Have you ever noticed that the Hebrew letter gimel looks a bit like a high-heeled shoe?

Or that the letter koof looks ever so slightly like a monkey with two tails?

Mother-and-daughter educators Diana and Lily Yacobi of Englewood have.

Using those fanciful cartoon images, bright colors, and recurring characters. The two have come out with a Hebrew reading primer, “The Aleph Bet Story,” published by their own Sarah and David Publications.

“Children have some well-known confusions when they learn to read Hebrew letters,” said Lily Yacobi. She has been tutoring children to read in preparation for their bar or bat mitzvah celebrations, and “I could see that they had similar issues,” she said. Moreover, the problems children encountered-confusion about which similar-looking letter was which-was shared by day- and afternoon-school children, and even by adults as they began to learn the Hebrew alphabet. So she and her mother, who has been directing Hebrew schools for about 10 years, the last three of them at Temple Emanu-El in Closter, decided to write a book.

“It’s packaged as a story book for younger kids,” said Lily Yacobi. The book tells the mild adventures of Sarah and David and their younger friends, Ben and Rachel, as the older two approach bat and bar mitzvah age.

The story, in turn, is told through each letter. Each has a two-page spread in the book. Each spread holds a large letter, some dialogue between one of the book’s characters and a cartoon Lily Yacobi, and descriptions of the letter’s sound and shape.

“It’s a sophisticated approach, from the standpoint that you have a very colorful picture, which creates a clear memory, and the text is very analytical,” Yacobi said. “It directs readers to the features of the letter, to its shape and sound, so it’s many elements coming together. So there is the whimsy of the story surrounding each letter, the analytic approach to what the letter looks like-where it opens or closes, the corners or curves, staying on the line or dropping below it, dots, arms, legs, or tails.

“Another element to the book is the American images,” she continued. “Often, Hebrew reading material comes from Israel, so a letter is associated with a Hebrew word. That doesn’t help our readers. I’ve redirected it to English-language words and associations.”

Associating letters with images isn’t new, she added. The novelty comes from her choices. Mem is often a mountain, but hey was not seen as a letter in the emergency room with a broken leg until she put it there. “Hey sounds hurt,” the books points out. And the two-tailed koof? That’s kooky.

Lily Yacobi, 26, has a master’s degree in finance and marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business. She had been working as an event planner in Manhattan when her mother asked to tutor students. Both mother and daughter have strong Hebrew-language backgrounds –they have family in Israel and spend much time there. “One student became two, then three, then many,” the daughter said. “I wanted to think about where to take the tutoring to develop a business for myself,” she said. “The world doesn’t need another event planner. So I sat down with the mothers of one of my students to brainstorm, and when I talked about my tutoring plans her eyes lit up. So I spent the next five or six months writing.”

Yacobi soon had her text, but she is not a visual artist – but she thought of someone who was, Sari Bourne. “I’d been in school with her from kindergarten through high school,” said Lily Yacobi. “She was drawing and making cartoons by third grade, and I knew then that I wanted to do a storybook with her.” The two lost touch, but “as the idea came together I called. I just assumed that she was still an artist, and that she could do it.” Soon, her mother, who has a master’s degree in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, joined the business, bringing with her many years of experience as a teacher, director, and parent. Lily and Diana Yacobi are partners in Sarah and David Publications.

The Yacobis are planning another book that will take children and their families through the pre-bar or bat mitzvah year. “It will reflects students’ experiences, including afterschool events and Jewish education,” Diana Yacobi said.

“The Aleph Bet Story” is available in some local bookstores and on line through the Yacobis’ Website, www.sarahdavid.com.

**Correction: Lily Yacobi has her bachelor’s in finance and marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business.