Description: Community, connection, and a capricious turn of weather each play a role as a family sets out to create a homemade shelter in celebration of the Jewish Sukkot holiday.
For one excited family, it's time to build a sukkah in their backyard--a glorious, sturdy sukkah just for them. They can't wait to eat, play, and sing in it for seven days and watch the stars through it for seven nights. Everything is perfect until . . . whoosh! A sudden, powerful burst of wind crashes through and ruins everything. But wait, could all those neighbors toting stray branches and other bits and pieces help to make this the family's--and the neighborhood's--most special Sukkot yet? With its themes of connection, helping, and sharing food, this sweet story from the creative team behind the award-winning Rising has appeal both to Jewish families who mark this harvest holiday every year and to families just learning about it for the first time. Back matter offers more information about Sukkot and instructions on making a miniature sukkah of your own.Review Quotes: Simple, sparse text celebrates the sukkah cheerily, "we'll eat in it, play in it, sing in it," at a cadence ideal for captivating young listeners. . . . Ludwig's text is nimble and flowing, opting to explicate Sukkot's cultural context in an endnote. Guy's illustrations are terrifically textured, capturing the chill of urban autumn with gray skies and neutral-hued, densely packed houses, while illuminating her images with flowers, trees, and colorful decorations that sparkle and glow.
--School Library Journal
--Kirkus Reviews The family's joy in building together is truly heartwarming, and their thrilled response to the love of their diverse neighbors and friends . . . shows the power of community care rather than lecturing about it. . . . the mixed media illustrations . . . [burst] with bright, jewel-toned colors and cozy details. . . . The final scene . . . is an intimate and quiet end to a story celebrating a specific way of togetherness.
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books [A] sunny, celebratory picture book. . . . [T]he bright illustrations demand attention.
--Foreword Reviews