Trying to teach your kid the ABCs while instilling in them a passion for boxing? Orthodox Jewish prizefighter Dmitriy Salita has just the book for you.
The Brooklyn-based welterweight’s new children’s book is called B is for Boxing, and it pairs letters with words related to life in the ring. A is for Arena, C is for Champion, K is for Knockout, R is for Ringside, Z is for Zaire (in homage to Muhammad Ali’s famous Kinshasa boxing match known as “The Rumble in the Jungle”), and so on.
“I thought it’d be a fun and out-of-the-box way to present boxing to non-boxing fans, and it’d be a fun educational tool,” Salita tells us. And yes, he actually did say “out of the box.”
Salita is the father of two girls, ages 6 and 2. His family moved from Ukraine to the U.S. to escape anti-Semitism, he says, and after arriving in Brooklyn he became a Chabad devotee. He keeps kosher and refuses to fight on the Sabbath or on Jewish holidays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwA3vup9W0E
The illustrations come from Elena Stekacheva, who, as it happens, also illustrated B is for Brighton Beach, a children’s guide to the Russian-speaking enclave of Brooklyn written by Dmitriy’s brother Michael Salita.
So, would the author want his daughters to follow in his footsteps? “Every kid should learn boxing. It’s a great fitness tool. But as a profession, only the really good ones should do it,” he said.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.