Written by Leah Rachel Berkowitz
Illustrated by Sharon Vargo
Millburn, NJ: Apples and Honey Press, 2023. Picture Book.
Moving to a new place is often hard, especially when you're trying to celebrate a holiday and most of your stuff is still in moving boxes. In Berkowitz's picture book, a boy is worried about how he and his mom will celebrate Sukkot when they don't have a yard to build their sukkah-a temporary dwelling place built during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Through stories, his mom is able to assure him that people have built sukkahs in all sorts of strange places and that soon their new apartment will feel like home.
Told in first person, The Moving-Box Sukkah displays some of a child's concerns that come up when they move to a new place mixed and when holiday traditions change. Mixed-medium illustrations add texture to the story and vibrancy to the sukkah the boy and his mom make. While the reasoning behind building the sukkah isn't explained in the text, the theme of wandering is explored throughout the story. Further details on Sukkot is explained in an author's note.
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