The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Mixed-Up Mooncakes by Christina Matula and Erica Lyons, illustrated by Tracy Subisak Quill Tree Books (imprint of HarperCollins), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sarah Aronson Buy at Bookshop.org When autumn arrives, so do two special holidays: the Mid-Autumn Festival and Sukkot. If you are a family that comes from two different cultures, what do you do? In Mixed-Up Mooncakes , you combine them. And the result: a lovely family story filled with food, traditions, and love. Matula and Lyons have written a story as delicious as the mooncake recipe that comes at the end of the book. Ruby loves both holidays. This is her favorite time of year—when the moon is the biggest and brightest in the sky. She enjoys all the activities associated with both holidays, from going to the Chinese market and picking out lanterns, as well as finding the most perfect yellow etrog for Sukkot. Of course, the reader sees them build the sukkah and hang the lanterns. There’s just one thing missing: A treat...

An Etrog From Across the Sea by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Suzanne Grossman Buy at Bookshop.org Two children and their mother anxiously await their father’s return from his perilous journey on business from New York to Corsica in the 1700’s. Will he be home in time for Sukkot, bringing the special etrog as promised? Or will he be shipwrecked, lost at sea, or attacked by pirates? While he’s delayed, his family travels from their northern homestead amidst the Native American tribes to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with their grandfather in the city. When they must head home without their father, their grandfather gifts them a valuable etrog holder along with the gift of faith that their father will return safely in time. With a smattering of sibling rivalry and moments of worry and fear, the love of the family always shines through. As...

The Moving Box Sukkah by Leah Rachel Berkowitz, illustrated by Sharon Vargo Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishing), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org A few years ago on the campus of my synagogue, Adat Ari El in North Hollywood CA, Rabbi Jessica Yarkin taught a super cool religious school autumn lesson by using her car as the foundation for a sukkah. Two open doors plus the main car body plus some pine fronds, and there's room for a chair underneath. Et voilà! In The Moving Box Sukkah , author Berkowitz and illustrator Vargo do the same, in a poignant mother-son story of moving, displacement, adaptation, improvisation, and reconnection to both the distant and immediate past. The narrator is a boy whose mom has just moved him to the city from a place where sukkah-building was not hard. No dad in the picture, literally or figuratively. Here in the city, the boy longs for his transitional object from the past, a blue bla...

Kayla and Kugel's Silly Sukkot written & illustrated by Ann D. Koffsky Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org Kayla and her parents are preparing for the holiday of Sukkot. Mom and Dad are building the sukkah, and Kayla, joined by her playful pup Kugel, join in the action, gathering items for the roof and making decorations. Woven in between the sukkah-building and Kugel’s silly antics are important mini-lessons about Sukkot, told with love and humor. For example, when Kugel offers a baseball bat he dug out from behind a bush for the sukkah roof, Kayla teaches him with gentleness that we only use things that grow. The affectionate tone grows along with the story, as when Kayla tells Kugel about her ancestors building and living in huts, and that we build a sukkah to remind us to be grateful for our homes. Kayla is a compassionate main character who models patience and compassion. Koffsky’s cente...

Sukkos Guess Who? by Ariella Stern, illustrated by Patti Argoff Hachai Publishing, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Judith S. Greenblatt Buy at Hachai.com Sukkos Guess Who? is a rhyming story that poses questions, with answers hidden under flaps. The rhymes are short, generally in language that is well within the comprehension of the picture book crowd. Children will enjoy the game of being asked a question, and finding the answer under the flap. The holiday is thoroughly explored, including aspects that are less familiar to many, such as Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of the week-long holiday), and Simchas(t) beis(t) HaSho'eiva, the modern celebration commemorating an ancient ritual at the Temple in Jerusalem. Descriptions of such activities are difficult to find in children's books, so are a welcome addition here. Hebrew and Yiddish terms are included in the text, and will be familiar to the target audience of Orthodox readers. Most terms are translated on the pa...

The Stars Will Be My Nightlight: A Sukkot Story by Jen Halpern, illustrated by Chiara Fedele Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org This fine bedtime story by educator and first-time author Jen Halpern begins with a mother and her young son talking about the meaning of the holiday of Sukkot as they make decorations for their sukkah. After the boy convinces his reluctant mother to spend the night in the sukkah, Halpern uses the tradition of saying the Sh’ma prayer before bedtime to add a spiritual side to the narrative. While the narrative centers on the relationship between mother and son, the history and traditions of Sukkot are deftly explained through the words and pictures, and in the back matter. Adding a mystical quality to the narrative are Chiara Fedele’s illustrations, suffused with so many different kinds of light, from the setting and rising sun, to the electric lights in the sukkah, to th...

The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda by Shoshana Nambi, illustrated by Moran Yogev Kalaniot Books, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Suzanne Grossman Buy at Bookshop.org Sukkot is coming to the small Ugandan Abayudaya Jewish community. We share the fun with super competitive Shoshi and her two brothers as they build their own sukkah, hoping theirs wins the annual village competition. The vibrant linoleum cut artwork brings the reader right into life in the village, showing us the natural environment and day to day lives of the people. When a wild storm comes through the night before Sukkot, it damages all the huts, totally destroying the challenging front runner’s sukkah. The whole village rallies, helping to rebuild this one, which wins the contest. But Shoshi doesn’t mind, her competitive streak has mellowed as she learns, “Everyone wins when neighbors work together”. Generous backmatter includes a history of the Abayudaya Jewish community, a glossary of Luganda words used ...

Hillel Builds a House by Shoshana Lepon, illustrated by Ángeles Ruiz Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Laurie Adler Buy at Bookshop.org Hillel builds houses everywhere- out of boxes, pillows, sheets, or whatever is on hand. This book by Shoshana Lepon takes us on a tour through the Jewish year as Hillel seeks out the perfect Jewish holiday in which to indulge his passion. No festival is quite right until, predictably, the holiday of Sukkot arrives, and Hillel can construct a sukkah, or temporary dwelling. Sukkot is indeed the perfect time to build a house. This straightforward story has enough details about each Jewish holiday to save it from being a niche book about Sukkot. The standout illustrations by Ángeles Ruiz, full of soft blues and vivid oranges, keep the reader engaged by showing Hillel's interactions with his family and his multiracial Jewish community. Hillel Builds a House was originally published in 1993, but was redesigned this year with new ...

Night Lights: A Sukkot Story by Barbara Diamond Goldin, illustrated by Amberin Huq Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Night Lights was originally published in 1995 by Harcourt Brace with illustrations by Louise August. This new edition, published by Apples & Honey Press, has been heavily edited, and has been reillustrated by Amberin Huq. The basic storyline remains the same: Daniel is nervous about spending a night in the dark in the family sukkah, even with big sister Naomi for company. After being spooked by noises and shadows, he almost heads inside, but Naomi points out the "night lights" in the sky, the same stars and moon that were seen by their ancestors when they slept in similar huts. The revised text is much tighter than the original. It's been slightly simplified and streamlined in a way that will make it more accessible to young readers. It's also been made more egalitarian: mom helps build the sukkah and dad helps p...