Miriam Schlein describes the history and meaning of the Sukkot festival and the holiday of Simḥat Torah in this slender paperback picture-book. She discusses how the farmers of ancient Israel used booths, or sukkot, while harvesting their crops, and how the modern Jewish custom of building a sukkah for the harvest festival reflects both this, and the huts the Israelites used when they were wandering in the wilderness. Next she discusses how Simḥat Torah comes at the end of Sukkot, and marks the point in the Jewish calendar at which the reading through of the Torah concludes, only to begin again...

Published in 1983, Sukkot and Simḥat Torah is one of a number of slender little books about the Jewish holidays - Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Shavuot - that Schlein published with Behrman House. It is informative, rather than story-based, and is paired with colorful artwork, done in a cute cartoon style, from Amye Rosenberg. Because it offers a basic, factual overview of the two eponymous holidays, I think this would make a good introduction to the subject, both for Jewish children and for Non-Jewish children not already familiar with Sukkot and Simḥat Torah. ( )

History, description of holiday and celebration/2-3rd grade