antics, the little girl imagines someone continuously pumping air into his brain. But Rachela doesn’t always misbehave. In fact, sometimes she knows how to behave quite nicely. And she also knows that although she can be naughty and difficult, and sometimes drive everyone “around the bend,” her parents still love her and would never give her up for anything in the world.
