Family Reading for Sukkot

By ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

 

LEO AND BLOSSOM'S SUKKAH
By Jane Breskin Zalben.
22 pages. Henry Holt & Co. $13.95.

Jane Breskin Zalben, author and artist of a number of books featuring Beni the Bear, has produced a charming tale about a children's sukkah or temporary hut, that goes up, comes down, and goes up again—and all the celebrating that takes place along the way. Leo and Blossom Bear watch as Papa begins building the family sukkah. They decide to make their own sukkah with a roof of leaves and pine boughs, and with popcorn and cranberries and paper chains and fruit for decorations inside. When Leo pulls an apple hanging in the sukkah, everything suddenly begins tumbling down. So they build again, this time with their parents' help. As the story ends, "The moonlight cast shadows in the stillness. Stars twinkled between the boughs above. As the family fell asleep, they heard the gentle pitter-patter of rain." What a delightful story with simply unparalleled art! (These bears are so full of expression, and the clothing looks like it came out of the bear version of a Laura Ashley catalogue.) If you're planning to give this book to a friend, be sure to buy two copies first because you'll find it hard to part with your only one. Also included at the end is an excellent definition of the holiday and a list of all the items Leo and Blossom hung in their sukkah.

NIGHT LIGHTS
A Sukkot Story
By Barbara Diamond Goldin.
Illustrated by Louise August.
30 pages. Gulliver Books. $15.

This is a rather silly story of a boy who is afraid to sleep in the sukkah. As the book begins, Daniel pleads with his father to build a roof on the sukkah. "Daniel thought about the dark and the hut and the sky showing through the top. Could a bear climb up there? Or a wolf. Daniel shivered even though it wasn't dark yet." The family builds the sukkah without the kind of roof Daniel dreams of, of course, (a complete covering would not make for a kosher sukkah). Daniel and his sister Naomi go to sleep in the sukkah, and sure enough Daniel begins to imagine awful creatures: dragons and winged animals with human heads, pumpkins with warts on their noses and sharp-toothed red beings. The ending is rather nice, as Daniel "instead of looking at the shadows or listening to the dogs and the wind...watched the lights above them, thinking of ancestors and of candles glowing on sukkah tabletops." The illustrations are quite good, too. Only the story is lacking, because it really focuses on a boy's fears, with the holiday as a rather peripheral backdrop, rather than an integral aspect of the book.

TIKVAH MEANS HOPE
By Patricia Polacco.
38 pages. Delacorte Press. $14.95.

Patricia Polacco must be the most politically correct author alive. In this short story you'll find reference to Jews, Italians, an Asian family, an asthmatic, a black family, seniors, and a few ordinary WASPS. And animal lovers everywhere will be happy, as well, since this features a resilient cat named "Tikvah," whose name in Hebrew means "hope." The story begins as Mr. Roth is building his sukkah. His little friends Justine and Duane come to stay the night. The next day, there's a terrible fire and seemingly everything is destroyed except—you guessed it—the sukkah, from which Tikvah emerges. Polacco is a fine artist, and it's clear her heart is in the right place. But this is not a story that works. Though promoted as a book about Sukkot, it's really about a wonderful fantasy world where everybody gets along and things are great and everyone is happy as they learn about Jewish ritual. It's a great ideal, but the tale itself is so sentimental, so sugary sweet, you'll hardly be able to get through it without checking your blood-sugar level. At the end, for example, all the neighbors gather in the sukkah as Mr. Roth, garbed in his tallit, or prayer shawl (where did this come from if his house was destroyed in a fire, and why does he need to wear a tallit to say a blessing over a candle [there's just one] in the sukkah?) says, "We should all be very thankful that we have good food, friends, and our lives..." Yet "no one seemed happy at all" until Tikvah suddenly appears. Further, disappointingly, this book is factually incorrect, echoing a popular misconception that a roof of a sukkah needs to be sparse enough to allow one "to see the sky at night."

WHY DOES IT ALWAYS RAIN ON SUKKOT?
By Susan Schaalman Youdovin.
Illustrated by Miriam Nerlove.
30 pages. Albert Whitman & Co. $12.95.

Each illustration in this book is like a work of art. Framed by a listing of all Jewish holidays, the pictures show great detail, beautiful color, and really fun subject matter. Certainly this won't be to everyone's liking (the angels are pictured with wings, not exactly a Jewish idea), but the work depicted here is skillful. The story is cute. It's about how each Jewish holiday appeals to the "chief angel" for a gift. Shabbat receives the present of having the Kiddush—the special blessing over the wine. Rosh Hashanah is awarded the sound of the shofar. Simchat Torah, of course, will have the Torah read on its day. At last it is Sukkot's turn, and it whines ("What about me?"). Shavuot then escorts Sukkot out the door, where the chief angel awards the holiday a sukkah. And as to that rain? "Well, each fall, just after the hot, dry summer growing season, Sukkot remembers how he felt when he thought he was the forgotten holiday. He cries, and his tears fall to earth as raindrops." It would have been nice if the author could have come up with a more original reason for the question raised in the book title (and certainly it is true that it almost always rains on Sukkot), but as far as Sukkot books go, you could do worse.